So, first updated chapter up, and while it's started substantially different from the original E561, the story is almost identical with minor details changed to close little plot holes and things like that. Also, I don't know when I'll update for chap two if I'm honest, I hope soon, but work and other commitments are keeping me from the keyboard a lot lately.

Teor, a young Asari who is no more than 90 years of age looked at her omni-tool's interface for what seemed like the millionth time in the last hour, scowled at what she witnessed and then covered her eyes with her elbow. Without signal, her Omni-tool is severed from the galaxy-wide intranet, rendering it almost useless. Yes, she could still use it for menial tasks, such as watching locally saved movies and listening to music, but if she wanted to do anything else, then she is without hope.

Hearing the doorbell to her small cramped cabin beep, the Asari sat up and swung her legs over the side of her cot before standing and approaching the door, but before opening the cold steel door, she made sure to check her room is in immaculate condition. Opening the door, she came face to face with one of the three crewmen she is travelling with, "Yes?" She asked curiously.

"We are half a day from our destination." A Batarian informed her with a croaky voice.

"Oh," Responded Teor with a deep frown across her brow, "I was not expecting to arrive until tomorrow. "

The Batarian on the other side of the door shrugged his shoulders lazily as he replied, "Look, I just do what the boss says, want to know more ask her."

"O-okay," Teor responded and with nothing more to say the Batarian went on his way, allowing Teor to once more retreat to her bunk, which is no wider than her shoulders.

Taking a hard look at the bunk Teor had been calling a bed for the better part of a month the Asari shook her head in mild amusement that she had managed to sleep on it for so long before moving to pack the few things she had removed from her bags.

With everything packed Teor looked around the barren room, making sure everything is in immaculate condition before leaving.

Arriving at the ships small cramped mess hall Teor dumped her two travel bags against a small rickety table, just as the ship's pilot decided to emerge from the vessel's cockpit for food. "Oh hey," The pilot greeted friendly, "You're probably glad to hear that we're not far off now."

'Thank goodness' The young Asari wanted to reply, but she dared not speak those words for fear of how they could be translated, while she does not mind the crew she is travelling with, being confined within the small decaying ships walls for the last four weeks had nearly driven her insane. "It would be a lie to say I would not enjoy a change of scenery."

"I hear you...," Replied the female Turian pilot as she made her way over to the ship's kitchen which consists of an old microwave and a traditional electric hob, which in all honesty are probably older than Teor. "...But, credits don't grow like trees."

"Yes." Is all Teor could say as she sat down at the table she rested her bags against, while putting a thick book on top of the table, an old bookmark buried deep within its pages.

"So," The pilot started as she hunted through the few cupboards for a clean bowl, an incredibly rare item on this ship, "You excited?"

Teor nodded as she opened the book to the marked page, "Quite so, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, to say I am excited would be a slight understatement."

"Yeah, I can image, getting to study a new species must certainly have it's ups."

"Yes," The Asari agreed. When the pilot's soup is brought to eating temperature in the microwave the Turian took her soup and gestured for Teor to follow her, "Come on, you maze well come for a look."

"At?" Asked Teor curiously, "Surely we are too far away to see anything of interest."

The pilot clenched her fists slightly, something the Turian knew Asari translated as 'No'. "Not quite, we are less than one AU away, meaning you can now see where you're going with bare eyes."

Teor frowned at this news, "Then how is it going to take us the better part of the day to arrive?"

"Not allowed to exceed quarter impulse I'm afraid, surely you should know that."

Teor clenched her fists slightly, "No, I have not received a dossier regarding anything about arrival procedures."

"Huh," The Turian scratched her right facial mandible, "Would have thought you would have been told that." Arriving in the cockpit the pilot sat down in her well-worn chair with a heavy sigh and checked her many instruments before explaining, "Basically, if we exceed 1/4 impulse our exhaust can be discovered with the most basic of tools, and the species you're going to study... what's their name again?"

"Humans."

"That's them; apparently from the man up top, they are advanced enough to detect our exhaust."

"I see," Replied Teor, understanding in her voice. "I am glad you are in charge up here, for I would never have thought of anything remotely along those lines."

The woman chuckled, "Kid, people far smarter than I told me to approach how I am, so I take no credit for it."

"Oh."

"Yeah, anyway, see that speck of light over there?" The pilot pointed to an unusually bright star out the cockpits forward window and Teor followed her finger to look at the speck of light,

"Yes, is that the local star?" Considering it's intensity it could be little else.

"Yes, and see this speck here?"

Teor blinked once, indicating she could see the light source, "Is that the Natives planet?"

"No," The pilot responded, "That's hidden around the other side of the star, that speck of light there is our destination."

Teor squinted at the spec of light, "I thought the station is in space."

"It is." Informed the Turian, "But it is in orbit around that gas giant, makes it harder for the locals to detect it."

"Huh," Teor backed off from the window, "How long will you be staying on the station?"

"Us?" Asked the pilot, referring to the ship and her crew, "We're just dumping our haulage and taking flight the moment it's out of our hands, after all, Jango doesn't like us being stationary for too long." Jango being the owner and captain of the ship.

"Surely..."

The pilot cut Teor off, "Trust me kid; I'll be taking a pay cut, and maybe even finding another ride back to civilisation. That is not something I can afford to have happen."

Teor simply blinked at this news, from her time on the ship she knew Jango could be a cruel Asari who had her way or no way at all.

/.../

It seemed to take forever for the ship's internal pressure to equalise with the observatory base they arrived at, and when the corroded iron doors of her transport ship opened Teor almost jumped from the rust bucket. Taking a step from the ship she looked around, the observatory while large, is also much smaller than she was anticipating. "Teor Ampere I am to assume?"

Teor cringed, in her excitement and curiosity she completely ignored the Asari waiting for her, had her mother been here she would have been in for a long hard talk regarding etiquette. "Sorry, yes, Teor Ampere, it is good to finally meet you, Doctor Tilles." Teor give a small courtesy bow of her head, as is custom for an Asari formal greeting.

The far older Asari smiled and clenched her fingers slightly in amusement, "Relax child; you must be more than relieved to be free of your transport, and please, it is just Uiviaa, or Ui for short."

"Ui," Teor tested the name out before turning to look at what she arrived on and saying, "But, yes, it was a rather cramped journey."

"Well, you are finally free to stretch your legs on board this station, not that we have much room to talk of. Come, I will show you to your quarters." As they walked through the station Doctor Tilles, continued, "Also I am sorry I could not give you too many details of our subjects prior to your arrival, the council has a lot of strict protocols regarding the distribution of information."

"As I can imagine,"

Ui wanted to blink in agreement, but instead, her hands clenched ever so slightly, "Trust me child, you can not. The goods news, however, is that I can now give you almost unlimited access to our databanks with what we know about them. So, any burning questions regarding them you would like me to answer now?"

Teor had a thousand questions, but one stuck out the most, "What do they look like?" On her journey here Teor had imagined all sorts of weird and wacky aliens, from something that made Krogan look attractive, to something that made pre-historic Gluvic look like a modern species, to finally find out what they look like would be like scratching an itch that she had been unable to reach for months.

Ui pulled up her omni-tool and scrolled through a few documents till she found the one she wanted, "The females look remarkable similar to ourselves, the males, however, are another story," Instead of trying to describe them she simply let Teor scroll through the document open on her omni-tool.

Seeing the first image of a human female Teor blinked in confusion, the females could almost be confused for Asari if their skin was the right colour and they lost that fur on the head. "I could never have imagined," Teor spoke after a small silence, "I can now see why High Command is investing so much into this scientific mission."

"Indeed." Blinked Ui, "Why the species is so similar to ourselves is a burning question many in higher command want an answer to."

"Do we have any theories?"

Ui clenched her fists slightly as she stopped by a small door, "Right now our theories are nothing more than wild guesses." Pressing a button near the door, the metal hatch smoothly slid open to reveal a small cabin that is not much bigger than the one Teor had on the old ship, but unlike the cabin on the ship this room has a small desk, accompanying chair, a small wardrobe and a work terminal, not to mention a healthy lack of rust. As Teor dumped her two bags on the bed Ui continued, "At the moment our favourite theory is intervention from the Protheans."

"Protheans?" Asked Teor, her voice portraying surprise, "Why would they want to make us look alike?"

Ui responded as she guided Teor back out of her room and down another corridor, "Why did the Protheans do anything they did? We simply do not know." Walking through another door, Teor looked around the room and was thankful to see a few green plants, the first she had seen since setting sail for this place, among a few other entertainment-centric devices, "Anyway, this room is for spending your down time in. We have video games, movies, board games, and most importantly a limited supply of alcohol that we save for special occasions, and if you are interested, we have a film night in here every Sunday with home made froyya, you will be most welcome to join us." Walking a bit further into the room Teor almost jumped in joy at seeing a kitchen with cleaned utensils and plates.

Ui, seeing her stare at the plates hung out to dry smirked knowingly. "And yes, we also clean up after ourselves."

"Thank Athame," The younger Asari responded, "I do not know how much longer I could have lasted on that ship."

"It was certainly something when I arrived," Ui reminisced, "And I have heard reports the crew have since gotten worse, it is something I am sure I will find out on my return journey a decade from now."

"A decade?" Teor spluttered, she thought her thirteen months was going to be long enough.

Ui blinked, "Yes, I do not intend on returning until the council recalls us." While Teor is enthusiastic about being on the station and the work she is about to undertake, she could not imagine being virtually cut off from the galaxy for a decade. "Now, using this terminal you can send messages back home, but do not expect a response till our next cargo delivery, as while we can send messages out via FTL communications 8 out of 13 months a year, we can not receive them. One thing to note about any messages you send out, the council will vet them for classified information before relaying them on to their intended target, so if you have any sensitive information, which as the daughter of a powerful politically active Matriarch I suspect is likely, be careful regarding what you say."

Teor clenched her fists hard; she had been very careful and went to extreme lengths to hide her bloodline, to the point she had even paid the Shadow Broker for false documents. She did so not because she is ashamed of who she is, but because it is a hard life being the daughter of a matriarch, with simple things such as friends being tough to acquire when they find out who your parents are. "How did you discover that?"

"Because I've been told by the council?" Replied Ui, not quite realising what Teor is asking.

"No, the fact I am the daughter of a matriarch." Corrected Teor

The older Asari looked like a bulb had been light inside her brain, "Ah, before your name even arrived on my desk for this intern the Council did a background check on yourself, and the council left no stone unturned when investigating potential interns."

"I see," Teor responded before adding another question, "But I have a question, since this is such sensitive work why did you advertise for an intern to start with? It is not like the council or high command is offering incentives for taking me on."

Ui shrugged her shoulders as she approached a machine and filled two cups with a dark powder, "That is a good question, and I suppose my response is that I am sick of old miserable contractors who do nothing but complain and grumble till green at being so far from home. The idea of hiring an intern was really an idea of Lydia's - someone you will meet sooner or later. Anyway, she believed a young recently qualified student fresh out of final exams would be ecstatic at being given the opportunity to come here and would integrate easier into our close-knit society because of this, and so far I believe her idea has been a good one."

"And I hope to prove her right."

Ui smiled at Teor before leading her to a sofa with the two cups that is now filled with a dark brown liquid. Sitting down Ui responded, "And I believe you will." Teor sat down on an identical sofa opposite Ui, "Now, there are a few other things we need to go over, mostly the boring stuff that I am legally obligated to tell you, so to make it a bit more enjoyable I've made two hot [unknown word]."

"Sorry, two? "

Ui pushed one of the cups across the table and to Teor, while saying, "Hot [unknown word], it is a human drink."

Teor picked up the cup looked at the liquid inside in astonishment, "A Human drink? How did you acquire it?"

"With great difficulty," Responded Ui with a little laugh, "With the current war down below, getting on and off earth is the equivalent in difficulty of getting a Krogan to drop his shotgun for a pistol." Seeing Teor still staring at the drink she prompted the young Asari into action by saying, "Try it."

Teor sniffed the drink before raising it to her lips and taking the smallest of sips, and recoiling when she registered the taste, not expecting something so kind on the taste buds, "That is... unique yet exquisite."

"Isn't it? We suspect the humans will be selling this stuff by the haulage ship when they eventually join us."

"And when will that be?" Asked Teor.

Ui shrugged once more as she leant back into the sofa and made herself more comfortable. "Common consensus between ourselves on the station is 100 years."

"A hundred years!?" Teor almost squeaked, "If they are so advanced how have we not been detected?"

Ui give a small sombre smile, "The Human's have been waging a brutal, savage war against one another, west against east, and the south verse seemingly everyone, for context the war is remarkably similar to our unification war. So, to answer your question, we have not been detected because of this war, they are too busy fighting among themselves that they do not have the time nor the resources to explore their solar system. It saddens me because 20 Years ago before the war we were almost detected, one of their satellites passed within 35,000 km of this station, and I tell you, all hell broke loose when that happened."

The news of war saddened Teor, she was hoping in her mind that the humans would be a peaceful species. "What is the cause of the war?" Just because it is similar to their own unification war does not mean that the reasons for war are similar.

Ui laughed a little while clenching her hands around her drink, "It is very complex, with numerous reasons cited on Earth, from overpopulation causing a severe lack of resources, to just the inability for different political doctrines to live peacefully together on an ever smaller world."

"I see."

Over the next half hour or so Ui give Teor the full talk regarding safety on the station, most of it was the obvious such as don't go opening random air locks and what to do if she discovers fire, but there was one or two tid bits of information she did not know relating to technical aspects of the station.

Just as Ui finished giving the obligated talk another Asari walked into the room and made a beeline for them, the Asari was going to greet Ui first but quickly stopped when she realised who Ui is with. Getting to the table she waved a hand slightly at Ui but her eyes remained focused on Teor, "Hey, you must be Teor, I'm Arilitha, or Ari for short," She then immediately turned to Ui, "We have a problem with the goods, and dealing with you know who might need your touch."

The oldest Asari in the room sighed and stood to leave to solve the problem, but before leaving she turned to Teor, "Make yourself at home, I will be back soon."

When she is left alone, Teor looked at her omni-tool's interface and quickly dismissed it once she remembered she had no signal. Standing from the sofa Teor decided to rummage through the many cupboards of the kitchen, and is pleasantly surprised to find that despite their isolation they are well stocked with many different foods and drinks, enough that she believed she would not get bored of the same meals for quite a while. Her next point of interest is all the different forms of entertainment, and sure enough, there is plenty of it.

Just as she sat back down on the sofa to await Ui's return the older Asari reappeared. "Sorry about that," Ui spoke as she approached, "The captain of that transport can be a real pain in the quad at times."

"Yes." Agreed Teor as she stood to greet the older Asari.

Ui guided Teor from the 'living' room of the station and to a slightly larger room just down a corridor, "This is the observation deck," Ui informed as she entered, the room filled with terminals, each one seemingly tuned into something different. "From here we can snoop on human communications, watch their programs, and generally spy on their planet. Take this terminal for example," Ui sat down in front of a random terminal and started to fiddle with some settings, "Right now we are... recording a documentary." All of a sudden the terminal began to play audio that is in sync with the image. After a while of listening to the clip, Ui turned to Teor, "Well, what are your thoughts?"

"They sound remarkably Quarian."

Ui blinked in agreement, "Yes, that was initially my thought when I first heard them too, and fortunately the dominant language down there, English, is just as easy to understand and learn as Quarian. Myself and a few of the others are almost fluent in the language."

"You are fluent? Amazing. What was the program we were just watching about?"

"Ancient [Unknown word], a human civilisation from thousands of years ago."

"Fascinating, and I can have access to all of this?"

Ui blinked, "Yes, while your work will not revolve around information gained in this room, you are more than welcome to access these recordings as of and when you wish." Standing Ui led Teor out of the room and to another just slightly down the corridor. This room unlike the previous is far more recognisable to Teor, that being a lab. "This is where you will work," Ui informed. "And for whatever reason, Lowil is not here, so you will be introduced to your workmate and supervisor later on."

"Oh," Responded Teor, "And what work am I expected to be doing? When I applied the job description was rather vague on the intricate details, only stipulating that it is laboratory based and experience with Eezo is preferred."

Ui blinked knowingly, the job description had to be vague because of all the council restrictions. "One thing you need to understand about Humans is that there is so little of element zero in this system they are completely unaware of its existence, in fact, it is so rare here Humans make pre-contact Turians look like they were swimming in Eezo."

This news shocked Teor; Pre-contact Turians had less than 1ng of Eezo per litre of blood, which compared to Asari is 1000x less. "How is that possible?"

"We are not sure," Admitted Ui, "But I do not believe I will need to tell you what will happen when they come to Thessia and breath in our air, or eat our food."

"No." Agreed Teor, her entire thesis for her final year at Athame University had been regarding biological interactions with Element Zero, specifically the problems pre-contact Turians needed to overcome with significantly higher Eezo levels after contact, and it is now no surprise to Teor why she has been chosen for this assignment.

After showing the younger Asari the rest of the station the tour ended back at Teor's assigned room, "So," Ui began, "Today has been a lot to take in, get some rest because tomorrow will be a long day."

"Oh?"

"We have a trip down to earth planned."

Cheers for reading!