Title: Birthday
Universe: Mass Effect (ME2-3 Interlude)
Characters: Kaelis Terrilian Shepard, Jeff "Joker" Moreau
Author: Akernis
Looking out across the city and the river of Vancouver Kaelis sighed in mild annoyance. While the view was surprisingly pleasing its novelty had worn off after the first few months he had spent here.
It had been just over three months and two weeks since he and the Normandy crew had turned themselves in only a few weeks after what had happened at the Alpha Relay.
Even if he did his best to avoid it he felt like he was going stir crazy. His room was smaller than his cabin aboard the Normandy and there was very little to do. The isolated feeling was further exaggerated by the fact that he was kept mostly out of the loop about what was happening in the galaxy at large.
He did his best to stay informed by reading what second or third-hand Intel or general galactic news he could get his hands on, most of which was given to him by Joker or Lieutenant James Vega, both of whom occasionally came by.
It appeared that beyond the destruction of the Bahak system there was very little noteworthy happening; a lost vessel here or some mysterious disappearances there, but nothing that could be tangibly connected to the Reapers, even if there was such a connection to begin with. And there was certainly no sing of gargantuan fearsome alien starships darkening the skies.
The most interesting thing he could find was some intelligence that suggested that something was happening amongst the Batarians, but with the latest events that hardly came as a surprise.
At the least he took some measure of satisfaction in the fact that since he had returned there had been no mention of lost colonies or any sign of the Collectors at all.
Most of the rest of his time was spent keeping in shape; he was allowed use of the training facilities as long as there was someone to make sure he didn't try anything untoward. But there was no place to hone his biotic abilities so he had to use a good deal of his time in biotic meditation and quietly levitating various small objects around his quarters to avoid losing touch.
But all of it was poor substitutes for the training he used to undertake aboard the Normandy and of course, for real life combat.
Occasionally he had to take part in some official matters. These most often took the form of interviews, or perhaps more accurately interrogations, regarding what had happened at the Bahak system. At first he had, if not exactly enthusiastically than at least earnestly, laid out the details clearly and in depth just as he had in his report to the Council.
But he quickly lost his interest and faith in these proceedings when it became clear that most of the Alliance was not just unwilling to believe his side of things but was only really interested in finding a way to pay blood to the Batarians without having to cross the Council or tarnish their own image.
Sometimes he got the impression that his Spectre status was the only thing keeping this political mess from turning into an outright catastrophe.
As a Council Spectre Kaelis was fully able to just walk away from all this; though despite that he stayed, however reluctantly, due to his loyalty to the Alliance, the threat of open war with the Batarians and because of a promise to the two individuals within the Alliance he truly respected at this point.
At the very least both Admiral Anderson and Admiral Hackett trusted and believed him. Both of them did what they could but they had to move with equally care and subtly since no one else believed really Kaelis' claims.
Just convincing the Alliance that the Collectors had been responsible for the recent attacks and that they had now been defeated had taken weeks of effort and the convenient arrival of considerable evidence and Intel from the Shadow Broker.
Taking it a step further and proving the Reapers' involvement or even existence had proven even harder.
Kaelis thoughts turned, as they so often did, to his friends and people scattered throughout the galaxy. He clearly remembered the last he had seen to each of them.
After the incident at the Bahak system and his meeting with Admiral Hackett every member of his squad had been set off at their desired locations for whatever purposes they each had in mind.
Thought they could all have taken transportation from the Citadel or Omega Joker had insisted on flying everyone to their respective desired locations, in all likelihood just to remain in possession of the Normandy a little while longer but as Kaelis was not exactly sanguine about returning to Earth he had indulged his pilot's request.
As the most impatient to get off board Jack had been set off at Omega as the first, though she had mentioned looking into "This so-called "Ascension" Project. Just to make sure it's done right this time... or whatever".
Zaeed had left at the haven of outlaws as well; muttering something about hoping to get lucky and run into Cerberus or Vido again.
Miranda, Jacob and Kasumi had left at the Citadel, each going their own separate way. He got the sense that each of them would just lay low for a while before dropping of the grid.
Grunt had been set off at Tuchanka to go rejoin Clan Urdnot. Kaelis had not dared set him off anywhere else and having to deal with the collateral damage of him finding home on his own.
Samara had left the ship back on Ilium at the edge of asari space and at that point Kaelis had gone to ask where Thane wanted off only to find that the drell was already gone.
Garrus and Mordin had each said their, as Garrus had claimed: temporary, farewells at their respective homeworlds.
Tali had gotten a lift back to the Migrant Fleet aboard a Quarian ship they encountered on its way back from some salvage operation.
The last member of the ground team Legion had been left at the edge of the Perseus Veil where he assured Kaelis a vessel would pick him up; he had claimed that no harm would come to the Normandy or its crew if they entered the Veil itself but Joker had preferred to stay out "You know, just in case".
When the squad members had left, Kaelis had allowed every member of the now ex-Cerberus crew who wanted to leave the vessel to do so before they headed back to Earth, most had taken him up on the offer though the engineers, Dr. Chakwas and of course Joker had chosen to remain aboard despite the likely consequences.
When every other matter had been taken care of the Normandy had set course for Hagalaz. Kaelis and Liara had spent a day and night together before Kaelis reluctantly had ordered the Normandy back to Earth.
He had been here ever since, while the Alliance was busy appeasing the Batarians and shutting themselves off from the imminent threat in their own safe little world.
They were also well underway of reclaiming and refitting his ship in their own blue and white colours.
The original Normandy had been gifted to him and the SR2 had even been built specifically for him.
No matter how much he logically knew the vessel legally belonged to the Alliance he still could not shake the sentiment that the Normandy was his vessel, piloted by his crew, no matter which banner it might fly under.
The vessel even agreed with him about that. EDI's last words to Kaelis as he had been just about to leave had sounded surprisingly expressive for an artificial voice.
"Goodbye for now, Captain, I will await your return"
On a stray thought he wondered what would happen to his various possessions. Most of the few items he personally owned remained in his cabin, such as his model starship collection, old N7 helmet, predator L armour, and his customised shuriken and carnifex pistols.
The last of his belongings, his tags, had been taken by Anderson until further notice, to symbolise that he was no longer an actual member of the Alliance.
He hoped that all the things would remain if... when he returned to the ship.
And he hoped that someone would take care of his fish as well, he had no wish to return home to an empty fish tank.
The few more personally important items he possessed had been left in Liara's care at the Shadow Broker vessel before he headed to Earth.
These included his Star of Terra and the small digital picture he had of her; he had taken the picture shortly after the Battle for the Citadel and though he had thought it lost when the Normandy had been destroyed he had found it amazingly intact in his old quarters of the original Normandy's wreckage before taking it to his new cabin.
Of course the picture held no value compared to the real Liara but he had asked her to take care of it until he could retrieve it nonetheless, partly because he had no wish for Alliance technicians to find it while doing who knew what to the Normandy, and partly because that when he got it back he would have a memento of Liara with him in the uncomfortably likely case that she chose to remain at Hagalaz to work doing the coming storm.
Kaelis stood up and stretched, flexing his muscles and briefly flaring his biotics to release some tension.
The Alliance had wanted to confiscate his biotic amplifier upon arrival but had found that that had proven easier said than done.
Kaelis possessed a Serrice Council Savant Amp and as common practise among asari and their amplifiers it had been fully implanted rather than just inserted in his then L3.
Asari bio-amps and their implantation were designed for longevity as much as excellence of performance and once implanted a Savant Amp could and usually did remain fully operational throughout even an asari's entire lifespan with barely any need for maintenance or adjustments. Doing his reconstruction Cerberus had even integrated it seamlessly with his new specialised L5X implant.
Dr. Chakwas had even told him that nothing short of invasive surgical procedures could even reach his bio-amp, and tampering with it by anyone less capable then the most skilled bio-amp specialists could involve permanent neural damage... or permanent had it not been for his other cybernetics.
As such the attempt had, much to Kaelis quiet satisfaction, been abandoned.
Pacing slowly around the small room he once again looked over at the digital timer showing the date and time.
"11th of April" glowed softly on the display in the shadowy corner where the device stood.
This was not exactly the way he had intended to celebrate his thirty years birthday. Or thirty-two years; he had never really figured out whether those two years of being dead counted. One the one hand he had lived for 30 years, but on the other it was 32 since he had been born. He suspected that he would have some trouble with that little detail for quite some years to come... provided he lived that long.
As it had done so many times already that day thoughts of the occasion brought his mind to melancholy despite his attempts to remain optimistic.
Looking out the window at the bright blue sky his heart arched for the one person he so longed to be with.
Though he knew it was not the case for her this was the longest time he had ever been consciously separated from Liara.
It was fifthteen standard Tarran days since she herself had turned 109 and even though he knew it would have been impossible he still deeply regretted not having been able to be there and share it with her.
When he had told her he would get her something nice for her birthday last time she had been aboard the Normandy he had had no way of knowing what would happen a mere two weeks later at the opposite side of the galaxy from Hagalaz.
But at least he had been able to keep that little promise. He had hidden the Prothean Sphere he had recovered in the ruins of Kopis aboard the Shadow Broker vessel without Liara's knowledge, or at least he hoped so, and instructed her info drone to disclose its location, and a short message from him, to her at the appointed day.
And now just over two weeks later he once again felt the heartache of not being with her. It should have been such a small thing compared to the horrors that the galaxy would no doubt bear witness to once the Reapers finally arrived, to not being able to spend a special occasion along with his loved one.
But wasn't that precisely why he fought? Why he did everything he did against the Reapers? To be able to be with the one he loved the most, and for others to be able to be with theirs as well?
The pacing helped nothing on his restlessness and he sad back down at the chair by the window.
A beam of sunlight fell upon the book he had been reading before his thoughts had begun to run wild.
He picked it up and absent-mindedly studied it.
It was obviously not of human manufacture, its shape slightly more curved than the square preferred by published human literature. The pages were constructed from an extremely fine weave of artificial fabric-like threads both stronger and far softer and more flexible than paper, when bend they simply slowly straightened themselves out again so the pages rarely got damaged, they were also of a more subdued shade of white rather than the stark harsh white of normal paper. He had no idea what the letters were printed in but whatever it was reacted to the luminosity of its surroundings, when the ambient light was bright the letters were dark and clear and when the surroundings were dark the letters would ever so softly glow, making them readable at any light level.
He focused on the cover. The book was titled "The Cycle", with a picture of a Prothean ruin that reminded Kaelis of Feros or Ilos dominating the space at the front.
Though as usual his attention was drawn to the lower left corner; there in small inconspicuous letters were written the name of the author: Dr. Liara T'soni, at Serrice University. The symbol for Serrice was faintly visible behind the words like a watermark.
Kaelis had looked the acronym up on the extranet; it was an asari academic degree meaning Doctorate of Archaeology & Paleotechnology, and was one of the highest academic research degrees for those who studied either or both of those two fields.
Kaelis flipped up to where he had reached. The book was about the extinction of various known civilisations throughout galactic history with a heavy focus on the Protheans.
It had been published in 2174, about nine years before Liara's fateful expedition to Therum.
Kaelis had read a deal of peer reviews of the book on the extranet, most of them were generally positive in their assessments of the work if dismissive of its actual content, many of them citing that it lacked evidence to support the ideas and theorises put forth, a few even dismissed the entire work out of hand due to "author inexperience in the field of Archaeology".
Even if he knew it would have been better had she been wrong Kaelis felt a quiet sense of vindication at the thought that even if the races of the galaxy had yet to accept the fact he knew that Liara's theories were true.
He chastised himself at such thoughts; he could support his dearest beloved without falling to petty spite.
Kaelis had bought the book at the Citadel in hope of getting a deeper glimpse into the world that so fascinated his lover, and to see who she was in that world.
He was interested in the mysteries of the past but to nowhere equal to the near-burning passion Liara possessed, but he had to admit that reading about her finds and theories he could not help but be somewhat enthralled by the enthusiasm and passion that was as clear in the written words as it had been on her face when she had told him about her work back when she had first begun settling in on the Normandy.
When she had just come aboard she had told him that she could not point to any specific thing to prove her theories, that it was more a feeling from her research than any definitive evidence. This was clear when reading her work but to him her ideas seemed more than sound, though he reminded himself that he had the benefit of hindsight... and the Cypher, which might affect him subconsciously about the validity of her theories.
Since there were no translations to any human language Kaelis had picked up a version in Thessian. While it was possible to get a rough flash-translation with machine aid he preferred to read it in its original dialect.
Kaelis had always considered it broad-minded to have some understanding of alien languages and In addition to human English Kaelis had a very rough understanding of the fundamentals of the basic salarian, turian and krogan languages, though he could by no way hold a conversation in those languages, hell he would probably be hard pressed to answer a simple question.
However he could read, write and speak Thessian asari and to a lesser extend Amali asari near fluently. Not only had he originally found asari such beautiful languages that he was quite interested in learning but when Liara had come aboard the Normandy he had gotten an even stronger incentive to learn, and he had spend countless hours amongst all his other activities as Commander of the Normandy to study the exotic tongue.
Kaelis remembered one evening where he had been studying it to take his mind of what he had seen as they had found Admiral Kahoku dead in a Cerberus Laboratory when Liara had come to talk about what had happened there to see if he was alright. Doing their talk he had forgotten to shut down his terminal where the linguistic material was clearly displayed. Not long after Liara had left again he had received a message on his terminal that read:
"I took the liberty of finding you this; I hope it can be of help. Liara T'soni"
There was attached a data package to the message containing an extensive electronic series of very comprehensive and human-oriented asari linguistic courses and techniques. Kaelis remembered shaking his head in amazement before sending Liara a message of appreciation.
He had become skilled enough in asari now that he had turned his translator off from translating asari and he had thus discovered a wealth of subtle and hidden meanings and nuances that was usually lost in translation.
Even if that had not been the case he had found that hearing asari, and especially his favourite asari, speaking in their beautiful native tongue was a reward in itself more than worth the effort of learning it.
Two rapid knocks on the door quickly brought Kaelis out of his reverie.
"Enter" he called out, putting the book away for another time.
"Hey Commander" Joker moved awkwardly into the room as the door slid aside, a box held under one arm which, judging by the sound, contained bottles of liquid. Knowing Joker it was probably alcohol.
Kaelis got up and pushed his chair over to Joker before he set himself down on the bed facing his former pilot.
Joker took the chair with a grateful nod.
"So, what brings you here Joker?"
"What? Are you kidding? I came to participate in the great birthday party of course" Joker opened the box he had been carrying to reveal a couple of vine bottles. Kaelis didn't really know anything about vintages but they appeared to be of human make.
"You know I don't drink unless on special occasions" Kaelis said, images of Liara in her elegant purple and red dress in his cabin on the Normandy rose unbidden to his mind, it took quite a considerable amount of effort to ignore the more than pleasant memory and focus on what Joker responded.
"And this doesn't qualify?" Joker asked with a sarcastic tone, sweeping an arm out as if to indicate some grand proceeding taking place around him instead of the quiet of the spartan quarters assigned to his former Commander.
"I know you, you just want an excuse to get something to drink" Kaelis deflected the question, not really feeling the specialty of the day.
"Hey" His pilot said in mock defensiveness "I can't drink that often, I need to be completely sober when flying and unlike some of you I can't just hit the dance floor when I have downtime so I have to find other ways to enjoy myself, and this just so happens to be one of them" he poured some vine into a glass for each of them he had also brought and handed one to Kaelis while taking a draught from the other.
Kaelis looked down at the liquor in his glass, not really feeling any particular desire for the stuff and putting the glass aside after a small swig, he did not really taste it.
Joker, obviously noticing his not particularly successful attempt at hiding his less than cheerful mood, gave him an encouraging smile.
"Cheer up Commander; I am not the only one remembering"
"Right, Anderson came by to say a short hi and Hackett sent his regards" Kaelis shrugged dismissively, it was not that he didn't appreciate their gestures, as he did, but the simple truth was that it was not they that he so dearly wished to hear from.
He didn't really care about celebration, simply to hear something. But with the Alliance having cut all his connection to the extranet and similar ways of communication he hadn't heard anything from anyone beyond those few members of the Alliance who occasionally came by to visit.
"That was not who I was referring to" Joker said with a smile.
Kaelis eyed his pilot suspiciously, wondering whether he was in the process of living up to his nickname but realising that for once he was being both serious and sincere.
Joker took up a small package that Kaelis first now saw he had placed carefully in a corner of the box to avoid it getting crushed by the bottles. He tossed it softly to Kaelis who caught it neatly in the air.
"It was pure hell getting that thing smuggled in here without anyone noticing" Joker continued "EDI even had to delete a couple of system logs and shipping manifests from the transporting vessel and remotely falsify a few scannings upon entering here"
Kaelis looked up from the package in surprise.
"She can do that?" He reminded himself that he gave EDI too little credit and made a mental note to correct that next time.
"Apparently" Joker shrugged, though he appeared quietly pleased with the idea, no doubt having something in mind that the regulations wouldn't approve of.
Kaelis placed the little item aside for now, while he was quietly excited about whatever contents it concealed he had a feeling that this was a matter best left for a private moment.
Thanking Joker for brining it he shared a glass with his pilot, his mood somewhat improved.
After a few minutes of conversation, which generally amounted to annoyance over their general predicament and hope that they would soon get the chance to get back out in the void to do something about the problem, Joker left Kaelis to his own devices with a toast to good health and dead Reapers.
When he had left Kaelis excitedly switched his attention back to the little object Joker had brought him. It was only a little larger than a closed fist, wrapped in soft black fabric tied with a simple blue ribbon.
Removing the ribbon and unwrapping the soft cloth he found a little box no wider or longer than his palm and equally tall. As he took the lid off he found a message, written on a folded piece of fabric-like paper, inside.
Curiously unfolding the message Kaelis heart leapt as he saw that not only was it in Thessian but he recognised the elegant handwriting as unmistakably belonging to Liara.
As he began reading he could feel his resentment at his predicament inexorably melting away to give room for a sense of relief and joy he hadn't felt in months.
The message was short and Kaelis quickly realised that Liara was being as vague as possibly in regards to specific details in case the message reached someone besides him.
Kaelis.
I hope you are well, I am but I miss you terribly.
I deeply regret not being able to be there with you but something has happened and there are things I have to take care off. I can't talk about either of it here, I hope you understand.
Those sentences were written in the tristiary emotional aspect, conveying sadness, sorrow or regret, similar to a sad tone of voice in the spoken language. The emotional aspect was an asari linguistic device something that did not exist in written human languages.
I am dearly grateful for the gift, it was very thoughtful. You are in my thoughts always. I have a little gift for you of my own; I know you don't need it to remember us by, but I wanted to make it for you nonetheless.
Goddess grace your day of birth.
With all my heart.
Liara
He read it again, twice, his mind brightening with every word. He understood why she could say no more and he appreciated simply hearing from her.
It was first on the third read that his mind had calmed enough from the elation that he could focus on the fact that Liara had mentioned a gift.
Looking back into the box he saw that a small object lay beneath where the letter had been. As he picked it up he realised that it was a small piece of jewellery: a necklace pendant. A very fine chain of a silvery metal ran through a miniature hole in the top.
The pendant was about the length of his longest finger and of a very intricate and elegant design.
The pendant's basic shape was a slim beam that reminded him of the spire of a Prothean beacon tapering to a fine though not sharp point at either end. Halfway in the middle it curved softly outwards into a vertical leaf-shape like ellipse, giving it a four-point star-like shape without the side points.
On either side of the ellipse was a duo of graceful curves that extended upwards and outwards as well as tilting ever so slightly forwards, like a spreading pair of wings.
Around the central ellipse and reaching a bit out towards either tip was a couple of gracefully intertwining lines that spiralled into a near double-helix shape.
While it was a both beautiful and elaborate object it seemed actually somehow pleasingly subtle and neither overly ornate nor eye-catching.
Due to its sweeping lines and elegant shape he was near certain that it was an asari symbol, though what it meant he had no idea and made a mental note to ask Liara when he got the chance.
The entire object seemed to be carved from a single piece of deep dark blue crystal that seemed to shimmer with hues of vibrant sapphire when catching the light. The entire object was polished smooth with what must have been tender care.
After a moment Kaelis recognised the material as one of the sample pieces from Ilos Liara had taken with her while they had been on that particular world.
It was first then as his fingers moved gently over the material that he felt that there was engraved something on both the front and back of the central ellipse.
At the front was the human letter "K" gracefully intertwined with the asari letter equivalent of the human "L". Each was meticulously carved with what must have been extremely fine tools in Liara's handwriting.
Coiling around the two central letters was a circle of letters nearly too small for the naked eye to make clearly out in a combination of human and asari script which read: "Terrilian T'soni Shepard, joined in eternity; heart, mind and soul".
Turning it around in his hands he saw that into the back of the leaf-like shape were carved three symbols, forming a triangle. In the lower left corner was the three-stared Alliance icon, at the top the winged insignia of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance and at the lower right corner was the symbol of the Shadow Broker. The last symbolising what Liara had once told him "you are in every part of my life, it is open and free to you and I would have it no other way".
Kaelis had never known Liara possessed any skill in creating this sort of work; but somehow, holding the pendant, he knew that she had created it alone by herself.
Looking at the small beautiful reborn crystal shard Kaelis felt his eyes moist in appreciation and love for his dearest loved one.
Allowing the small tears to linger in his eyes he put the necklace around his neck. As the surprisingly warm material touched his chest beneath his clothing he felt a loving sensation rise to his mind unbidden, though not unwelcome.
Warm feelings he hadn't felt for over three months surfaced in his mind once more and he calmly walked over and looked up into the brilliant blue sky, mentally comparing it to an even more radiant blue in his mind.
Suddenly for the first time in a quarter of a year the waiting didn't seem as unbearable as it used to.