Today was one of those days that Xen has been dreading for a very long time. It was time for the debriefing for taking back Rannoch - it had been decided after Tali's trial that they were going to fight for their homeworld.
Of course, Admiral Garrel suggested that they should take on the Geth head on in whereas Korris wanted to take the peaceful route and come up with a compromise. The admiral herself didn't care for either option, she just wants to use the Geth for their primary purpose of their creation like the Quarians of old. There were far too many options in the air, and it was clear that they were not going to come to any kind of agreement today.
"What is this tiny metal contraption?" Admiral Xen questioned the moment she laid eyes on the small robot that was sitting on the table. It was white and turquoise with big turquoise lights for eyes, it was cute in a sense. Too cute for her liking.
"Rina made it earlier. It's kinda cute, isn't it?" One of her female crew members explained to her with glee. She seemed to like whatever this thing was supposed to be.
Of course Rina made this ridiculous and useless item. She was nothing more than a child at heart; so exuberant and clumsy. Admiral Xen always had a migraine whenever that little lady was around. There was something about her that made her feel provoked, and although the cold admiral would never admit this out loud - there was something refreshing about her optimism and endless energy.
"Keelah! I'm sorry I'm late, Admiral!" As if it were on cue, Rina entered the operation room apologizing for her absence. Her voice was calm and serene like always, she never once raised her voice or anything of the sort. Being around Rina was like a human trying to describe a warm sunny day at the beach. Not only was it an odd idea for Xen in general to think of another person in such a warm light, it brought a new feeling to her that she couldn't describe in a short conversation. That was the most frustrating part for the confused admiral.
"Rina," Xen spoke the woman's name as she crossed her arms over her chest clearly not pleased with her late attendance, "what is this silly thing that you wasted your time building?" she cut straight to the chase with the robot.
"Oh! That's gizmo," Rina explained picking up the robot in her hands as if to apologize for leaving it there with the others. Now that Xen was paying close attention, she noticed that the little robot's design matched Rina's enviro-suit design. Same color scheme, same everything. How could she have not noticed it before?
"You know that we are not allowed to have robots on the ship, right? It could be mistaken for a geth." Admiral Xen was kind enough to inform the rules of the migrant fleet. She shouldn't have to though since Rina was born into the crew and should have known better.
Rina was quick to nod her head, though her blue face mask covering over her features made it difficult to tell what she was thinking. "I understand that, but it's not an artificial intelligence or even a virtual intelligence. It's just a robot that moves with the help of a controller, like the ones that human children play with." She calmly explained as she held the little robot in her arms tightly like a child, "It's completely harmless, I swear. I'll keep it out of sight if I have to." She was pleading to keep the worthless object. What for anyways?
Admiral Xen would have gladly accepted the contraption if it was a geth, she could dissect it and use it for study. She was clearly not happy with Rina wanting to keep the stupid thing, but she didn't feel comfortable saying no to her. It felt like kicking a sweet little puppy to the curb with her, normally Xen wouldn't care about such a thing. But with Rina it was a completely different feeling with her, "Keep it out of sight. No one else must ever see it. Do you understand?" she questioned.
"Of course. Thank you so much. I'll put it away right now." Rina beamed, she was quick to wrap the robot up in an idle piece of cloth before leaving to put it away back in her room.
"That was nice of you." The same female crew member from before commented with a playful tone. She was a friend, not a very close one, but close enough to be brave enough to make such a foolish comment in front of the Admiral.
"Back to work, Lira. We have much to learn about the Geth before we head to Rannoch." Xen was quick to dismiss the previous comment. She didn't want to acknowledge the fact that she was lenient with a crew mate for the very first time ever. Xen didn't want anyone to hear of this, she wouldn't be able to live it down.