"Another vault about to kill us. You guys ready?" Ryder asks after picking up some Remnant Polymer from the fallen Remnant around them. "You have the quickest path back to the entrance memorized?"
Peebee, who was collecting other useful materials, and Cora, who was moving an Observer out of the way, nodded.
"You know, I could start heading toward the..."
"Peebee, you're not going anywhere. What if this vault is different and we get ambushed on the way back. We need your back up here so you're not going anywhere." Cora scolded Peebee.
Peebee picked up a fault vorged relay and responded "Yes, Mom"
Shaking her head, Ryder climbs over the Remnant in front of her and heads to the console. Making a mental checklist, she re-routes the way back to the entrance. Double checking which consoles need to be activated and which paths are already open. She also had to remember to pick up the remnant cache supply. The vaults on Eos and Voeld got her crew a lot of advanced equipment and whatever they couldn't use they were able to get a high amount of credits in the marketplace. If she had to rely on the initiative to upgrade her gear, they would be six feet under from old age. "Alright Girls. We get out of here, I'm treating us to a drink tonight. You in?"
"Kralla's or Tartarus?" Peebee asked
"Of Course Tartarus. Ryder probably wants to find a certain handsome smuggler." Cora commented slyly
"No" Ryder responded as she jumped down from the Destroyer that was in the way between the console and her "It would be nice to have a girls night out. I would also suggest Tartarus because the guys usually need up in Kralla's and it would be nice not to have them lurking around." Ryder punched in some data into her omni-tool. "So yeah, Tartarus. What do you say, we can get the other girls to join us? Have a few drinks... dance..."
"Flirt with a certain someone?" Gil's voice filtered in through her comm piece.
"Who? Reyes?" Ryder looked up from what she was doing. She noticed the girls smirk to each other.
"I don't think Gil was referencing anyone specific" Cora teased.
"Yeah, I mean, there are other people we know in the slums. Dr. Nakamoto..." Peebee suggests
"Kain Dagher" Cora adds
"So why did you think for Reyes, Ryder?" Peebee questions
Ryder had no answer. She just responded to Gil without thinking about it. But these girls were dangerous when they were on the same side. Usually the two would bicker like sisters but when they agreed and found a poor soul to torment... they could make even the Archon want to find a dark hole to hide in. Thankfully Gil came to her rescue.
"Well I'm in and I'll get Suvi to come as well. Vetra's somewhere down on the port but she's always up for drinks."
Ryder was thankful to Gil. She didn't have anything against Reyes and she felt like the girls were looking into things a bit too much. Using the opening, Ryder added "Lexi might take some convincing but I think I can get her to join us as well." Ryder remembered the last time she saw Lexi at the bar. She was drinking away her sorrows. Hopefully Lexi remembers the conversation they had and decides to join them tonight.
"But are you sure we should leave Kallo alone on the ship?" Gil asks "Cora usually keeps away the scavengers but I don't see Kallo scaring anyone away. We might end up with our ship stolen and stranded on Kadara forever."
"But I guess you probably wouldn't mind that? Would you Ryder?" Cora teased.
And the topic of Reyes comes back. "Guys... What makes you think that I have any sort of attraction to Reyes? We're just..." But what were they? As Ryder was trying to figure out the best word for their relationship, the comms link came to life.
"Hot for each other?" Gil interjected
"No." Ryder quickly responded without fully comprehending what was said. When her brain finally processed what Gil said, she was taken aback "What?! No." An image of Reyes walking towards her flooded her thoughts. His lips part and one side lifts up giving a smile that made Ryder catch her breath. Her body tingled with the memory of Reyes coming toward her. So close she could feel the heat radiating off his body. An earthy smell mixed with whiskey and sweat aroused her senses. "Careful I'll start thinking you like me". It was a slightly deep tone that was softened to be sensual. She had looked up into his golden eyes. There was a mysterious light in them that she didn't notice before. "No, Reyes likes to tease me but I highly doubt he's actually attracted to me?"
"So why are you denying it so much?" Gil asked
"And you're looking a little flushed" Cora teased
"And your voice sounds a little breathy" Gil continued
Peebee scoffed "You guys should have been there yesterday when Reyes swooped in to save us from the Roekaar. Shooting his way down the stairs, running to your side. You didn't see him stand guard in front of me or Drack to protect us from the Roekaar or the bomb."
"Drack's too stubborn to be killed by a bomb or the Roekaar." Ryder retaliated
"But I'm not. I'm very fragile." Peebee dramatically exclaimed "Still, he doesn't give any of us a second glance when you're around. When we were leaving the base, he was only concerned about you and if you were alright." Ryder's memories went back to the base... the heat, the smell, the golden eyes and full lips. Forcing her mind past their flirtatious encounter, Ryder couldn't exactly remember if Reyes did address anyone else. Maybe he didn't. She could recall him fighting by her side. While she lined up her shots with her sniper, Reyes made quick work of the Roekaar surrounding the two of them with his assault rifle. While Reyes reloaded, Ryder used her biotics to cover for Reyes. Then when he loaded his gun, Reyes gave her some cover fire so Ryder could line up her next shot. It was as if the two were in sync. Neither of them needed to delegated orders or ask for help. They were in tune to each other and knew what the other needed. It was difficult to find a team that fused well. Even with her team, in the beginning, she had to delegate orders and ask for things like cover fire. She didn't lie when she said they were a good team but she didn't feel she expressed herself well enough to him. How could she say in so many words that those feelings, oberservations, whatever they were to him. And then he started to move, his arm brushed against her. It was the faintest touch between the two but Ryder felt it through her armor. She turned and watched Reyes walk out the door. He came to her help as fast as he left.
"I don't know. I think you might be reading into this a bit too much" Ryder defended
"Whenever we meet him in Tartarus, both of you forget there are other people in the room. It's like you guys end up in a world of your own. You know... it's painful listening to you guys flirt. I think last time Drack and I actually left the room but neither of you guys noticed."
"Anyway..." Ryder cut Peebee off "Can we focus? Death Cloud here waiting to kill us. Can we get back to this?" Ryder tried to distract them. How did they get on this conversation anyway?
"Fine. But this isn't over Ryder." Cora taunted. Ryder ignored the comment. As she stepped up to the console, she didn't realize how aware she had been of Reyes. But this was not the time or the place to reflect on this revelation.
"SAM, start interface" The Console springs to life. "Okay. Get Ready to Run" Ryder got her feet situated to kick off sprinting. Her feet had an energy that was waiting to be released but was being restricted. Finally Ryder saw the blue energy pillar turn red. She cut her connection with the Remnant Pillar and her biotics flared to life. She charged toward the exit. "Here it Comes! Go, Go!" As she ran, the force field in front of her turned red. Ryder jumped and used another biotic charge to avoid entering the distortion field.
"How is any of this a good planning mechanism?" Ryder complained "Who thought 'As we reboot this system, lets run to the exit and have a death cloud chase us. And to add to the fun let add disruptor fields as an obstacle' ". As she passed the doorway, Peebee and Cora were already waiting at the ramp for Ryder to activate the console to her left. "But that's not fun enough, let's add a checkpoint" Ryder interfaces with the Console.
"Shit Ryder! The Death Cloud is coming through fast. Ryder, we need the Console!" Cora panicked through the comms.
"A really slow checkpoint" Finally the Console activated. The Door closed and the pathway ahead emerged. Ryder ran to the edge, jumped, and used her jump jet to push her forward. The doors weren't going to hold the Death Cloud back for long. Jumping across the electrified black goo to the platform, Ryder was about to move the the path on the left when she heard Peebee yell into the comms.
"Ryder! We closed that pathway!"
"Shit" Ryder reprimanded herself while redirecting herself to jump across to the right. How can I have been so stupid! I knew the path. Went over it so many times before activating the purification process. It's cause they started talking about Reyes. All thoughts and preparation just escaped my mind. Images of Reyes snuck into her mind as she continued to run through the vault.
"Ryder! What the hell is wrong with you?"
Ryder snapped back to reality. She was about to follow the girls across the bridge. Looking behind her she realized she passed up the remnant cache. The barrier was down. She looked to her left and could see the smoke was half way between the door and the remnant cache. "I got it! Just go" Ryder backtracked to the room to pick up the rem-tech. Leaving the room, she saw Peebee and Cora were already on the platform ahead and looking back to see if Ryder was coming. Running forward, Ryder looked back to see where the death cloud was. She still had time. Running across the bridge her biotics flared. She jumped and charged for the platform, Ryder finally made it to the console at the vault's exit. She was exhausted and out of breath. Peebee and Cora were breathing just as heavily and she was grateful for the silence as they made their way to the gravity well.
Walking out of the remnant vault, Ryder looked up into the clear sky. Ryder could smell the difference. The overpowering smell of eggs was significantly reduced. "God I hate running" she said as she collapsed against the vault's pillar.
Breathless and surprised, Peebee was quick to react "Seriously?! But that's all we seem to do." She laid on the ground where she was standing "Run towards this. Run away from that. I thought you had some sick pleasure running everywhere"
"Oh no. That was Alec." Cora cut in. "Trust me. I received some of his informal training. I don't know how you and Scott survived growing up" She was still somehow on her feet ready to fight at the first sign of trouble
"But weren't you in the System's Military Alliance?" Peebee continued to ask as she laid sprawled out across the vault's entrance floor
"Didn't mean I enjoyed running. My assignment were either peacekeeping missions or working with Prothean researchers. When my Dad was the pathfinder, my supporting role was to establish relations during first contact and keep a look out for artifacts and other new technology"
"Huh..." Peebee surprisingly didn't go on. Probably cause she was still trying to catch her breath.
Over the comms, SAM started to give some data regarding the environmental changes. Ryder barely paid attention. Finally when SAM was done, Lexi's voice came over on Comms. "Ryder? Since you're by the water, could you bring back a few samples for me to test?"
"The Pathfinders job is never done. I can barely sit for a minute and take a rest." Exasperated Ryder replied "Sure. On one condition. Tonight we take a break. All of us."
"...Girls" Cora clarified
"All of us Girls" Ryder correct
"and me" Gil interjected over comms
"That's what I said. All of us Girls." Teased Ryder. "I will get your water sample as long as you join the 6 of us out for drinks tonight. Deal?"
The silence dragged on. Ryder didn't want to push Lexi but Lexi never took a break. She needed a night out just as much as Ryder, maybe more. Plus, she needed to make more personal relations with everyone. Lexi was all professional all the time and not everyone was comfortable with that. Finally Lexi came on over the comms. "Fine but..."
"Great!" Ryder cut Lexi off. She didn't want to hear any buts. Standing up Ryder walked over to the water "I'm getting you the readings now."
Scanning the water and obtaining a few water samples, SAM interjected that the water was no longer acidic and was completely safe to drink.
"Holy Crap" Cora said as she walked up next to Ryder. "The purification process works fast."
SAM interjected "I surmise that not all the water on Kadara has been purified yet. My best hypothesis is that this body of water has been cleared of all impurities because it is right next to the remnant vault. The other bodies of water should take a hours to be purified."
As SAM was talking, Ryder had the most fantastic idea. Ryder started to unclasp the hinges of her armor. Removing her armor, Ryder's sweating skin welcomed the fresh air. Her shirt was plastered against her body. Ryder dove into the water. The water wrapped itself around Ryder and absorbed into her clothes. It had been over 600 years since she went swimming. As Ryder's head broke the surface of the water she was greeted with a hysterical Cora.
"Ryder what the hell are you thinking!"How can you just take your armor off. We're in Kadara! Home of Exiles and Pirates. And we're in the Badlands, where the exiles get exiled! Every corner we turn we have Outcasts and Collective shooting at us! Taking off you're armor in this area is such a...!" What it was, Cora didn't get to finish. She didn't realize Peebee was sneaking up behind her. And before Cora knew it, she was pushed into the pond.
Another slash of Peebee jumping in right behind followed. Peebee surfaced and laughed. Finally, Cora composed herself. Standing in the water she looked at her gun. "Well this is crap now"
Ryder laughed. "Come on Cora. Enjoy the refreshing water. I'm, personally, tired of having to ration my shower time. My guns are dry and we all have Biotics. If trouble finds us then I think we can go on the defense a bit before we have to go on the offensive. Plus with all the changes happening to the planet, I think people are going to be a little distracted. I just want to relax" Ryder started to lean back and float on her back "and get the sweat from running off of me"
SAM interrupted the conversation, "Please refrain from skinny dipping Ryder" Ryder let out a loud laugh remembering the first time she saw the acidic water on Kadara and made a comment about skinny dipping. She'd never seen two men get more flustered then Jaal and Liam did that day. Jaal didn't understand the slang and requested more information from Liam. Ryder had a hard time appearing very serious as she listened to Liam fumble through an explanation. It didn't help that she pretend to be offended that he was using her, their Pathfinder" as a visual reference. Liam had corrected himself multiple times from using Ryder as an example to a generic person in the explanation.
Ryder heard Cora sigh and toss her gun back on solid ground making an excuse that she was already wet and it'll only be for a couple minutes. But then Lexi came over comms and started to lecture them about not analyzing the water properly before jumping into the water and how she would need to examine them when they came back to the Tempest. Peebee started to argue back to Lexi about not wanting to be her lab rat. Ryder stopped paying attention. Somehow, life felt normal again. As she floated on her back, she thought she saw some movement in the mountains. Focusing on the area, she saw a shuttle depart into the air. Shuttles flying and landing all across Kadara weren't new but somehow this shuttle caught her eye.