So here starts the mainstream story. Some may find the switch between the main character a bit confusing, but I think it's quite plain and easy to getting used to. As you probably noticed, the story goes in a sideroad with the original Mass Effect storyline. I plan to influance the characters with the actual story plot and this chapter itself will serve as introducing ground for the main characters. Good reading.
Chapter I - The Awakening
Keelah. Why is it so cold here? The heating systems must've shut down. I see great whiteness. My eyes must've been damaged by the infection. Is this afterlife? I feel rather good...
A cough.
So I'm still alive. Not a great deal, since my suit failed utterly. The agony will only start from here. Mother. I'm sorry I've failed you. I always think of you when I touch my heart through my suit. I don't want to die. I can't stop but crying.
What is this? A shadow emerges. Is it death? It grabs me on my shoulders. Ouch! My shoulders hurt and the skin is so sensitive. Skin?!
Doctor Golun screamed through the speaker of his envirosuit as his patient jumped up and started to look around her body with furious curiosity.
''For the sake of everything sacred! Don't scare me like that or I'll get a heart attack!''
The quarian was a bit confused when she heard him. She looked at him with fear and panic in her eyes.
''Where's my suit!? I'll die without it!''
The doctor curled in himself at her yelling.
''Please calm down! Everything's fine! You're in sterile conditions and your suit was badly damaged. Our engineer works on repairing it. To that time you need to remain here. Besides, you're still sick from your infections. You must wait till you recover.''
She looked shaken now. She couldn't remember well.
''I'm confused. Who are you?''
Doctor Golun stood up and took his datapad in his left hand. She looked at him, still being blinded from the bright light and white sterile walls not being obscured by her visor. He came closer, so she could see his face clearly. Under his transparent veil that was an evirosuit, he wore a black lab coat with white front. His head belonged to an old salarian individual, with many wrinkles and faded blue-greenish skin tone. His large eyes looked sympathetic to her.
''I'm doctor Golun Dras. You were brought to me four standard days ago for treatment. You were lucky most of the infections you cought on that planet were mild.''
''Four days? Keelah! I was sleeping for four days?''
''Yes. Your savior was quite curious about your state so I put you in a temporal stasis. He didn't want to see you without your mask, but he provided me with all necesarry treatments for you. He said it was the matter of your privacy.''
''My savior?''
She couldn't quite get his face and had problems recalling her meeting with him. She remembered a gentle face with a large scar and two silenced pistols. There was death, but it didn't terrify her.
Golun walked up to her and typed something on his datapad. Then he gave it to the patient.
The first sensation wasn't the sight of her savior on the photo, but the strange feeling of sensing cold plastic against her skin. It was so bizzare and joyful that it almost frightened her. Up to now, she didn't ever removed her suit. Heck, the suits were even designed in a way so hygienic measures were provided by it too.
Then she loked at the face of her savior.
Running away. She ran behind a corner. Grasp on the slaver remote. The weigh of metal collar on her neck. Fear. Shouts. The doors so close to her. Throbbing pain in the back. Hard landing on the ground. The sound of breaking glass. Panic. Nightmares. Ravings and hunger.
A gentle face. Snake-like scar and worry in his voice. Shot. Shot. Screams of a batarian. Turian. Pain in the back. Electrical shocks. Again the gentle face. Force. Hitting the ground. Two whispered shots and two silent deaths.
Whiteness.
He was a human male looking to be in his thirties with a large scar that run from the base of his left ear throughout his cheek and lips and ended on his chin. He wore a rough goatee, a facial feature unfamiliar with guarian physiology, and had short cut black hair. It striked her. Quarians had their hair cut short for the means of plain comfort within their helmets. She, as many other females, wore a loose sheet on the helmet to imitate hair. She couldn't understand why would he want to cut his hair if he was free to have them long.
She looked closely into his face. By studying it she realised he had sad, green eyes. They intrigued her to the point she became curious, what made them look so sad.
The doctor took the datapad from her. She reluctantly gave it away. Now, that she was calm, she started looking around her. To her surprise, the salarian doctor remained quiet all that time, just observing her dully with the datapad pressed to his torso.
The room was steril-white and had not much features. The bed-troley she was lying on was situated in the middle of the room and she was covered with white sheet. There was a white pillow situated in the head section. The walls didn't show any decorative features and there was a window showing the outer corridor. On the wall that the doors to the room where on there was also a big screen showing lots of stars, so she deduced that she had left the planet. By the wall with the window there was a desk with a computer terminal and a stool.
The crowded decks of Idenna. Her family living area. Three mattresses and a table. White and green sheets on the entrance. One omnitool access port. No windows.
Now she looked again at the doctor who was studying her face. She felt a little embarrassed and tilted her head down.
''I'm sorry for making you feel awkward. It just intrigued me that human and quarian facial features are so simmilar yet so different. Don't understand me wrong, there are lots of media on the extranet showing unmasked Quarian and I've studied your species at university but still, a living example of unmasked quarian is... remarkable. Yet I ensure you that none of your personal matters will leave this room. Doctor-patient confidentiality policy.''
The wandering doctor. Quarian with white robes on his envirosuit. Scan of systems, taking blood samples. Reports to the captain.
She got confused all the more with his explaining but she tried to focus.
''How long will it take for the engineer to give me back my suit?''
''I'm not sure. I think that at longest, it will take another week. He has gotten all into it as a challenge and he doesn't want to fail at any aspect since he need to fully rebuild the neck and head sections to refit them with the new mask...''
''New mask!?''
She inturrupted him. The salarian looked confused, as if for a moment he lost track of what he was saying a moment ago.
''Um, yes? We don't have the technology and resources to manufacture a new visor for your broken mask, so we try to incorporate another, previously acquired one.''
''Okay, I was just affraid of something.''
The day she left the bubble. Her father handing her a grey coloured wrapping. Her mother sheding tears of joy. Father's sigh of joy when she put on the suit and stepped out of the bubble.
Her first colour change. Right before she left the flotilla. The captain being really proud of the younglings he was sending away on their pilgrimages.
The doctor walked to the computer terminal and opened the laptop. The holographic screen turned bright orange and displayed the startup logo. He then turned to her and said:
''For the time being, before you get your suit back, this will be your room. This is a temporary situation as I require this room for more advanced studies. Once you become able to, you will have to relocate. To that time, make yourself at home. The windows are put on venetian mirror status, that means that you can see the people outside but they can't see you here. The terminal here is up to your usage. It has a link to extranet so for most time you won't get bored. If you need me, I'll be in the vincinity of the laboratory's intercom. You can find it on the right of the door. Note, that before I enter here, I must dress like this and decontaminate so don't expect immediate responses from me. Do you understand?''
He ended his meticulous tyrade and watched her curiously. She nodded and he bowed to her.
''I have other duties, so please excuse me.''
He turned away and opened the door to the decontamination chamber when she asked him hurriedly:
''What will become of me? Will I be free?''
''It's in your savior's hands, your fate that is. Don't worry about your wellbeing for now. It was captain Sinead's idea to grant you with a terminal. I'll see to you later. Ill have something prepared for you for your first meal aboard this ship.''
''What is her name?''
''Flotilla's Pride. See you later, young miss quarian.''
He gave her a bright smile and walked away having the doors slide behind him.
She was left alone and the room almost echoed her breathing. She didn't even introduced herself properly and the doctor was so kind to her. As to now, nobody was ever so nice to her. She had lots of food to thought over. The ship's name gave her a little hope. Captain Sinead's name was strange for a quarian, but also having an alien crew on a quarian ship was strange to her. And that human who saved her. He looked really interesting as a person and yet, she still had to wait to thank him properly.
Her tummy roared. The doctor's words about food made her remind herself, that she didn't eat properly since she got captured on her escape attempt. If she calculated properly, that would be almost a standard week without proper meal, not counting the exception of little nutrient paste she ate during the three days she waited for rescue. that still left her with four days of no eating when she lied unconscious on the bed.
So then she quickly stood up and walked towards the laptop. She felt a pleasent cold. First, when her bare feet touched the floor. The feeling was almost sexual to her, as it made all of her body tingle with pleasure. It was really new to her and she stopped for a moment after it. She didn't know a true touch, just a feeling of pressure through a envirosuit.
Two years ago. Hur'Iel nar Idenna hugged her. Her first intimate contact with another. She loved the feeling of pressure against her waist but felt awkward with it. She said goodbye to him when he left for his pilgrimage year and a half ago.
Can it be this good? It almost made her sad, that soon she'll have to return to the suit. On the other hand, the sensations felt intoxicating and made her feel insecure. She even wondered if the ancestors felt the same when they walked the surface of Quarian worlds.
The second wierd thing was, that when she got up and left the sheets on the bed, she realised she was totally naked. She didn't mind the doctor as he didn't seem a pervert to her, but the very thought of being totally naked made her uneasy.
She took off the back portion of her helmet and allowed her mother to cut her hair short. After getting out of the bubble she wasn't allowed to take off more.
She quickly wrapped herself with the sheets like a toga and went to the terminal. Here she discovered a long hospital shirt coloured in green and she undressed again only to put it on in annoyance. The shirt was long to her knees and had short sleeves. It was definitevaly intended for a human as it was much too big for her.
She quickly got the laptop to her and returned o the bed. She covered herself with sheets again just to warm her legs up and she begin toying with the terminal. Firstly, she got up the register and tried to enter the inner files of the ship, but appart from a certain logo with three diamond shapes connected by a circle, she didn't gain any access. She didn't try hard as to not offend her savior. She checked the desktop for any usefull data, but it was just a ''blank'' terminal with just the basic of basic programs.
Her first works with the ship's interface. She mixed up some connections and set up a firewall in the wrong section. She eventually got better with basic programming but it was hard to her.
She then entered the extranet. At first she tried to find something about the ship, but the search gave up nothing useless besides a link to one of the episodes of Fleet and the Flotilla and some irrelevant encyclopedical data on the Quarian's Migrant Fleet.It annoyed her a little. She couldn't find anything useful to her and the idea of using the teminal just for fun was obscure for her. The real equivalent of the holo-vision to her was the storyteller's nights once a week, although some programmes seen right before she got into trouble appealed to her. Especialy the human driven ones about two teams competing to create a functional vechicle out of junk.
It was so strange for her to be in this room. She still felt sick as she coughed multiple times, but she realized they weren't so painful as the last ones she remembered. The doctor remained in her memory as well as the picture of her savior.
He killed the ones that enslaved her, but still they were in terminus systems. Slavery here was legal and he could posibbly wanted to steal her for himself. Still, the care that he had in his voice when he asked her about her health was confusing at most. The way he handled with her enslavers was also suspicious. She didn't see anyone handle guns like him, and she remembered that with three guns he was armed to teeth. He was definitevaly a warrior, but she didn't know if he was the noble knight or the brute barbarian type. Yet he removed the collar which the slavers got her to wear. She was lucky enough, other slaves had limiters installed in their skulls. She felt silent as she turned back to extranet and looked for some more information. She couldn't find anything.
*****
The doctor arrived back after two hours. He carried a large tray covered by a hermetic dome with some plates on it and one glass. Her eyes widened. She didn't eat anything like that before. The doctor smiled at her reaction and placed the tray on her desk before removing the dome and inviting her to sit down and eat. His smile was really sincere and reassuring. She slowly got up leaving the laptop back on the bed and walked towards him in silence. The doctor could see a picture of Migrant Fleet on the display.
The young Quarian bowed to him and looked at him with her head tilted downwards. She was looking like if she wanted to ask him about something but was too shy. Plus the gorgeous smell of the meal was discouraging.
''Please, sit down and eat. After you have it finished I will answer to all your troubling questions. For today you have specially cooked and refined turian quisine. According to the guides, the palaven headcrab soup is delicious. If it weren't for my different set of DNA, I would most likely, how do humans state it, 'chew on' to it.''
She felt a little reassured and sat in front of the dishes. The smell of the aforementioned soup was delicious but she saw a some sort of a cutlet with palaven yarns and some souce on the other other plate. For the glass, the doctor opened a plastic bottle containing mineral water.
''The chef appologizes for not having any tastes for the water that would be based on dextro-aminous ingredients so you have to resort to basic mineral water. I double checked it for any bacteria, so don't worry.''
She looked at his hand when he poured the life-giving fluid into the glass. She didn't know about salarian customs, but he seemed unnaturally graceful and elegant with all his gestures.
She looked confused at the spoon and other utensils. She didn't see them before now. Not used at least, as most restaurants and bars had something like that in their logos.
''Ah! My bad! I forgot that you quarians use the tube ingested nutrients. It's obvious you wouldn't know how to use the utensils!''
She was quite surprised by his observation skills. That's salarian scientist for you, she thought. Soon he got the spoon in his hand and showed her how to scoop the soup. It was hard at first, but she learned fast and soon the soup was gone. The taste of the soup was out of this world. It tasted a bit metallic, but it was beyond her imagination to describe the taste thoroughly. The doctor only smiled sincerely as he watched her. Like a parent observing it's child doing something for the first time on it's own.
Nextly was the lesson of using a a fork and a knife. She had problems when he introduced her to handling the fork in her left hand, but soon she adjusted mirroring the moves in opposite hands. The second meal had the same mystery to it's taste as the first one, but she found it extremely different. The doctor didn't said what it was made from, but it tasted so delishously that she melted with joy.
After the meal was finished, the doctor left the three quarters full bottle on the table and sat on her bed besides the laptop. He then opened his datapad and looked curiously at his patient.
''I can answer all your questions now, young miss. Tell me, what makes you uneasy?''
She stood in front of him but after she let out a loud cough he ordered her to sit back with the gesture of his hand. She took back her place and looked at him with uneasy stare.
''First of all, I wanted to thank you for your care. I must do the same with my savior as soon as possible. The second thing, you gave me your name, so I would like to introduce myself.''
He noded with a smile and clicked something on his datapad not averting his gaze from her. She stood and bowed bfore him saying:
''I am Kala'Rai nar Idenna. Nice too meet you.''
''Dito here. So tell me, Kala'Rai, what troubles you?''
''I think I'm just affraid. You showed your care, and I appreciate it, but I feel trapped in here.''
''It's only natural. I'm not certain how you got into the hands of your enslavers, but you were mistreated and held in a tight cage, as your savior explained to me. You know we're in the terminus systems and you are affraid that you just got from one scumbag to another. I don't blame you, as I would thought the same in your position. I know it's hard for you to trust me as you are kept here as in some sort of prison. I can just reasure you, that we aren't slavers and we won't treat you bad. When we finish the repairs to your suit, you are free to go. That's what captain Sinead told me at least. And, if you wish to go for a walk, I can find you a temporary replacement suit much like my own, but I won't let you go anywhere without escort. Not that I don't trust you, a quarian without it's protective suit would not be a real challenge on a freighter such a this one. It's to ensure your safety.''
She quietly processed his words. So much data in one outburst. So he wants to let her out? That seemed nice to her.
''Is it possible to find a replacement with polarized faceshield?''
She asked without certainty in her voice. He smiled again.
''We have some of our space suits for maintenance with golden visors. I can issue you a turian one. It will be a little too big, but we can use some rubber strings to make it up for it. I can decontaminate one fully for you in a matter of a standard hour. How about that?''
''I would be obliged.''
*****
The walk around the shp was quite fascinating. Even if
the ship had a Quarian layout, there were none of her brethren to be seen. She considered for the first time, that captain Sinead wasn't really a Quarian and that, despite Golun's reasurance, they may be crooks.
When they left the medical ward she has seen lots of Turians, more humans clad in both armor or casual clothings, and sometimes even a salarian. She didn't count but there was at least forty crewmates and she saw more.
The doctor first introduced her to a female human wearing a red camouflage heavy armor and a wave of straight and blonde hair. Her face wore many little moles which made it look cute despite the overall tomboyish aura od the person. She had deep blue eyes that stared at her veiled visage with a mixture of great confidence and the knowledge of combat superiority.
''Kala'Rai, meet our chief of security and the leader of turian division, Kathrine Smith. Chief, meet our quarian guest.''
The blond stood up and bowed to the quarian just momets before standing up to the fragile doctor.
''Kurwa! For the last time! Don't use the translator to pronounce my name for you, or at least get adecent one! It's Katarzyna Kowalska!''
The first word. Kala was certain that it was a swearing word but she didn't hear someone using a word that had such power to it before. This Katarzyna person was really scary. She decided to never mispronounce her name, even if it contained hard sounds. The doctor looked miserable trying to cover his face from her shouts. She wanted to take the attention off of him.
''N- Nice to meet you, miss Catashina...''
Keelah! She mispronounced it.
To her surprise, the human woman smiled broadly. She wrapped her arm around Kala's shoulders and laughed.
''Good try, practice it more.''
''O-Okay...''
'' Don't worry! You're welcomed here. Siny saw something in you, methinks, so me and my subordinates will cope with that. How's the health? You looked pretty bad when I saw you for the first time.''
''Thank you. Im still coughing but the doctor says I'll be fine.''
She pointed at Golun who raised his finger in a protest to Katarzyna's friendly gesture.
''I advise you to not let yourself too friendly like that! It can lead to perforation or worse, riping the suit apart and most likely...''
''Hey doc!''
One turian yelled to him sitting besides a desk at the monitoring section.
''Eh!? Yes? What is it?''
''Catch!''
Kala'Rai observed as the turian threw a red fruit picked up from Katarzynas desk. It splaterred on the scientist's torso.
''Ack! No! Germs! Dirt! Bacterias!''
The salarian looked so terrified, that the quarian couldn't take this as a mocking of her immune system. At first the doctor tried to brush it from his chest, but as he realized it got onto his hands he screamed like a terrified child:
''Disinfectant! Disinfectant!''
He quickly ran down the corridor and forgot about his patient.
''Hey doc! I'll take care of her!''
The blonde laughed and showed a thumbs up to the Turian, which he mirrored with his hand. Kala noticed that he had violet facial tattoos and a metal plate in place of his upper ridge.
''Thanks Chronus! I owe you one.''
''No problem boss.''
''Kala, this is Chronus, my second in command and the best covert ops specialist on this side of the traverse.''
''Nice to meet you Kala. I hope you like our ship and it lets you feel almost like at home.''
He waved to her givng out the Turian equivalent of a smile.
Chronus had a mild reverbating voice like most turians, but there was something gentle in it. Kala liked it and he seemed nice to her.
''Same here. Yes, it's design looks pretty familiar to our oldest ships, but yet everything looks so big.''
''That's the manufactrers curtesy. Quarians are typically smaller than humans, and a natural ceiling height for a quarian would match the humans in height. Instead, he used standard citadel measurements adjusted to Quarian architecture. Thus, even a krogan could easily fit in the corridors.''
''So the manufacturer was a quarian?''
She asked out of curiosity.
''Sort of. He wantd to give this ship to fleet and it to house a big amount of quarians. Thus some of it's designs are derived from a luxury line cruiser. As of now we have exactly 86 crewmembers and one special guest.''
He made the last two words sound flattering. She blushed under her mask and went silent.
''Okay, enough of it, butter-cheeks! I'll give the girl a tour and you should get back to work.''
She scolded him. He just tilted his head to the left side, as if in surprise.
''Sure thing boss. I'm on it. Bye, Kala.''
*****
The next stop was at the mess hall. It was long, again showing off Quarian designs. At the very end of the long table, lied the kitchen segment. Here, one turian and one human in a buffy white hat and a funny looking appron wearing the sign 'kiss the cook' stood and were busy with their work.
''Hey chief! I've brought you someone grateful!''
It was true, they ended up here only becouse Kala wanted to thank the cheff for the best meal in her entire life.
''I wanted to thank you for the meal. It was delicious.''
The cheff scratched the back of his head in confusion.
''You must be that quarian that Sinead and doc were talking about. Well thank you for your appreciation, but most of the work was done by this guy over there.'' He pointed at the turian who was looking too busy to notice the newcomers. ''Crunchy cooks everything for those damned turians, so he cooked it for you. I Just purified the ingredients. The name's Cookie, by the way.''
He extended a hand to her. Kala shook it, mimicking one of the human gestures she discovered after going on her pilgrimage. Then Katarzyna called the turian named Crunchy. He didn't respond but still Kala was smirking under her veil to the names they had. Obviously, they were nicknames, but she liked them.
Then something horrible happened. Katarzyna grabbed a knife and threw it at the turian. The cheff and quarian stood there in shock as they watched the knife flew in the alien's direction. It went through a wooden cutboard beside his head and springed. The turian just grabed it and used it to cut a red tubular vegetable on his own cutboard.
''You're getting worse, Kathy. In the younger days you could kill a fly with a knife twice the size of this one.''
He said as he turned to them and smiled at Kala. His voice was really old, he could easily have fought against humans in the First Contact War. His face was blank, with no facial tattoos and his plate-scales were derived of all shinyness. He was old, even for a turian.
''Glad you liked it. When I'll get proper ingredients, I'll make you some better food. Damned be the terminus system and batarian traders.''
The conversation didn't last long, as Kala wanted to see the one responsible for her suit and, as he was an engineer, it would let her see to the engines, which were always the indicator of ship's wellness.
She was overwhelmed by the sight of the engines. The large room contained a big eezo core, which looked to her more like if it was even too big for a freighter able to sustain such big crew. The engines themselves weren't that enormous, but the ship had them in multiple number. More than half of the engines weren't working at the time. Katarzyna laughed at the young quarian's state of awe and pushed her further down the engineering deck.
There was a strange thing here going on. She saw technicians all around, mostly human, but the sight was disturbing. In the middle of a small empty space, there laid a table with her suit on it. Around it, there were lit candles and parchments with unknown language words written on them. At the table there stood a tall man wearing a gas mask and a red hooded robe with golden decorations. He had one hydraulic appendage attached to his shoulders, sporting a flashlight.
The strange human worked meticulously around the neck of the suit trying to connect lots of varying circuits in a proper manner. He hummed something that sounded like prayer to her. Then Katarzyna, the brute she were, walked up to him and punched his artificial limb.
''Hey cogboy! You have a visitor!''
The red robed man looked at Kala and quickly extanded his hand towards her.
''Artificer Stern. Don't worry, your suit will be operational and his machine spirit will be pleased within next four days. Your flesh-weakness will no longer be of a bigger problem to you.''
As quick as she shook his hand once, he retracted it and returned to his prayers and work.
''That's Stern for you. Don't bother with him too much. He has read some lore from the start of XXI century and he now names himself the phrophet of the machine god. As long as he tingles only with machines, but not AI it's good enough for me. Don't involve yourself in religious disputes with this guy and you'll be okay.''
She explained the strange acting of the self proclaimed priest and walked away. Kala followed her in every footstep, looking back after her suit. The mask looked different and she knew she will have to revisage her ''wig'' after she wears it again.
Then they went to the bridge, as Kala wanted to meet captain Sinead. When they entered it, she saw a great spheric room with floor hung slight under the middle. There was a big galaxy map displayed in a round holograph and some people situated in chairs around it. Behind the ''round table'' was a long corridor which she couldn't properly classify. In front of it stood three person. A turian with dark complexion and grey markings dressed in black uniform, an Asari in white camouflage armor and a man dressed in a black coat that turned out to be her savior.
They were discussing something with the turian which gesticulated a lot and often pointed at the map. The Asari stood between the two men and talked calmly when her savior tried to persuade the turian into his own point of view.
Katarzyna stopped her with her hand. She looked worried. The conversation was much louder now and the quarian could hear some of it's bits.
''I'm telling you we need to get to the north part of the traverse in order to back up Shepard! He's on his own out there! We must go there immediately!''
The Turian had a loud voice with a high flanging tones which made him sound squeaky yet strong and terrifing which added to the facial tattoos which were probably a imitation of his colony's worst fear from the past.
''I understand what you say, but I can't risk this ship's crew when we have that little amount of specialists. If you want to go by his example, then okay, but you need to gather more of them. It's either highly specialised or high numbers. Not both, not neither. And we need to get a proper ship for quick insertion. How do you expect a freighter like this survive a full-scale geth attack? It is fast, but also big. And it has other purpose than just being shot down by some synthethic bastards! Ive said my last word on this! Recruit more specialists and we dive into traverse. I'll take care of the insertion ship.''
The turian growled and looked at the asari, but when he didn't see approval of his words from her, he just banged his fist on one of the map's console and went out through the long corridor.
''That pissed off guy is Grey Ghost. He's a Spectre and he's hiring us. Come, I'll introduce you to those two.''
She felt really uncertain when Katarzyna dragged her by hand over to the place where the two warriors stood and now studied the map.
''...We should head back to Noveria. Maybe somebody useful signed up to us? And we could buy that vessel there as well.''
The asari spoke to the man with a soft yet proud tone.
''You're right. I'll tell Diaz to set a course for the base. I Hope that being that close to the traverse will calm down Ghost... Oh! We've got an outer-space malfunction?''
He turned to face the quarian, mistaking her for a member of the crew. Katarzyna laughed genuinely and patted Kala on her shoulders.
''She got tired of waiting so doc let her out in this costume. She really wanted to meet you. Go! introduce yourself!''
She pushed her slightly forward and walked into the long corridor. Kala dropped her gaze down and bowed before the two aliens. To her surprise, they did the same, but slightly higher as if to show their senior status.
''Keelah se'lai. My name is Kala'Rai nar Idenna. It's an honor to be here with you.''
The male smiled a bit.
''Keelah se'lai, young Kala. I'm Sinead Card vas Flotilla's Pride nar Ellysium. This is Shara Dan'ti. It's nice to have you on my ship.''
She was thrown into confusion when he ended his sentence. Not only did her savior appearer to be the captain, but he also introduced himself in proper quarian fashion. Also he has told her from where does he hail as she heard about Ellysium colony when she had listened to her enslaver's conversation. She quickly snapped out of it and bowed again.
''I would like to thank you for rescuing me and all the effort you took in restoring my suit. I pomise not to be a burden and I'll leave as soon as possible.''
''Don't worry about it. You're fully welcomed here as a guest of honor and if you want to, you can stay here for as long as you want. We can also drop you off over the Flotilla in our free time. Meanwhile, feel yourself at home. We could use a quarian engineer to help out Stern.''
Kala was overjoyed with the way he treated her, but she went silent.
''We can, of course drop you by on some civilised planet if you want.''
The asari spoke for the first time, gifting her with a broad smile. Kala looked up at her.
''No, that's not the case. Im not really good at engines. I'm rather good with computer systems and hacking though.''
''That's okay. Chronus needs someone to help him maintain the inner network of the ship. If you want, ask him. I bet Katarzyna introduced you to him.''
''Thank you for your trust. I'll try not to fail you.''
''No worries. Take your time with the decision. If you feel like you need something, ask one of us. I'm usually at my cabin, the last door in that corridor. Katarzyna is stationed at the security block near the habitual deck. Shara is often here or around the mess hall. Golun you know.''
''Thank you. I'll think it over.''
''Keelah se'lai, Kala.''
''Keelah se'lai, captain.''
*****
The next days were better, with her having less nightmares, less coughing and adjusting to the crew's life. She didn't have any ocasion to speak with captain Sinead, but everytime she went out to ask Chronus about her duties she got to talk with him and Katarzyna and once even with Shara.
The turian seemed to be a funny type of guy as he almost always cracked some jokes. He quickly apprecieted the help she provided and let her into the inner network of the base. Thanks to it she could shorten her trips to get assignments as he used an in-built communication program to send her messages. Up to now she got the basic chores like finding system bugs and were they were located. It turned out that the ship was overally in a great state, but the operating systems were in a really bad shape.
She finally felt needed and had a purpose. She even decided, that she'll stay here as a crewmate and will help them with their mission. She wasn't exactly sure what the mission was about, but it considered geths, and all living quarians were concerned about why did they left the perseus veil. She knew it would be dangerous, but the price was worthy enough for her to risk. And still, she wanted to know why does this ship has quarian designs and what links Sinead to the Migrant Fleet.
Then came the day, when she was introduced to her newly repaired envirosuit. It lost it's red and white colouring due to absence of any power source, but she found it fully functional. She decided to keep the gray colourization for the time being.
The doctor stood in front of her and gave her a broad smile before handing her the power source.
''As you still require a proper environment for actions like eating and such, I've spoken with captain Sinead about your relocation. Although it can sound a little disturbing to you, you'll share a room with him. It has the decontamination field working almost all the time so it's a good selection. He was reluctant at first, but I convinced him that since all other cabins haven't used their decontaminants in a long time, due to lack of quarian inhabitants, it's best to relocate you there.''
She looked curious.
''I'm used to sharing room from my time at home, but I still can't understand why does the captain act like a quarian. Even having the decontaminant field running all the time, when he obviously has a fully functional immune system.''
The doctor listened closely to what she said.
''When you dress up, come with me. I'll show you something.''
He said mysteriously before walking out of the room.
She looked after him with confusion and dressed up quickly. Then she took the laptop with her and went out. It was strange and sad to get back into the senseless suit. Sure, she got vision, smell and hearing, but without the touch factor it felt terrible. Still, it reminded her of home so she was happy to some degree.
The doctor led her through some passages and through the habitual deck just to have Chronus open a maintenance corridor for them.
''Showing her the shrine, huh? Good luck doc. By the way Kala, nice attire.''
She waved to him for good bye and entered the passage.
It was really dark in here and she needed to use her omni-tool to lit up the lights, despite that the doctor moved ahead without any doubt. The smell here was like home for her, the mixture of old air and oil. The doctor led her through some crossings of the corridors and finally stopped at something that in fact, looked like a shrine.
Here was a metal crate attached to the wall. On it there stood two neon lights and a holographic picture between them showing a veiled visage of a quarian. She quickly realized that his mask was the one that her suit now consisted.
The doctor dropped his gaze in a sad gesture. She realized, that the crate must be the burial site of the quarian.
''Here lies Rodo'Narat nar Raaya. He was the manufacturer of this ship and Captain Sinead's beloved friend. I won't tell you about their common history, that's something the captain alone can do. It's enough to tell you that they were like brothers and that captain lost his left arm trying to save him.''
''Lost an arm? But he had both when I saw him last time.''
''It's just a prosthethic limb. Anyways, lets not disturb the peace of the eversleeping. I'll lead you to captain's cabin. It too, was meant to be Rodo's room but he never got the chance.''
She looked at the shrine for a while longer. A captain buried on his ship. There wasn't a better place for a quarian. She gently stroked the coffin and loked deeply into what was his veiled eyes.
''Keelah se'lai, proud child of Raaya.''
She took her hand back and walked after the doctor.
The captain's room was in the furthest area of the corridor in the bridge section. The doors sported Quarian artistic markings, probably remembering the time when Rodo himself painted them. The doctor left her and she took a quick breath before entering the room
She was greated by a decontaminants chamber, similar to the ones usually located at the main airlock. Afterward, she entered the main room. She was greated by a strange sight. The spacious five cornered room had white furniture with a little rug sporting more quarian symbols. It had a large double bed with light-blue sheets on it and black satin cushions, a desk with a computer terminal with large display and a wardrobe next to a hung screen. There was also one couch in it's opposite. But the strange factor of the sight was, that two of the walls closest to the bed were just missing. There was the space outside of the ship that she could see.
Her awe was disrupted by Sinead who entered the room using the other doors, located in front of the wardrobe. He looked surprised.
''Oh! Hi! I didn't hear you going in. How do you like the room?''
''It's great, but that wall is disturbing.''
''Oh! I sometimes turn some scenery before I go to sleep. You can turn off the display or change it by the remote. Just like that''
He stretched his left hand towards the wall and double clicked a remote in his palm.
Now she got to look closely at him. He was wearing a black t-shirt and denim pants with black socks. His left arm was entirely metal having a good covering around it, but still showing his hand as skeletal.
The walls turned white after he clicked the remote and he dropped it at the desk. Only now she noticed things like a bookshelf over the bed and a bed table between it and the couch. Sinead turned his green eyes to her.
''I've prepared a seperate space for you. I know that quarians don't have a problem with sharing a room, but it would look bad if everyone saw us sleeping in one room.''
''Yes, yes! I understand it.''
She now sounded embarassed. Even for a second she didn't consider this case. Her savior smiled a bit to her, but still she saw sadness in his eyes. She guessed it's becouse she was wearing Rodo's mask. Sinead invited her to the next room.
The room appeared to be the bathroom. She looked accusingly at him.
''Okay, I know it looks strange, but this room, besides being a bathroom is a special escape pod. It has a fridge, own oxygen supply and it's own water current which I already changed to a clean one for you. The doors are hermetic and it has the same decontamination device the main room has. You have a drawer here as well as a bed, and you still can use my room freely. And, here you can take your suit off if you want, as every five minutes it becomes decontaminated. You still have to wear it around my room though, as my breath can spread dangerous germs. For worst, I have a rebreather mask.''
The idea sounded really nice to her. She enjoyed sleeping outside her suit in the laboratory and now she was given a chance to do so every night. Also her new roommate sounded quite nice for someone who had an authority over her. Now he was explaining to her how to know if the field works.
Under the ceiling there was a small box which would blip with a green light every five seconds and light up for the process every five minutes. If the light turned red and flashed constantly, it would meen a malfunction. He also gave her a similar remote to the one he used on the 'space' walls explaining that she can program it according to her will and that the remote also services the music system, which she can adjust on her terminal.
''But it's still your bathroom. What will you do when you feel the 'urge'?''
He smiled genuinely and left the room saying:
''It's not the only bathroom on this deck. I'll use another one. Feel yourself at home. Pleasent dreams, Kala.''
She put her laptop on the drawer, locked the door and sat on her couch-bed. The walls of the room blened around Sinead's cabin and she had a six cornered room trying to keep the shape of a square. She had a shower cabin next to the bed and a toilet opposite it. There was a reservoir here as well, and she had a small box container hung over the bed.
She started to play with the remote on the wall that was on the opposite of her. She saw some lakes, some mountains, even industrial and space screens, and one live feedback from the cameras outside the ship. Then she suddenly discovered a mirror screen.
There she was. A grey clothed Quarian with her right hand extanded forward. She stood up and looked at her image. She then looked on the decontamination box and waited for the green light to flash. When the procedure was done, she took off her mask.
She saw her face for the first time. Milky-purple complexion, violet irises, narrow eyes, black brows and a row of black, short cut hair, now still longer than ever. She wondered where would go the dividing line.
She touched her cheeks and looked directly into her eyes. The tears formed in them. So this is what her ancestors ignorance took from her people. Touch and their faces. Even if she tried, even if her mother was a scientist on Alarei working on how to hack the geth, she wasn't able to hate the syntetics for quarians's humilation. It was still the fault of the ancestors. She quickly took off her suit and looked onto her body. She wanted to find a way for their people to enjoy the touch like she did.
She went to the shower, a clean towel waited for her besides it. The learning of it's use was easy and soon she scrubbed her skin with a harsh sponge covered in synthethic soap. It was so good that she wanted it to last longer.
In the other room, Sinead undressed himself to his boxer shorts and dressed his artificial arm in a sponge like tissue. Then he turned it off at his belt and dropped on the bed. Before covering himself with sheets, he checked his gun under the pillow and threw himself on the other side, not to face the door of the quarian. His eyes dampened themselves with tears as he sobbed quietly.
''The mask looked good on her, Rodo. Good night.''
Then there was silence as he fell asleep.