Mass Effect

Massive Shock Redux

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Mass Effect or BioShock franchises or any characters or property that BioWare or 2K games has staked claim upon. Original Characters that I create may be used or distributed for use at my leisure.

"Life is a choice."

~Anonymous~

Ch. 2: Presidium

It's morning I believe… Don't know what day… Or year.

"You still with us man?" The turian says, giving me a gentle shake.

I turn my head slowly to look at him.

"You still with me?" the turian says again. "Listen, I'm with C-Sec. I called an ambulance, they'll be here soon, okay?"

"I don't… I don't understand what's happening?" I respond, thinking out loud. I really don't know what else to say. This is really shocking. Not like this hasn't happened before, but the fact that there are aliens talking to me is really jarring. Like. I can smell them. Turians smell pretty okay just FYI. Clean, no cologne or anything.

Wait. Listen to me. I'm basing my opinion of turian smells off of the one and only turian I've met so far. How closed minded of me.

"What happened to you?" the quarian next to me says.

I turn and look at her. I can see the hazy silhouette of her face inside the mask as well as her glowing eyes.

"Err…" I mumble, not able to formulate words as I look at this quarian. By the way, quarians smell like sterile metal and laundry. This quarian has a black and blue suit, similar to Tali'Zorah nar Rayya's suit from ME1. Huh. Funny how I can remember that so vividly. I'm sure many small details to come will escape me but I can remember that fairly well. "What do you mean?"

"Well you're all battered and bruised and there's a knife in your chest." The quarian says. "Were you attacked?"

"I have a… oh!" I mutter looking down at my chest. The splicer's kitchen knife is still protruding from my sternum. Could be worse. "Well would you look at that."

"Don't worry man the ambulance will be here in a few minutes." The turian says. "My name's Officer Sagaeus, what's your name?"

"Err…" I mumble, trying to sound confused and act dumb.

I don't really want to tell him, particularly because I don't want a record of my being here. Even with my mind racing with the wildness of my current situation and the confusion of my existence, I worry that if they figure out I'm not a registered person here they may deport me to Earth or something. Which wouldn't be all bad but I have this funny feeling that I'm supposed to be here. Besides, it's probably easier to hide here on the Citadel where people come and go frequently.

"Listen, I think I'll be okay. No need for any ambulance." I say to this Officer Sagaeus. This Officer Sageaus is a large turian, hulking over me. He's got shiny dark, sort of gun-metal skin with a brown tone to it. His eyes are a luminous yet rich green. He's also got a pretty serious scar on the left side of his face. It's thick and convex, pale and shiny. It runs down from just above the brow of his left eye, down from the corner of his left eye to his neck. The cut left a noticeably permanent disfiguration in the form of him missing most of his left mandible.

"But you're hurt! And you almost drowned! I insist you see a doctor." The asari says. She's very attractive in an odd sort of way. Aesthetically she's simply gorgeous and her white facial markings that strike down from each of her head flappy things give her an exotic flair. Her upper lip is also the same white as for a small square on her lower lip giving her a very… chic geisha sort of vibe.

"Really, I don't need an ambulance." I say. "I don't think I could afford it anyways."

"You can't… Oh I see." Officer Sagaeus says, something dawning on him. "Mm… okay, listen, I promise that nothing will happen okay? But you need a doctor."

"What?" I say confused.

"Listen, I get it. You're… not from around here." Officer Sagaeus says.

"Ohhh." The quarian mumbles, looking thoughtful.

Well shit. I guess they figured out that I'm not supposed to be here.

The asari looks about her and then leans to Officer Sagaeus. "Listen, I know someone who could treat him."

He looks at her silent for a moment then raises his hand to his face. A orange glow sheathes his arm from his fingertips to his elbow. Oh! An Omni-Tool! How cool!

"Dispatch, this is Officer Sagaeus. I called in a 10-52 near the Embassies. Yeah, cancel that. The victim just ran off." Officer Sagaeus says into his omni-tool. There's a moment of silence as I assume he's listening to dispatch through some earpiece. "He took off quickly, I pursued for a moment but he didn't commit a crime so I didn't feel I could arrest him and force him into an ambulance… Roger."

Officer Sagaeus stands and helps me to my feet. "Okay where are we taking him?"

The asari gets to her feet as well. "To the Consort's Chambers! Quickly he's bleeding and people are noticing."

"Alright folks!" Officer Sagaeus shouts to the crowd. "Show's over! I'm taking this guy to the doctor! Give him some space, come on!"

The C-Sec officer and the quarian support me as we follow the asari towards the Consort's Chambers, which is just a short ways away.

"Thanks you guys." I mumble, surprisingly weak.

"Hey don't worry about it guy." The officer says, his arm wrapped under mine and around my torso. He's much taller than I am. He must be at least 6'6". "Just remember to pay it forward."

"Will do." I say, feeling really tired suddenly, my head getting heavy and rolling forward. Oh shit. I guess I lost a lot more blood than I thought I did.

"Whoa! Damn! He's fading!" The quarian says, alarmed.

"We're here! Come on!" The asari says, leading us to a backdoor into the Consort's Chambers.

She opens the door with a code from her omni-tool and leads us into a nice lounge room that is probably for staff only. She talks us through a hall and into a private room that looks like a massage room.

"Put him on the table!" She exclaims. "I'll be back!"

She runs off, while the officer hoists me up on the table. The quarian closes the door and rushes to my side.

"Fuck." Officer Sagaeus mumbles as he examines me. "Not good… Hey help me out and find some scissors or something. I need to get his clothes off."

The quarian says an affirmation and I hear her rummaging through some cupboards and drawers. Some soothing music begins to play and the lighting in the room changes to something more like candle-light.

"Fuck sorry." The quarian says, the room quickly returning to its normal lighting, the music stopping.

"Hey! Focus! I need some towels or something to help staunch the bleeding." The officer says. "Fuck man you're bleeding everywhere."

"Sorry." I mumble.

The quarian soon returns, handing over a pair of small scissors.

Officer Sagaeus uses then to cut my dirty, ragged, bloodstained shirt off. "Holy fuck man. What are you some kind of pit fighter? You've seen some damage."

"Quit gawking." I mumble in response, my vision getting dark and my head feeling really light and swimmy.

"Gimme those towels!" Officer Sagaeus says. "Here! Put pressure on that wound in his shoulder."

"Fuck! What the hell happened to you dude!" The quarian exclaims.

I hear the door open again and a gasp.

"Nelyna what in the fucking fuck?!" A woman's voice exclaims. "When you said there was an emergency I assumed you meant you spilled something!"

"Can you just help please?!" The asari's voice responds. "He's dying!"

"Goddammit!" The other woman's voice responds. "This guy needs a goddamn hospital!"

"He's unregistered!" Officer Sagaeus responds. "He'll be deported if we take him to a hospital… but if this gets any worse I'm going to call an ambulance."

"No. I can help him." The woman's voice says. "Alright give me that medi-gel you brought Nelyna. And you, get ready to press hard with those towels when I take the knife out. You, quarian, keep doing what you're doing."

I feel a hard grip on the knife in my chest. "Okay… one, two, three!"

The knife gets yanked out of my chest and I grunt even though I hardly felt it. I feel soft towels get pressed against my chest hard immediately after the knife gets pulled out. The woman who pulled it out drops the knife and it clatters on the floor.

"Okay I'm gonna apply the medi-gel. I'll have to get deep in there. The knife probably nicked an artery. That's why he's bleeding so much." The woman says. "Move the towels and hold him still."

I feel the towels move and something get inserted into the wound in my chest. It hurts a lot but I try not to move too much. Not like I have the strength to anyways. Something cold and thick is being squirted inside of me.

"Okay… I… got it!" The woman exclaims happily. "Okay get me those sutures please."

I feel my chest getting sutured up quickly and some more of the cold thick substance gets squirted over the suture.

"Okay… fuck me." The woman mumbles. "Who is this guy?"

"No idea…" The asari, Nelyna, responds. "Officer Sagaeus pulled him out of the lake and I gave him resuscitation."

"Well, he can't stay here you know." The woman says.

"He's got nowhere else to go." Officer Sagaeus says.

"This is the Consort's Chambers! Not a hotel!" The woman responds.

"He can come with me." The quarian says. "I know a place he can stay."

"Mm… Okay." Officer Sagaeus reponds. "If you need anything, any of you, here's my card. Just contact me."

"Thanks." The quarian responds. "I'm Nata'Acii Nar Rayya. You can call me Nata."

"Nelyna." Nelyna says.

"Cassandra." The woman who sutured me up says, sounding a little more begrudging.

"Okay, well, I need to leave now. Good work, the lot of you. I won't be reporting this. Just make sure he gets out of here soon… give him a minute though." Officer Sagaeus says before leaving.

Meanwhile, I'm still hardly conscious. I'm only listening right now for the most part. My eyes won't stay open and my head is still swimming.

"I'll keep an eye on him." Nelyna says. "Let him rest."

And as if on cue when I hear that, I pass out.

Hours Later…

I awake, my head throbbing.

"Balls." I mumble, sitting up from the massage table. Looking down, I see bandages wrapped around my chest and shoulder. Many other parts of my torso are bruised purple or yellow-green and I feel the soreness of all my exertions and injuries setting. The room and massage table have been cleaned and I also have been cleaned from head to toe. That's invasive. But what's more is that my clothes are gone. Not a big loss. They were torn, filthy, faded, and bloodstained. I'm wearing a pair of grey sweat pants and nothing else. A pair of black Keds-like slip on shoes are on the floor next to the bed. I slip my feet into them and hop off the massage table. Far too quickly. My legs give out from under me and I catch myself on the massage table with a grunt.

I hear a gasp and I look up to see the asari from earlier rushing over to help me from a chair in the corner. She grabs me from around the torso and helps me to my feet.

"Whoa! Take it easy!" She says.

"Ugh… sorry." I respond, letting her help me back onto the massage table.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to yourself!" She responds. "You need to go easy on yourself. After what you've been through… speaking of, what happened to you?"

"It's complicated." I respond. "Listen, you wouldn't believe me anyways, so can we just move on?"

She puts her hands on her hips. "It's been a real ordeal of a day. And I want to explain something: That C-Sec officer put his job on the line for you, a stranger. I put my job on the line for you, a stranger! So has everyone else that's helped you. The least you can do is offer an explanation for how you got so hurt in the first place! We just want to help you."

Unable to immediately respond, I just sigh. Well, she's right… I got to say. I'm really not used to people being so kind or wanting to help a stranger so badly. "Listen I-"

Just then, the door opens and the quarian from earlier comes in, yawning. "Oh hey! He's awake!"

I groan. Great. More people I have to explain myself to.

"Oh good." The asari says, crossing her arms. "He was just about to explain himself."

"Oh great." The quarian says, taking a seat on the counter across from me, further away than the asari. "So what's the story?"

"I was just saying that it's complicated and not believable." I say.

"Try us." The quarian says with a shrug.

"Mm. Fine. Well… I don't know where to start. Uh. Well, I'm from Earth. I'm from a city called Rapture. Rapture is a really bad place, with really bad people. Earlier today, I was being held captive by a group of splicers who were followers of a woman named Dr. Sophia Lamb. They had held me captive for a few weeks and I'd been beaten and tortured for some time. I escaped, but the holding facility was destroyed. I barely escaped and I was sure I was going to die but… I don't know something happened and the next thing I knew I was here." I say, deliberately leaving out a lot of information.

"Okay… Okay yeah that was hard to believe." The quarian says, shaking her head. "Okay, so let me get this straight. Just earlier today you were on Earth?"

I nod.

"And you were being held captive by… what did you call them? Splicers?" The asari asks.

Fuck. Did I say splicers? I should have called them people but they're not even kind of people so I can see how I let that slip. "Uh, yeah. In Rapture, there are these people who use gene editing technology to change themselves. They're called splicers."

"Uh-huh…" The asari says. There's a long pause. "And… Where is this… 'Rapture?'"

"It's… under the ocean." I say.

The asari looks back at the quarian, who looks at her. They both look back at me.

"That's… interesting." The asari says, looking both creeped out and worried.

"… Okay seriously, cut the bullshit. What happened to you?" The quarian says folding her arms.

I sigh. "That's the truth. I don't know what else to say… Maybe I can show you."

I hop off of the table and focus my energy. This is going to be tough. I drained myself practically dry before I got here. But by now my body will have naturally restored at least enough EVE to show them. I raise my right hand and activate Electro Bolt.

They both gasp as the veins in my arm and the right side of my face and neck turn black and then glow a bight blue. Electricity arcs between my fingers and in long bolts down my arm.

"By the Goddess!" The asari exclaims.

I raise my other hand and activate Incinerate. They stare for a moment as nothing happens immediately. But then the asari furrows her brow in confusion as ripples of heat waft off of my arm. It suddenly bursts into angry flame, scathingly hot and roaring slightly.

"Keelah!" The quarian gasps, getting off the counter.

The asari grabs a towel and wets it in a sink, most likely to throw on my arm.

"Stay back!" I growl through gritted teeth, the plasmids turning painful. "That won't work! This is supposed to happen!"

I deactivate them with a sigh, collapsing back against the massage table, the flames licking out and the electricity disappearing, the veins bulging bright blue disappearing as well. The burnt flesh on my arm quickly heals and returns to normal as well.

"By the Goddess…" the asari mumbles.

"… Okay… A city under the ocean is sounding more plausible now." The quarian says.

I climb back up onto the massage table with a groan. "Look, you don't need to believe me. Just know, I don't know how I got here, but I really appreciate you guys helping me stay. I'm not used to getting help in this way from strangers. Rapture was a hellhole. I couldn't go anywhere without some spliced up psycho trying to kill me. It's nice to be able to rely on people for a change."

"Okay but the powers thing." The asari says pointing at me and looking a little freaked out.

"What about them?" I ask.

"How does that work exactly?" She asks looking still freaked out.

"Okay… it's a little complicated. But in the vicinity of Rapture, there was this species of sea slug that had a substance inside of them that basically stimulate the formation of rapid, very potent stem cell production. It was called ADAM. In its raw form it's a vicious green glowing slime. Science was able to encode the ADAM with "splices" meaning that they were able to input gene codes into the stem cells to foster a particular kind of change in the person. The encoded splices were called Tonics and Plasmids. Plasmids work like turning a switch on or off. I can activate them as I need them. Things like electricity or fire abilities. Tonics on the other hand work all the time. Things like being able to run faster, having faster cellular cycling, having to eat less, having tougher skin, etc. So ADAM splices became fashionable and people were using them left and right but it was also addictive. By the time they figured that out it was too late and people had become dependent. With ADAM shortages as well, there was too much demand and not enough supply. Eventually, the city just fell to pieces. I was caught up there.

"But for me, ADAM isn't addictive. It also doesn't effect me the same way. For whatever reason it doesn't trigger a massive overload of stem cell production on use. Instead it occurs over time. A lot of splicers had growths and tumors because of the cellular overload but I don't have that problem. I can use as much as I want and not get messed up from it. The drawback though is that it takes time for powers to develop. Usually a few days at minimum but as long as a few weeks for full-fledged results."

"This is a lot of information." The quarian says. "Why are you telling us this?"

"She said I owed you guys some information!" I exclaim gesturing to the asari.

"I assumed you came here illegally and got mugged and thrown in the lake!" The asari exclaims back at me.

"Fuck I should have just said that." I say, more so thinking out loud as I often tend to do rather than try to say anything to them.

The asari sighs. "Well, come to think of it you didn't really explain how there was a knife in your chest."

"I was escaping the holding facility, which was about to sink and blow up, when another splicer attacked me. I was trying to fight him off but he managed to get the knife into my chest. I was able to fight him off in the end though." I say, my arms crossed.

"Hm. Well, okay. So what now?" The asari says.

"Names might be a good place to start." The quarian says. "My name is Nata'Acii nar Rayaa. Or just Nata."

Nata… Not familiar to me. I don't think she was in the games and if she was I don't remember her. In terms of her appearance there's not much to say.

"And I'm Nelyna." The asari, Nelyna says.

"Nelyna…" I say, thoughtful. She was the greeter in Mass Effect 1 if I recall correctly. No wonder she looks so familiar. She's gorgeous. She's like, super gorgeous. Which is weird because she has like tentacles instead of hair but still. Her facial markings are white, giving her a really exotic appearance. But what gets me is the fact that her upper lip is white as well as a small square on her lower lip, just giving her this really sexy, exotic look that I can't get over. Her voice is so kind and so are her eyes, and she's clearly really an incredible person.

"And you?" Nata asks me.

I'm quiet for a while. For a moment, I actually have trouble recalling my real name. When it does come to me, I realize it's been so long since I've used it or even said it out loud. In truth, it's hardly mine anymore. I'd gotten accustomed to being called by something else though. It's what they all called me down there.

"You can call me Splicer." I say.

They're both quiet for a bit. They look at each other and then back at me. Nata shrugs. "Works for me."

"Okay, Splicer." Nelyna says. "Listen, I have to get back to work. But here. Maybe this will help you."

She hands me something that looks vaguely like a credit card, except a little smaller and made of metal, not plastic. I turn it over and there is a small digital reader on the back. As if it can tell I turned it over to look at it, the display comes alive and reads: 100.

"Credits?" I say, curiously. So this is what they are. I don't know why but imagining it in the games I remember I thought they were like little coins. Funny that that's what I remember and not many of the fine details about this game. I remember I thought credits were little coins, that the Consort's main greeter in Mass Effect 1 was named Nelyna, and not much else.

"Yeah." Nelyna says. "It's not much but it's what I can spare. You'll need more. You're going to need a passport, and identification. If your story is true, then there might be no record of you whatsoever. In which case, good, fake identification and a visa will cost a fortune. That at least can get you food and a haircut to change your appearance."

"Which will be necessary considering all the people that were taking pictures near the lake." Nata says.

"Thank you." I say to Nelyna.

"You're welcome." Nelyna says. "Now, I need to get ready to open the place up. It's really early right now, so you guys might be able to go somewhere without C-Sec giving you any trouble."

She begins to leave, but before she does I call out to her. "Why did you guys help me?"

Nelyna pauses and looks at me. "I don't know. There are people out there who just look like they really need all the help they can get. You're one of those people I suppose. Just, remember to pay it forward. There are a lot of good people out there, you know."

I decide that I'll remember that, and nod to her. "Thank you again."

"Don't mention it." She responds, leaving.

Nata stretches and sighs. "Well! Just you and me now!"

"Yeah…" I say looking at her. "Do you need something from me?"

"Yes and no." She responds. "Even before I saw your little super power display, you look like the capable sort of person. Gun-for-hire type. Anyway, everyone has been so generous in helping you thus far. That C-Sec officer, Nelyna, Cassandra… I however haven't done much."

"Uh-huh…" I say, looking at her.

"Yet! I can get you a place to stay." She says. "Somewhere where you won't be noticed easily. On top of that, I know someone who can make that identification for you."

"What's the catch?" I ask.

She puts her arms behind her back, trying to look innocent I suppose. "I'm not as naively gracious as Nelyna or Officer Sagaeus. I need your help with something."

"Cut to the chase." I say. "You've helped me, and I believe you'll continue to help me. Plus you know some secrets about me. So I don't really have a choice here do I?"

She laughs. "Not really I suppose. Okay I need you to get rid of some people for me."

"Like kill them?" I ask.

"Not necessarily." She responds shrugging. "I mean if it comes to that. They're just extremely problematic. I fear for my safety and the safety of others. They're dangerous and affiliated with a gang in the area. They've killed another quarian here on pilgrimage. They hate quarians."

"That's a shame." I say. "You're here on pilgrimage?"

"Yes, but we'll get to that." Nata says with a nod. "Will you help me or not?"

I shrug. "I guess so. Where can I find them?"

Later…

I walk into a deep alleyway near the migrant shelter Nata brought me to. She told me that they don't keep any strict records of who comes and goes from the shelter, especially considering that new people come and often leave within a day or even less. She said it only costs 1 credit a night. Still, many can't afford to stay here for long. Nata tells me that everything on the Citadel is extremely marked up in price; the cost of living here is absolutely ridiculous. But despite that, people flock here in droves because it's the center of the galaxy. Not literally, of course, but in terms of politics and culture it's the center of the galaxy. Anyways, this migrant shelter makes a lot of sense. People come and go constantly and there are some private spaces I can make use of. For the time being, it's a good place to lay low.

Nata told me that the guys who live at the shelter who give her and the other quarians problems hang out in this alleyway. I see them. Two turians at the end of the alley, far from the street, laughing about something and leaning against a wall, smoking. I walk towards them with purpose but trying to look meek at the same time. One of the turians notices me and nods towards me, mumbling something to the other one.

They push off the wall and approach me. They're tough looking. Both large and scarred. One looks blinded in one eye with a good amount of his face covered in scars, the other is thicker in the arms than an average turian. I notice the scarred one has a pistol on his hip, the other turian appears unarmed.

The big armed turian crosses his arms, making them appear even larger. "Lost?"

"No, I'm here to talk to you guys." I say.

"That's not the best idea." The scarred ones says, putting a hand on the grip of his gun.

I look at it then back at him. "I just wanted to-"

I'm interrupted as I feel a hand on my shoulder. It's heavy and huge. I look at it, encompassing my whole shoulder from outer deltoid to the base of my neck. It has 3 thick fingers. I feel hot breath on the top of my head.

I look back, stepping away from the krogan who approached me from behind.

Fuck he's huge. Six and a half feet tall at the eye and at least eight inches taller at the top of his hump. Unlike the tall lean turians he's just a wall of meat.

"Human." The krogan growls. "You hear them. You're lost. So get loster before you're never found."

"That made absolutely no sense." I respond with a furrowed brow, turning back to the turians. "As I was saying. I came to warn you guys."

The scarred turian laughs and the other turian and the krogan laugh as well. "Warn us?! About?"

"That if you guys don't leave the quarians alone in the shelter and leave, you'll have to deal with me." I say.

"Uh-huh." The scarred turian says. "How about, you give us everything you have and we won't kill you and all those walking tin cans in the shelter?"

"Or, you could give me everything you have." I say with a cocky grin.

The scarred turian looks angry and looks at the big armed one. He nods and the big armed turian reaches behind his back and draws a huge hunting knife. It's probably a good 14 inches from blade to pommel, most of it blade. Most likely he uses this either because he likes its intimidation factor or because he's one of those crazy people who likes to cut victims up or something.

"I'm gonna cut you into small little bits human." The big armed turian growls approaching me slowly.

"Mm, it was the second one." I mumble out loud raising my hand lazily and opening it.

An arc of bright electricity flashes out of my palm and sheathes the turian with the knife in a blink of an eye, the veins on my arm and face streaking black and then bright blue for just a moment. The turian spasms and makes a gurgling cry in a very cartoonish way before stumbling backwards and falling to the ground.

The scarred turian, looking stunned, looks back and forth between me and his friend several times. "Kollahr grab him!"

I feel the krogan's big hands grab my shoulder and the back of my head. He begins to squeeze and I feel like my head might pop like a grape. The scarred turian draws his pistol to shoot me. But just as he's clearing the holster I use telekinesis, the flesh of my arms and my eyes flashing with a yellow glow and pull the gun into my hand. I reach back and shoot the pistol. I hear the krogan grunt and his grip releases.

I lower my arm and bend it back, firing again and I hear the krogan yelp and hear him collapse to the ground.

"He shot my knee!" He shouts. "And my head!"

"What the fuck!" The scarred turian says looking terrified, poised to flee.

I look at the pistol and toss it aside. Looking back at the scarred turian. I slowly raise my hand at the scarred turian and I shrug.

"I warned you." I snap my fingers and the turian bursts into flames, fire streaking up my arm as I do so.

He begins with a small squeak of fear as he's immolated from head to toe in a pillar of fire, and he then starts screaming in one long blood curdling screech, flailing his arms and falling to the ground. He rolls about fruitlessly for a moment before he stops moving, his screech dying away as well.

The other turian, is just now beginning to recover from the shock I gave him, crawling away. I use telekinesis to pull the gun back into my hand and I walk over to him. He notices and rolls onto his back submissively, palms up.

"Please!" He says. "Don't! I-I-I won't fuck with the quarians no more!"

"Mm-hm. Call me cynical." I say shooting him in the face.

I bend down and pick up his big knife and walk over to the krogan who's snarling, trying to stand.

"You fucking freak." He snarls, stumbling to his feet. "You hiding some tech mods in you? Implanting? What?"

"Sure." I say approaching him. "You need to get your priorities straight."

He takes a wild swing with his huge fist at my head but I duck and kick his wounded knee as hard as I can. He roars in pain but stays standing, taking another swing at me. His blow manages to connect with the side of my head, grazing it more than anything but the force behind it is like getting hit with a baseball bat.

I stumble to the side, shooting with the pistol. I see blood spurt from his other knee and he hisses, dropping down. I get up and shoot his first knee again and he stifles a scream, flopping down onto his back.

I step up to him, feeling blood trickle down the side of my head and grab him by the head plate. He reaches up, clawing at my arms and shirt until I take the large knife and wedge it underneath his head plate, pressing it deep and feeling some connective tissue part. I feel him freeze. Huh, another small detail I remember. Of all things. Funny what comes to mind even though it's been more than 6 years since I've held a video game controller.

"Ow!" He whimpers. "Hey don't! Please!"

"I won't if you cooperate. If you don't I'll tear it right off. What gang are you guys with?" I ask.

"Zakera Zesters!" He responds.

"That's the dumbest fucking name I've ever heard." I respond. "What are you guys 14?"

"What?" He asks, starting to sound like he's sobbing. "Just please don't rip off my head plate!"

"I won't if you tell me where your guys' base is." I respond.

"It's in an apartment building on this ward. Platinum Place. Apartment 717. The boss is usually there." The krogan says desperately. "It's near the Silversun Strip and Shin Akiba."

"Alright so if I take out this knife and walk away what are you going to do?" I ask him.

"I'm going to leave." He says.

"You're not going to go warn your boss right?" I ask.

"No." He responds, crying.

"Or?"

"Or you'll kill me?" He asks.

"I'm not just going to kill you." I growl, leaning forward and putting pressure on the blade. "I'm going to ruin you. I'm going to do you like I did your friends. I'll burn you like bloody meat. I'll strip your skin off your fucking bones. I'll electrocute you until your eyes fucking shrivel up. I'll do more than fucking rip your goddamn head plate off. I won't just fucking end you. I'll fucking dissect you to find out how to better cause krogan pain. I'll use you like a fucking lab rat. I'll turn you inside out, cut you to pieces and put you back together again just to see what makes you tick. I'll sear your flesh crispy and leave you for varren to eat and then shit out. Do you fucking understand me?"

"Yeah." He responds quietly.

"Okay." I remove the blade. "Get out of here."

He slowly gets to his feet, his krogan physiology already healing the gunshot wounds to his legs. "What are you going to do to the boss and the other boys?"

"The fuck do you think I'll do to them?" I respond. "Get out of here and don't come back. Leave those quarians alone."

"Yeah." He responds, limping away.

For the sake of moral clarity I didn't kill that guy and I don't feel like I'll have to. I think I got my point across. I search the bodies of the two turians for anything of use. The one with the scars is burnt to an unrecognizable level. His body is still burning though the fire has died way down. The other turian however has some useful items on him. I find another credit chit as well a sheathe for the knife I took off him. I take both and the belt he was wearing with the sheath still looped onto it. I buckle the belt around my waist and start to walk off, but hear some quiet beeping. I look down and see the belt has a small square box, sort of like a pager but less fat and more flat and rectangular with some dull colored lights on the exterior. Perplexed, I look at it and then I notice some beeping from the dead turian. I walk over to him and examine his body and see a pair of small metal bands on his forearm are both beeping. Odd. I remove the bands and attach the larger one to my forearm near the elbow and the other on my wrist, as I saw the turian had them.

As I remove the wristband from the turian and put it on, there's a quiet hum and then a pleasant melody.

"Interfacing with new user." A disembodied voice says, seeming to come from somewhere near me, behind me, and in front of me all at once. "Scanning physiology… Adjusting projector fit."

The bands on my arm tighten to form a snug fit around my wrist and forearm. They don't bite into my skin though, in fact as I flex my forearm the band changes shape with it.

"Activating microfabricator: Communicator for human client. Would you prefer the default earpiece-microphone combo or something else?" The voice asks.

"Er… how about something more… tactical?" I say.

"Scanning. Acknowledged." I feel a vibration at my hip and look down at the box on my belt. An orange glow of what looks like an earpiece and half collar appears before being rapidly formed into an earpiece and throat microphone. I catch it before it falls to the ground and put it on. The throat mic is subtle, fitting around the base of my throat the same way the bands on my arm do. The earpiece is similarly very comfortable, subtle and secure in my left ear.

"Hello. I am your new Ariake Technologies CR-XXI Version 7.84 Omni-Tool. You are now the proud owner of a state of the art omni-tool. Though this is a civilian-spec device, it is equipped with a vast array of state of the art programs designed for the harsh wildernesses of colonies. Would you like a detailed overview of your device's capabilities?" The voice asks, this time, projecting through the communicator in my ear only.

"No, thank you." I respond. "Maybe later?"

"Very well. Resetting to factory default and entering standby mode. You may control this omni-tool via gestures for now while we calibrate your neurological system so that you may control this device with thoughts."

"Fuck that's cool." I mumble, thinking out loud again. I have a tendency to do that. I give my arm a deliberate rotation and an orange gauntlet-like display appears around my arm. I type on a few buttons experimentally before lowering my arm, the display disappearing intelligently.

Well that's fantastic. One thing off my to-do list. I leave the alley with my new equipment. I head into a nearby clothing store and buy a jacket. I do this, primarily to conceal the horizontally sheathed knife at my lower back as well as to have a place to put my pistol. It folds up in a nice little package, but it'd be nice to put it somewhere other than my waistband.

The jacket I buy is a simple utility jacket of time-less design. It's cheap with a few pockets and long enough that it covers my waist and lower back. I leave the store and head back to the shelter. The shelter is quite large and heavily trafficked. In addition to housing migrants and refugees, they also help establish visas for more permanent stays. This wouldn't work for me because all the people here already have temporary stay visas and documentation. I have nothing.

I find Nata, which is difficult considering the size and density of rooms in this place as well as the number of people here. But she's where she was before I left. Towards the back on the first floor in a quarantined area for quarians only. I find her outside of it.

"Did you get rid of them?" She asks, not bothering to be quiet as I approach.

"Yeah. All three." I respond.

"They're dead?" She asks, rubbing her hands together.

"The turians are. I spared the krogan. But trust me. He won't be giving you or your friends any more issues." I respond. "But listen, if I know anything about gangs, they'll be back in bigger numbers to find out who hit their guys."

"Yeah I was worried about that too, but I'm more of a 'one thing at a time' sort of person." She says.

"Mm-hm. Well this is the next thing. We're going to have to deal with the rest of the gang as well." I respond, looking about to make sure no one is eavesdropping. "Or at the very least, their leader."

"We?" She asks, rubbing her hands together again, her suit making a slight squeaky noise as she does.

"Quit that." I say giving her hands a light tap with the back of my hand. "It gives away you're nervous. And the squeaking sound is silly."

"Sorry. But what am I supposed to do?" She asks, quailing a little.

I laugh a little and roll my eyes. "Well, nothing, really. I was just saying we because you roped me into this in the first place."

"Right." She responds. "Okay well, what are you planning to do about it."

"I'm going to go to the place and kill the boss." I say.

She's quiet for a bit. "That all?"

"Well, I'm not good at much else." I say with a shrug. "Listen, I'm winging this as much as you are. I'll need you to back me up though. Just keep a lookout for me to make sure nobody comes up."

"Okay I can do that." She says, wringing her hands again.

"Ready?" I ask.

"Now? We're going now?" She asks, wringing her hands some more. The sound it makes it hilariously cute. It's absolutely unbearable. Sickeningly cute, really.

I give her hands a gentle pat with the back of my hand. "Yeah. We should do this sooner. People might already be looking for me because of what happened at the lake and from what I did in the alley. I can get this done now and then get a haircut to change my appearance somewhat."

"Makes sense." She responds with a nod. "Okay let's go."