Episode Four: A New Place
"Is that the Citadel?" Lena asked her mother as they were looking out on a large window while approaching the space station.
"I… guess…" Hannah answered. The Citadel was within visual protection of gases from the Serpent Nebula cluster. In between purple and blue colors, an enormous ship emerged from the gas. It was the Destiny Ascension, an asari dreadnought and the flagship of the Citadel fleet.
"Look at that ship!" It had four arms, with one of them being a giant gun.
Seconds later, the Citadel itself became visible, with the nearby star, Widow shining through.
From: Lieutenant Zabaleta
To: Hannah Shepard, Feda'Vael
Subject: Hospital
The hospital has been notified about your arrival, they'll be waiting for the quarian girl by the cargo bay.
More and more ships flown by as they arrived into the presidium docks. Meanwhile in the med bay, the ship's doctors prepared Lia for transportation.
. . .
Lena and Hannah walked through the Combat Information Center, and arrived to the bridge. They were they first to exit the ship, with Hackett right behind them.
The beauty of the Citadel made Lena a little intimidated. Everything was made out of metal, or the alien equivalent. Humans, turians, salarians, asari and giant bugs walked in the lower sections, looking at shops, talking, or in case of the giant bugs known as the keepers, working by an orange console.
"Is there any hotels we can stay at?" Hannah asked Hackett, as they walked past the first security check. The turian C-Sec officer checked Hannah and Lena, as well as Hackett. Riva, the asari spectre however didn't have to be checked.
"I don't really know of anything. But check in the embassies, they might be able to help you." He said, but the asari interrupted him.
"I have an apartment, which I only use to sleep. It's in Shalta Ward." She said. When she saw that neither Lena nor Hannah understood what she said, she clarified, "It's only five minutes, driving."
Lena was excited as ever. "I don't know if that's appropriate." Hannah said.
"Why would it be inappropriate?" Riva asked, as they walked past the second security check. Hackett already left the group.
"I heard about the hate toward humans." Hannah answered her. "I though we'll have to fight to survive here."
"Not the Citadel I know of." She said, "That's more like Omega. Until you're in the presidium, or in either Shalta or Zakera Ward, you'll be safe."
"Why, what's up with the other three wards?" Lena asked.
"They're regulated by salarians or turians. Shalta is mostly inhabited by asari, and the presidium is multiracial." She said, as they walked into the elevator. Riva pressed a button that said 'Parking', and the elevator slowly, but steadily started moving in a downward direction. Calming music was playing in the background, which was interrupted by local news.
"A forty-nine-hundred-year-old, unidentified asari went berserk last night, opening fire with a twelve-gauge shotgun in the crowded presidium commons. Authorities say that they're still searching for the middle-aged asari, with purple facial markings. They say that if anybody notices him, call the nearest C-Sec outpost, and don't try to capture him alone."
"Does that happen a lot?" Hannah asked Riva.
"Sorry, what?" She answered. The question caught her off-guard, as she knew who the asari in the newsfeed was.
"Does this kind of shooting happen a lot?"
"No, not really. I think the asari might have post-traumatic stress disorder." She answered. It was true, that her sister, Tela was on a mission which terribly went wrong. She was seen by a psychiatrist, but the events suggest it didn't help.
. . .
"Gotta tell ya, I hate them." Illio, a turian nurse said while leaning toward a metal wall on the Citadel.
"You hate quarians?" Sergine, another turian nurse asked him. She looked shocked.
"Why? They created the geth! An idiotic race, all is homeless." Illio expressed himself.
"You're an idiot. Sometimes I wonder why do you work in a hospital if you are so racist." Sergine once saw Illio doing something with a salarian patient, who died the next day. Sergine was sure Illio made it, but kept it to herself.
"What, I like the asari."
"Ugh." Sergine was offended. She turned from the other three turian males, and leant to the railing. The nearest star, Widow was shining, interrupted only for fractions of a second by many ships, shuttles and sky cars.
Sergine was born and raised on the Citadel. When she was fifteen, she met with Illio, and instantly fell in love with him. She found him very annoying when in public, but when she spoke with him in private, he was really charming.
"Here they are!" The salarian doctor said. The ship opened its cargo bay door, and the four nurses rushed into the ship, and directly toward the med bay. There, they put Lia on a stretcher, and carefully, but quickly ran back. There, they went into the elevator.
"Pulse?" The salarian doctor asked.
"Slow but steady." Sergine answered. The elevator quickly ascended to the level of Huerta Memorial. The door opened, and the nurses took Lia to surgery.
Feda and Rak couldn't keep up with the nurses. They walked out the cargo bay, and arrived to D25 docks. "What should we do?" Feda asked. She felt many eyes looking at them, being the only one quarians there.
"Contact Shepard." Rak suggested.
Feda dialed Hannah. "Hello Shepard."
"I just wanted to call you. How's Lia?"
"She's okay… I think." She said, and stopped.
"Are you okay, Feda?"
"Yes. They took her to Huerta Memorial. Where are you?"
"The asari spectre from the ship invited us to her apartment. You can come, too."
"Really? That's great. What's the address?"
"Wait a minute, I'll sent it to you. Done. I hope to see you here."
"Me too. Goodbye, Shepard."
"Goodbye" And she disconnected the call.
. . .
The apartment Riva lived in was huge. Although it had one floor, there were two hallways, connecting a total of four rooms, with the living room's size being the half of the whole apartments. Hannah was quickly followed by Lena as they walked with Riva in the front. Soothing asari music was playing in the background coming from speakers from all over the apartment. "Of course, there is a switch to turn it off." Riva said.
They turned left to the second hallway. To the left, there was a large kitchen, connected to a dining room. Decorations showed asari roots; paintings showed the asari homeworld Thessia, tables and chairs were curved.
"Where is our room?" Hannah asked.
"Right here." Riva said, and opened a door to her right. It had a large window in the back wall of the room, and two beds "I'll give you the password for the front door's lock. But for now, I have work to do. I'll be back tonight." She said, and left the room. Lena took a moment to look around, and went straight to the window. What she saw amazed her.
The window looked at the Presidium Commons. People from various races walked around, were looking at shops, talking or sitting on a bench. "Can I go down there?" She asked her mother.
"Where?" She asked back, and walked to the window as well. She looked around as well.
"Oh, I forgot…" Riva said, but the Shepards didn't hear her, as they were amazed by the beauty of the Citadel. She smiled, and decided to leave a note in the living room's terminal.
"Do you have your omni-tool?" Hannah asked.
"Yes… Why?" Lena answered, and asked back.
"Take some holos for the people back home. They'll want to see it." Hannah explained. Lena pictures of their room, and the beautiful vista.
"Let's pack out." Hannah said, and turned to their bags. They only brought the essentials, as they didn't know when they would leave. "We'll have to go shopping some clothes if we stay for weeks. We have thirty thousand credits. That should be enough for clothes, food, and anything."
When they finished, they decided to look around that level of the Presidium Commons. They walked out of their room straight to the front door through the living room. There, Hannah found a note on the terminal addressed to her.
Hannah, a friend of me in Armali Council's shop has a gift for you. She owed me something, and I told her to give you the best omni-tool they sell. You'll need it on the Citadel.
"Let's go!" Hannah said, and they walked out through the door. Just as stepping out, they bumped into Feda and Rak.
"Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" Feda said, while hugged the human woman.
"Me too…"
"This is the apartment?" Rak asked as Feda released Hannah.
"Yes. I quickly show you the room." She said, and walked back with the quarians. She showed their room then left them to finally leave the apartment.
. . .
"How is she?" Sergine asked the salarian doctor.
"Stable… for now." He answered.
"That's great news." The turian lady said. She was concerned about the quarian girl. "What'll happen to her?"
"We still need to repair the bone fraction, but we can't do that until her infection is gone. That could be weeks."
"I see. Should we tell that to the parents?"
"No, not yet; the girl needs rest. Tomorrow." He said and left. Sergine decided that there was enough excitement for that day, and she went home.
. . .
"I love this place." Lena said, as they sat down to a bench. They were in the Armali Council omni-tool shop and in a market where they bought new clothes. But as happy as Lena looked, her facial expression turned into sadness.
"What's the problem?" Hannah asked, noticing the girl's change of feelings.
"Nothing, nothing." She said.
Hannah closed her eyes, not really believing her daughter. She felt a light wind blowing, and the scent it carried, it reminded her about Earth, Mindoir, and the days she spent by lying on the grass, and looking at the sky.
She opened her eyes. The sky she saw in her head was pushed away by a giant statue of a mass relay, probably made by the protheans. Not far away, there was a statue of the krogans, for their participation in the rachni wars. Sadly, the following krogans rebellions pictured the krogans instead of galactic heroes, but ruthless warriors.
"Wanna eat something?" Hannah asked her daughter, who instantly nodded. "I saw this place, Apollo's Café, why don't we go and see what they have?" She suggested. They stood up, and walked back.
The main street was crowded with members of different species, such as the asari, who wore tight clothes, which followed the curve of their body. The turians, however, wore distinctive clothes. It was made only for turians, opposed to asari, human and even quarian interchangeable clothes. The salarians wore similar clothes to the turians', but somebody wore hoodies with it, maybe to cover their pair of horns.
Exotic species, like the hanar didn't wear any clothes at all, as they were sentient jellyfishes, thus, not needing anything to hide.
Batarians and drell were a rarity, as well as volus and elcor, but out of different reasons. Batarians locked themselves out of the galactic community after the humans' expansion in the Attican Traverse. The drell race only consisted of some hundred thousands, because the hanar saved only a few from their homeworld.
The volus is a member species of the turian hierarchy, and usually seen in banks and as government officials. Elcor is easy to notice, but considering their limited numbers in the galaxy excluding their home system makes them a rarity too.
Hannah and Lena arrived to Apollo's Café. Behind the counter there was a salarian bartender. "Hello, and welcome to Apollo's Café. How can I help you?" He asked politely.
"Hello, we'd like to eat something." Hannah said.
"This is the best place!" He said with enthusiasm. "I can show you the café's levo-amino-acid menu, if you want."
"Thank you." Hannah said. The salarian showed it to them by projecting it from his omni-tool. A standard meal was fifty credits, with drinks ranging from five to two hundred credits. "I think I'll have something non-human… is the idoa have fish in it?" She asked.
"Idoa is made from various meat folded into bread. No fish." The bartender said, explaining the salarian dish.
"Then I'll have one, and you?" She asked her daughter.
"I want a regular sandwich, please." Lena said, and pointed to a human sandwich with cheese and mustard.
"Alright, please sit down, I'll take it in five minutes." He said. Hannah and Lena found an empty table, and sit onto the chairs.
. . .
Feda and Rak went back to the hospital as soon as they could. As they have never been on the Citadel, they got lost, but found their way to the hospital. They navigated through the hallway, turned to the right, and into the decontamination chamber. The door slid open.
The room Lia lay in had a large window, which looked at the presidium ring's lake. Several machines were beeping and connected to her, either to her mouth, or through a needle. One chair was beside the bed, and another was beside some machines to the wall on the right hand side.
Illio, the turian nurse was inside the room. He was crouching by the bed, fumbling with something.
"Umm… Hello?" Feda asked the turian in the environment suit.
He stood up, and looked around. "Hello." He was thinking about who they are, but quickly realized their race, "Your daughter is okay. I'll send the doctor in." He said, and rushed out.
Feda and Rak exchanged glances. "That… was strange." Rak said.
They sat down to the chairs. As they were in a decontaminated area, everybody except Lia needed to wear an environment suit. Wearing themselves, Feda and Rak didn't need on, but the now arriving doctor did.
"Mr. and Mrs. Vael." He greeted them as they stood up.
"How's Lia?" Feda asked.
"We couldn't do a lot with the bone fraction, but we started curing the infection. She can only have the surgery when the infection is gone."
"And when is that?"
"Can't say for sure. Probably several weeks." He said, and stepped to the lying quarian. Although she was dressed in everyday clothes until she is in the clean room, her broken leg was seen by the unnatural bend of her leg. The doctor then started to walk to the door, but stopped. "Oh, and before I forget. I believe Hannah Shepard and her daughter came with you on the SSV Einstein?"
"Y… Yes." Feda answered.
"Tell them that find Dr. Ravin if they'll get here." He said and left the room.
From: Feda'Vael
To: Hannah Shepard
Subject: Huerta
Hello Hannah,
We're in the hospital right now. The salarian doctor treating Lia says that you'll need to find Dr. Ravin when you get here.
Thanks,
Feda
. . .
The next day, Lena and Hannah walked into the reception of the hospital. An asari receptionist was greeting them
"Good morning, and welcome to Huerta Memorial. How can I help you?" She asked.
"Good morning. We have an appointment to Dr. Ravin."
"Certainly… Go through the corridor and first door to the left. The doctor is waiting for you." She said.
Hannah and Lena are walking up to the door, and pushes the green holo screen to open it. Dr. Ravin is sitting on a chair, looking out on the window. "Good morning, Ms. Shepard."
"Good morning, Dr. Ravin."
Dr. Ravin looks twenty-five years old. She has mid length dark brown hair, reaching her shoulders. "So you're here for the biotic implants?" She asked.
"Yes." Hannah answered.
"Well… I've already put together a plan. As this was an emergency case, all fees are paid by the hospital. Let's see…" She says, turning the windows that are looking to the corridor opaque. "There would be three surgeries altogether. The first two needs to be performed here, the last one can be in your colony's hospital.
The first one would be performed within a week to avoid any more conflicts with the girl's eezo nodules. The second one would be after a month or so, for a second round of implanting. The third one is needed when she can resume her daily routine again."
"But why wait for when she can do everything again?"
"Because that is just a calibration. To see if the implants work as they should." She explained.
"I guess we don't have an option…" Hannah said, referring to the series of surgeries.
"That's true, but it's for the girl. But you don't need to say yes now, think it all through, and come back the day after tomorrow."
"Okay, we'll do that." She said, and stood up. The windows turned transparent again. "And there is a quarian girl with a broken leg. Do you know where to find her?" Hannah asked.
"The girl with the infection? I heard about her. She's in D wing, but I give you a NavPoint of a nurse, who knows more." She said, and send it to Hannah's omni-tool.
"Thank you. Goodbye." Hannah said, and left.
. . .
"Where are they?" The krogan asked.
"With the girl." Illio answered.
"Good. Make them stay as long as you can. We'll do the rest."
. . .
"Feda, are you alright?" Hannah asked, as they approached the sitting quarians.
Feda looked up and said, "Yes, Hannah, I'm fine, just tired."
"Why don't you go home, and sleep?" She suggested.
"I… can't."
"Can we… go in to her?" Lena asked her mother.
"Is she awake?" Hannah asked Feda.
"Yes. You can go in, if you want."
Hannah nods then steps into the decontamination chamber where she puts on an environmental suit on her and her daughter. Three short click sounds are heard, and the door opens into the clean room.
Lena is shocked again at the body of the young quarian. Even under the sheets, and her head, she looked pretty much like herself, only with three fingers.
Lia heard the guests come in, and turned in their direction. "Hello." She said very quietly.
"Hello, Lia." Hannah said.
"Are you okay?" Lena asked.
"Yes, I think. I feel safe." She answered. At least she didn't have to worry about dying.
"Does your leg hurt?"
"I don't feel it. They said that's good; how about you?"
"I'll have my surgery in a couple of days."
"Are you afraid?"
Lena looked at her mother, "Yes."
. . .
That night Lena couldn't sleep. She was worried about next day, as they accepted the surgery. She didn't know what'll happen exactly or if she will feel anything. She stood up from her bed, and walked out to the kitchen in quiet, not to disturb the quarians, or Riva in their sleep. When she arrived into the kitchen, she was surprised that she found the asari spectre by the counter, not hearing her, and listening to music.
The orange light coming from her omni-tool lightened the kitchen. She was humming with music, or Lena thought as she never ever heard anything like that before. Slowly approaching the asari, Lena greeted her, "Hello…"
Riva turned around, pulled out the earplugs, and looked at the human girl. "Hello. Shouldn't you suppose to sleep?" She asked.
"I can't." She answered.
"Why?"
"I'm afraid."
"Of what?" Riva asked. Lena looked away, and didn't answer. "Come on, you can tell me, I'm not going to speak about it to anyone."
"Well…" She started, "it's kind of hot in here. In my homeplanet, the air is much colder at nights…"
Riva didn't believe her. "That's it?"
"Umm…" She said, "And because of my surgery."
"Oh." Lena walked closer to the asari spectre.
"Will it hurt?" She asked a question that caused Riva a problem. She didn't know how to properly answer it. If she tells the truth then Lena will run away from the hospital, but if she lies then Lena may not trust her anymore.
"I… don't really know. But what I do know is that you won't feel it."
"Really?" Lena asked, now sobbing.
"Yes. You will fall asleep before it happens, and you'll wake up long after it finished."
"But what if I wake up in the middle of it?" She asked; her eyes are close to tears.
"That won't happen." Riva said with faked smile, trying to comfort the girl.
"What were you humming?"
Riva looked down. "Nothing… nothing…" After minutes of thoughtful silence, she said, "Go back to your room. You need to rest."
Lena yawned and while exhaling, she said, "Maybe…"
"Come on…" Riva said, while standing up. "I'll take you back." They walked back to their room. Lena walked in, leaving Riva in the dark.
The blue asari walked back to the living room, and sat down onto the couch. She put her head in her hands, and started crying.
. . .
The krogan walked down from the bridge, with two vorchas standing by him. "Status report." He said in a deep voice.
Illio's face appeared on the screen, "Minor tweaks may be necessary to successfully incorporate it with quarian physiology… but he is out of reach."
"Is he? What are you suggesting?" The krogan asked.
"The microchip needs direct contact with the user's nervous system. A week more testing is needed on our test subject."
"Alright. But after that I'm gonna' put it into you if you're not ready." The krogan said, and turned off the feed. "Stupid turians."
. . .
The next day, Lena woke up first because she couldn't sleep. She walked out to the living room, and found Riva sleeping on the couch with a thin cover on her. She didn't want to disturb her, so she walked back to her room. The simulated sun was shining into the room, and eventually waking Riva. She looked around.
She turned on the screen in her living room, and Citadel Newsnet came in. "This galactic taxes have risen three point five percent over the past year. The council says that Batarian attacks on human and other colonies in the Attican Traverse have risen up, and money is going to protect those humans. Many analyst, mostly non-human says that this state cannot be maintained forever, and humans should protect themselves; but for today? This is Alina T'Bin, reporting to you live, from Citadel Newsnet."
"Idiots…" Riva said, as she turned the screen off. She knew exactly where are those credits are funneled: protection money to the Terminus Systems to not to attack Council Space.
"Good morning, Riva." Hannah walked into the room fully dressed. This was the day Lena is having her surgery.
"Oh, good morning, Hannah." Riva said while standing up. "I'll have to leave in a couple of minutes…" She said, while almost losing her balance, but fortunately there was a nearby chair.
"Are you alright?" Hannah asked as she checked her emails.
"Yes… yes." Riva answered. "But I really should get going." She said, and walked past the human woman. Hannah turned around, and saw Lena sitting on the chair.
"I saw you leaving the room."
"Did I wake you up?"
"No… I couldn't sleep well."
"Why?"
Hannah looked around. "Look. I'll tell you a secret after your surgery, okay?"
Lena looked down. "Okay."
"We should get ready. Go have a shower." She said to her daughter. Lena walked into their room, and shut the door.
Hannah walked to the window that looked to a portion of the Presidium Commons. She looked at the vista for minutes, just enjoying the beauty of the Citadel, although in her heart, she will always love Mindoir.
Lena walked into the room in fresh clothes. "Are you ready?" Her mother asked.
"Y-yes." She answered. Hannah picked up her bag, and they walked out the door.
. . .
The sounds of machines were heard all over the place. It was both disturbing, but also comforting, feeling that she was still alive. When she opened her eyes, she saw that she wasn't alone. She tried to speak, but somebody didn't let that.
. . .
Faint music was played in the hall of the hospital. Lena looked around, and saw members from various species sitting on chairs, waiting to be seen by a doctor. She and her mother walked to the asari receptionist.
"How can I help you?" She asked. Lena was amazed by her dark blue skin.
"Umm, we are here for surgery… I-We have an appointment Dr. Ravin."
"Oh, yes, she has talked about you. One of the assistant will show you the way." She said.
Another asari in a white coat has already joined the Shepards. "Please follow me." She said, and started walking toward the decontamination chamber. Throughout the walk they went past various wards. The walls were covered with texts in alien languages that Lena did not understand.
"Here we are. Dr. Ravin will arrive in any moment, and she will tell you what to do."
"Thanks." Hannah said, and the asari left.
A few moments went past, and the doctor appeared. She approached the Shepards, and greeted them.
"Good morning. You ready?" She asked Lena.
She didn't answer. "She's a bit nervous, that's all." Her mother said.
"That's understandable. We'll have the operating room ready in fifteen minutes. I'll show you the way." She said, and the Shepards followed them.
She guided them into a room which had a bed by a window, a bathroom and shelves. "She needs to change into specific clothes. An assistant will be here in five minutes." And she left the room.
Hannah looked around. The bed was a standard hospital bed, the bathroom was one fourth of the whole size of the room and the shelves was positioned on the other side. "Should I help you?" She asked her daughter.
"I think I can do it."
"Change in the bathroom, and give me your clothes when you unclothed."
"Okay."
She went into the bathroom with the clothes that was like a dress, but made out of plastic, and had the logo of the hospital on it. Lena handed out her clothes, one by one to her mother through the half-opened door. After a minute or so, she came out in the light-green hospital clothes.
"You look… okay!" Her mother said, trying to cheer her up.
"Thanks."
"Are you ready?" A human male assistant stepped into the room through the open door. "You can stay in this room if you want; the surgery will take two or three hours."
"Thanks." Hannah said. She turned to her daughter, who started sobbing. "Hey, everything will be alright, okay?"
"I don't want to go." She said.
"I know..." Hannah looked down then into her daughter's eyes. "But… you have to… Remember what I told you? About that secret?"
"Yes…" Lena said, as she rubbed her eyes.
"You want to know that, right?"
"Y-yes."
"Then have strength in that." Was her mother's last words before Lena walked away with the assistant.
Hannah just stood there for minutes before she finally stepped out of the room and into the waiting area.
. . .
A/N: This chapter was hard to write. I'm hoping that during the holidays I can write more. Oh, and I put in a reference to a song from one of my favourite artist. Can you find it?
Thanks for reading, and if you can, please favorite, follow and write a review! In the next chapter, Lena has a vision, a dream during her surgery about the future, and the mysterious krogan makes an appearance!