Falling asleep in the chair had not been one of her best ideas, but Rae stood up and worked off the stiffness and ignored the ache in her neck. After commanding SAM to see to it that Alec Ryder's files were hidden away (the room was guarded by security personnel and not a DNA scanner after all) and the datapads (Rae delightfully discovered) with audio recordings of Dr. T'Soni talking about protheans stashed away (not that they had anything dangerous on them, but it would be a shame if they were to go missing) Rae was determined today would be a good day. Recalling the people she had to visit and malfunctioning equipment to investigate Rae did some basic stretches and wondered where the nearest bathrooms were.
"The Public Walkway has a fully equipped locker room, Rae," SAM answered when she asked, "also Captain Dunn would like to speak with you."
"Got it," Rae felt as she twisted, her vertebrae releasing a series of audible pops. Already she knew the crick in her neck was going to bother her all day.
"Any news on Scott?"
"Nothing new to report," Rae ran her tongue along the back of her teeth and winced, she suddenly felt grimy and in need of a hygienic overhaul. Checking the time on her omnitool showed she had managed little more than four hours of sleep, by all accounts it was still early (not that it would look it on the ark) and silently hoped she could maneuver to the showers without drawing attention. With the Tempest arrival still several hours away she didn't feel very stressed until she let the previous day's conversations return to overwhelm her.
All right, Rae took a deep breath, pull yourself together, hyperventilate later.
Rae made a mental note to pick up a change of clothes as she ran her fingers through her hair to style it back into a ponytail. Her bangs were bordering on stringy and she hated thinking how the oil on her skin was rubbing onto her hair. It would have to do until she made her way to the locker room, she grimaced at the fact Lexi had given her a dry wash shortly after saving her life. A decontamination scrub and an inefficient exfoliation rinse, in Rae's opinion, couldn't beat a water and soap shower.
Making a face Rae made her way out of the room to find the same security guard was still there but far less alert. He had been leaning against the wall playing a Tetris game on his omnitool and had jumped into position when the door to the room swooshed open. Rae couldn't help but smile, the stern expression on the guard's face was offset by the soft bouncy music the game was still playing on his brightly lit omnitool.
Never one to let an opportunity pass by Rae feigned seriousness and clasped her hands behind her back to look at him from his side, the size comparison almost laughable. The guard continued to stare straight ahead as the game music played on.
"Have a quiet night?" Rae raised an eyebrow.
"Affirmative, Pathfinder," he responded.
"Do you always play games when on duty?" she pressed, the man's face twitched especially when the game announced his inactivity would inevitably lead to game over.
"What's your name?" Rae asked, try as she might the corners of her lips were trying to curl up, but the man wouldn't look at her.
"Brandon Holmes, ma'am," he said formally and the smile Rae had been building to slid away.
"At ease, Brandon," for his sake she forced a chuckle, when he didn't right away she added, "seriously relax and please, call me Rae."
"Thank you, um, Ryder," he improvised, he met her gaze for a second before looking away.
"You might want to pause that," she offered and with relief he did.
"Sorry about that," Brandon claimed and Rae waved it off.
"I'm fine, I believe you have one of the worst posts here," Rae acknowledged and cut him off before he could counter, "you just guarded a sleeping woman for near five hours, I won't hold it against you for a little diversion to keep from falling asleep yourself."
To that he shifted from foot to foot, Rae didn't think he was much older than her. In some he way reminded her of Scott.
"I know I shouldn't, but can I ask you a favor?" he asked, she nodded, "can you not tell Kandros?"
"Tell Kandros what?" she tilted her head and he averted his gaze once more.
"That I was - ah, you won't, I mean - Kandros is, ugh, I don't want to disappoint him." Rae blinked.
"Why not?" Brandon sheepishly scratched the back of his head, clearly he was uncomfortable as he dropped his soldier facade entirely.
"For one thing he's my commanding officer. Secondly, you weren't here when everything went down with the uprising, but before that things were tense." He continued, "the whole place felt like a volcano was about to go off any minute. Nothing against my former boss, but Sloane Kelly was a bit of a hot head. A scary one. Kandros had been her second and compared to her, he was more…level-headed, easier to talk to I guess. He was gone at the time when things went to - erm, when he got back he just took charge of everything. We really admire all that he's been trying to do."
Huh, it really does depend on who you ask, Rae thought back on what the other leaders thought of the former head of security. Kesh claimed she was a hard worker and unbiased towards the krogan workers, Tann expressed outright disdain and Addison had sidestepped the topic entirely to talk more about Eos, but the scowl on her face had said enough.
"Can't really blame her though, it sounded like things were tough," Rae sympathized with the absent woman, she was after all thrown into unforeseen circumstances just as Rae had been.
"It was," Brandon had a far-off look in his eyes, "we all thought we were going to die."
"Those days are over," Rae claimed trying to pull from Cora's doubtless confirmation yesterday.
"I hope so Ryder, let Kandros know if there's anything we can do," Brandon perked up.
"One more question," Rae gave him a more scrutinized glance, "were you always security?"
"No," he deflated slightly, even looked a little green, "I was originally custodial, but knew how to use a gun and good I did too, I had to use one when things went down. Kandros kept me on because they were understaffed, but I still do all sorts of jobs."
"Why do you ask?"
Because trained soldiers are not so loose with gossip, she thought, but instead said, "as you were."
The brief conversation almost made Rae feel normal and as she passed SAM Node and came upon the relative quiet of the large room she saw the doors to the Bridge were shut. Captain Dunn wasn't anywhere to be found and gratefully Rae scurried away to find the locker room. Despite having orientation of the Hyperion the pathfinding team had been largely focused on what would be happening outside of the ark. They had skimmed over the Hyperion's layouts, memorizing names and essentials and prepping field gear. It wasn't until they were about to board the shuttles to explore Habitat 7 how little Rae knew her father's hand-picked team.
In a way Rae had known Carlyle the best but only because Ellen had persuaded Alec to invite a colleague to dinner a couple times, so Alec invited the medic (a colleague) he met at a meeting (which he was adamant counted much to Ellen's exasperation). Cora she had known superficially off and on for years through Alec on eavesdropping on his vidcom calls and officially met her before departure. Kirkland she had chatted with briefly before launch, but Liam, Greer, Fisher and Hayes had been total strangers to her.
A thought occurred to Rae as she stepped into the ladies' locker room. She spotted a wall stacked with fuzzy white towels and grabbed a couple. Rae listened for other occupants and heard a shower running toward the back, as she padded along the checkered white and blue tiles she spotted no one else. There were numerous lockers lined to create a labyrinth of sorts to accommodate a large number of people at a time with benches between them. There were even fewer corners dedicated to privacy if someone wanted it.
Dad's team, Rae hadn't thought about who would be on the Tempest with her. Cora had made it clear she wasn't going anywhere, but were Liam and the others going to follow after her as they followed her dad? It was entirely possible Tann would assign her a whole new team and despite not knowing him well, she didn't want to see Liam go or the others be reassigned.
She made to the other side of the locker room knowing where to find the laundry chute and new clothes. Numerous compartments lined the wall in minimalist blue and white. A vidscreen with Touch calibration displaying an animated logo of shirt and pants caught her attention. Knowing what to do she scoured the interface for her recruitment number and bringing her omnitool up for identification put in an order for clean clothes. It was a few seconds later one of the compartments opened and there her new clothes were.
Whether it was Jien Garson or someone else she didn't know they had thought of everything regarding the passengers of the arks' personal hygiene. It had been explained at orientation, the health packets and omnitool updates that certain essentials would be provided for Rae including certain meals (the pathfinding team required higher calorie intake and thus, more food), higher grade weapons and powerful jetpacks, access to certain labs and her own set of apparel. Maintained by an advanced VI each colonist had their own set of tops, pants and undergarments. The VI basically made sure no one's clothes got mixed up, no one wanted to wear someone else's delicates and the uniform previously worn by an individual exterior engineer wasn't going to be accidentally worn by a lab tech.
To Rae's relief she acquired a clean pair of underwear and a new bra as well from another compartment then made her way to the showers. Looking forward to being thoroughly cleaned the proper way she walked past the shower running in the middle of one row and went to the one against the far wall. Stripping quickly in case someone else walked in and placing everything on the long bench running down the middle of the tiles, she hurried behind the shower curtain.
The showers ran like the laundry VI, beneath the shower head were a serious of screens requiring omnitool identification. Doing this provided Rae with the knowledge of her allowed amount of shampoo, conditioner, soap and general water usage. She didn't bat an eyelash at the five minute limit, she had spent months digging through a prothean dig site half the time too engrossed in her work to care about trivial things like long, luxurious showers. Despite her proclivity toward vanity her research meant more and everybody back then was covered in a layer of dusty dirt anyway.
Yet when the shower came on and she was beneath a deluge of hot water that at first stung her skin she swooned. Five minutes would be too short. Rae gave a content hum as she lathered the shampoo into her hair as the water soothed her muscles and the ache in her neck. She was pleasantly surprised her scars were unbothered by the water and as the shampoo and conditioner ran down her face.
A sigh escaped her lips uncaring if the only other person in the showers heard her. What felt like only seconds later Rae gave a disgruntled cry when the shower abruptly shut off.
"Enter the code 2424MORWATR to override the limit!" the woman from several showers down cried out, Rae did as she said and the shower came back on.
"Thanks!" she shot back. Rae allowed herself to relish the water a little longer before guilt consumed her and she finished up. The other shower was still running.
Rae didn't emerge from the shower until she had completely toweled off then wrapping herself in it and bundling up her hair she stepped out. Upon closing the shower door it locked and commenced a cleaning cycle as Rae gathered her things. She didn't glance at the shower door that was still locked and running water as she made her way to the laundry chute. A quick ID confirming the clothes would be returned to her later got rid of half her load.
When Rae returned to the locker area she founded she was still alone and passed up the privacy corners. After dressing she was brushing her hair with a comb provided by another compartment when the other shower finally shut off. Suddenly overcome with the unreasonable anxiety that she should not be there when the other woman emerged was diverted by a trip to a toilet. Obviously the woman had been taking time for herself.
When she emerged from the stall Rae avoided looking at the long mirror across from it. Her scars prickled lightly.
After she finished the rest of her toiletry routine she began walking back into the locker area wrestling her damp tawny hair back into a plait when she spotted the woman, her vivid red hair sending a mix of emotions through her.
"Hi, Hayes," Rae greeted and the woman glanced over at her as she tied her shoes.
"Good morning," she greeted back, if it was possible she sounded more tired than Rae felt.
"How are you doing?" Rae referred to the injury she had acquired back on Habitat 7, Hayes shrugged, her red hair still wet clung to her shoulders.
"Better, Dr. Carlyle saw to it I can go back into the field when I'm ready," Hayes gave Rae a small smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Are you?" Cora had been in charge of forwarding Rae the Tempest crew intel and hadn't yet.
"About that, I've been reassigned," the smile she wore grew weaker, "what happened on Habitat 7, those aliens, your dad, you…"
Rae saw it, Hayes' eyes met hers and Rae's chest tightened painfully. Rae understood the woman's doubts thoroughly.
"I'm going to Eos to see to it it's properly settled," Rae's voice betrayed her with a wobble, she inwardly grimaced, "there's still time to change your mind if you want to go."
It was hardly a convincing persuasion and Hayes proved not to be easily swayed especially by a woman younger than her who was still emotionally immature. She regarded Rae as a babysitter would a child that couldn't be trusted to make the right decisions, a look Rae had seen before and it rankled her.
"I don't think I'll take you up on that offer, but I wish you luck," Hayes didn't say it with vitriol, but with resigned acceptance.
"May I ask where you've been reassigned to?" Rae pushed as she struggled to remain semi-professional
"I'll be working in security with the possibility of going planet-side if you're successful," Hayes' eyes had gone moist, "look, I'm sorry Ryder, all the things I'd been told and then Alec Ryder dies, Harper's skipped over, the leaders here on the Nexus are gone and those who took their place…it's a huge mess."
Well, she's not wrong.
Rae firmly schooled her features as Hayes gave her a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry about your dad by the way."
The condolences were far and few in between since she woke up with SAM in her head, which led her to be unsure how to reciprocate. Having already lost her mother she would have thought she would have a response ready to go, but her tongue remained firmly glued to the roof of her mouth. When Rae didn't respond right away Hayes continued.
"Everything was just swept out from underneath my feet and I'm just not processing it well," shame was writ across her face, "I've been assigned a counselor on top of it all. Even if I wanted to go I wouldn't be fit for your team as I am now."
"Your health is most important," even Rae cringed at how inauthentic that sounded and pushed for sincerity even as her emotions boiled beneath the surface, "just get better, these worlds won't settle themselves."
She tried to sound jovial.
"Good luck, Ryder," Hayes said, "I hope your brother gets better soon too."
With that Rae watched a member of her dad's team walk away from her and Rae struggled not to scream.
Everything was swept out from underneath her feet? Rae fought once more against the cynical voice reeling in the back of her mind nestled up against SAM's implant. Rae put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath in.
"There is a spike in your heart rate, Rae," she nodded.
"Noted," her sigh came out in a hiss.
"I do believe you should notify Dr. T'Perro of your emotional turbulence," SAM said as Rae willed herself to calm down and leave the locker room.
"That's enough SAM," Rae saw that Captain Dunn was now up near the doors to the Bridge and braced herself.
In one way Dunn reminded Rae of her mother, she and Ellen shared a single-minded focus on getting the tasks before them done. A more than suitable trait for a captain in charge of thousands of people aboard the ark in need of thawing and a livable home. When Dunn spotted Rae her face remained the same, she gave her condolences for Alec Ryder and moved on. They talked of the Nexus, of the Hyperion, why the Bridge was closed off and what Dunn would be doing now that waking people in cryostasis was put on hold. Like with Brandon the conversation brought a surge of normalcy to it that Rae cherished.
"How are you handling everything?" Dunn asked, perhaps she felt the need to rock the boat Rae was trying so hard to stabilize.
"It is what it is," Rae replied without conviction, Dunn fixed her with a narrow stare.
"I won't take non-answers, Ryder," the captain claimed, "have you talked to anyone about what happened yet?"
"Not exactly," Rae shrugged, "the pathfinder ship will be ready to go at twelve, I get on it and I fly to Eos."
"I've read the reports, attempts to settle Eos have failed twice before our arrival," Captain Dunn's stern expression never wavered, "but if your dad thought you were the best for the job than so do I."
Rae felt the tightening in her chest ease just a bit and she gave the captain a small smile, "thanks, Captain Dunn."
"Now you and I both have a lot of work to do, good luck to you Ryder."
As Rae left the captain to her duties an ominous thought occurred to her. Recalling the logs and the encryptions, was it possible she wasn't made pathfinder just to settle planets, but also to learn and safeguard her father's secrets?