Fiona
I was groggy as I started to stir at the sound of strange voices entering my head. Unfamiliar as to whom they were, but I could understand them.
"Ah good, she is waking."
A soft moan escaped my lips as I tried to turn to my side. My arm was caught and I couldn't get up. I sobered up quickly to realize restraints were keeping me to the table in the middle of the lab.
Now wide eyed and scared I turned to the voices.
"Hello child, good to have you conscious."
I stared in amazement at the tall slender alien with black eyes.
"I am Dr. Kesler, and my associate is Solidus Arterius."
"Y…You…You talk?"
"We have always talked; you were just unable to comprehend. We took the liberty of inserting a translator into your ear while you were out. Mind you, it's a proto type which is why we have selected you to test it out."
"Why?"
A soft chuckle like I've never heard before came from the predator. "You seem to like that question."
"Oh god! Umm Doc. Something's wrong with it."
"What seems to be the problem?" asked the Doctor.
I pointed to the second alien in the room, "He doesn't sound right."
"Oh, that. What you're hearing is actually the distinctive flanging effect of a turian's voice."
"Oh…one more thing"
"Yes", the doctor said almost seeming to ignore me as he turned to a computer terminal.
"Still restrained here." I jerked my arms slightly.
"Unfortunate a necessary precaution due to your reaction upon bringing you to the laboratory."
The doctor was then interjected by the turian as he called him. "Yeah why was that. You showed little apprehension as to coming to the lab, then all of a sudden the doctor walks in and you're throwing yourself into fits?"
"I've seen his kind before."
"Your people have seen a Salarian?"
"A what?...No, he…he's a gray. There are hundred of stories told on my planet about all of the atrocities and horrible experiments they have preformed on my people."
"Fascinating." The doctor chimed in, now turned toward us with what appeared to be a bright orange omni-tool.
The turian pressed for more information. "Have you actually seen one?"
"Well…no, but their depictions have been seen in drawn on walls of our earliest civilizations."
Now turning toward the doctor the turian said in an almost joking manner. "So what have you to say for yourself, Dr. Kesler?"
"It's not funny." I shouted still pulling at the restraints.
"Possible, but I have no experience on the subject matter. Quite before my time."
"Before you time. How old are you?"
The doctor answered, "I am twenty-two."
"No way. You seem so much older to me and I'm only twenty-two."
"Salarians only have a lifespan of about forty years."
"Oh…umm, well I'm not a child, but I guess I'm still pretty young for a human."
He turned the omni-tool off and turned to me. "If we take the restraints off will you be cooperative?"
"Cooperative to what?"
"Our experiments."
"Hell no… have you not been listening, your people have experimented on us enough."
Once again the turian fought back a laugh. "It seems you have it all wrong. The good doctor here wants to test the translator we've already given you. It will be harmless, just answering some questions about words and their meanings and telling us if we say anything unfamiliar to you. Simple exercises that will clear up communication."
"I guess I got nothing better to do?"
As the turian untied the restraints I began to repeat some of the information I had just learned aloud. I knew if I misspoke they would correct me.
"So you're a turian and he's a salarian?"
"Correct." Solidus made eye contact with me as he spoke, He had before, but across the room he didn't feel so invading as he was now clearly in my personal space.
It was the closest I had been to one of these aliens and even though uncomfortable I was fully abusing his proximity to satisfy my curiosity.
As the turian back away the salarian turned to me, omni-tool on to catch my every word. "Lets start with the unrecognizable words we've heard recently. They were God, and Hell. Please define these words in better detail so I can associate them with corresponding words within the scope of our languages."
He stared at me and blinked a couple of times waiting as I thought about the answer. "How about we not start with those words, okay? I say lets start with something a little easier."
"If you insist, I have flashcards."
"Flashcards? Really?"
