Lauren woke with a start, the blanket twisted in her hands, panting. Cold sweat beaded covered her body, and her stomach was unsettled. She untangled herself from her blankets and sat up. She took a deep shaky breath, trying to calm herself. She ran a hand through her hair. The images from her nightmare were gone and the only evidence that the nightmare took place was the feeling in her stomach, the cold sweat that covered her body, and the tangled sheets. She picked up her left hand with her right and traced the scar that ran up her arm from her wrist.

She hated the scars. They were the only reminders of what happened to her, and she hated it. She laid back on her bed and held her left hand up in the air, her right hand on her stomach. After she was convinced that the limb attached to her was in fact hers, she put both her hands on her stomach. After a few minutes of quiet meditation, she felt calm. Her heart wasn't racing in her chest and her stomach was calm. She reached over to grab her omni-tool, turning it on to scroll through her messages.

There weren't any new ones and she sighed. No jobs today. It was basically noon on the station, so she had a few hours to kill before Derimus started his shift at the bar. "What to do today," she hummed. She could wander around the markets. She sat up and started getting dressed, changing her shorts for pants. She pulled a bra on under her tank top and grabbed a jacket. She grabbed her pistol as she walked out the door to her apartment, turning off the lights behind her. As she wandered down to the markets outside she noticed a young woman standing on the corner.

She was talking to a few others nearby and looked like she was selling something. Curious, Lauren walked over to investigate. The girl looked up when she approached. She was young, Lauren noticed. She couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen years old and she had short black hair.

"Hi," the girl was very soft-spoken. "Interested in some art?"

She pointed at some statues on a small table next to her. The statues were elaborate and very detailed despite their size. Lauren noticed one was a statue of the goddess Athame – the asari's goddess. It was very beautiful and Lauren picked it up. The girl must have taken at least a week's worth of time to painstakingly carve all the details into the woman's face. She paid the girl the nine hundred credits she asked for it, knowing that it was worth at least three times that, and watched as she wrapped it and put it in a bag for her. She left the girl and headed off for the markets, tucking the bag underneath her arm. The markets were pretty packed when she walked around the corner. She bit her lip. Did she actually need anything here or was she just kidding herself?

She heard a buzzing noise from right in front of her and noticed a batarian in a shop in front of her. He was leaned over another batarian, with a needle gun in her hands. She rubbed at her left shoulder. Before her shoulder and back were rebuilt she had tattoos – but the skin was unmarked except for the scars from her surgeries. She checked her omni-tool and realized she had a few hours plus all of tonight if she didn't have a job. It was more than enough time to get a new tattoo on her back. She turned off her tool and walked towards the shop, determined to find out if they had a few hours and a resident artist.

The batarian looked up when she entered, pulling his needle from the other batarian's arm. "You're done. Go talk to Calak about paying."

The other batarian stood up and walked to the back of the store, leaving her alone with the other batarian. She recognized him as one of Aria's guards. He put the needle gun down on a nearby tray.

"You're that mercenary, Blue, right?" he asked. "How can I help you?"

So he recognized her. "I'm interested in a back tattoo."

"How big?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Whole back would be nice."

"That's going to take at least a week to heal and a few hours to do." He crossed his arms. "You have an idea of what you want?"

"No."

He pointed over his shoulder. "Our artist is in the back; the turian guy with yellow markings."

"Thanks."

She spent about ten minutes with the turian artist drawing up what she wanted on her back. When he was finished with the sketch he handed it to her, pointing at the batarian she talked to before. She then spent the next four hours straddling the chair while the batarian worked on the tattoo at her back. It burned and stung like hell, but she didn't complain. He didn't try to strike up any conversation either, so she ended up watching people walk in and out of the market. When he finished her tattoo he instructed her on how to care for it and told her the same thing that he told the batarian. After she paid for her stuff she left, her jacket and statue underneath her arm.

On her way back to her apartment, her omni-tool went off. She looked down and clicked on the message in her inbox. There was no sender.

Be at Afterlife's VIP lounge in two hours. No need to be wearing armor or to have guns on you. We need to have a chat.