A/N: Okay. Last time, we killed the Thorian. I dunno about you, but the creepers remind me too much of zombies for comfort. Ah, whatever. You can't have everything, right? All though, I did reference four zombie movies at one point, almost right after the other. If you can figure out the references, shoot a PM my way and let me know. If you get it right? Cookies! If not? Well... Nice try anyhow.

So, where does that leave our intrepid hero? Back on the Normandy, of course. Here we go.

Chapter 9: Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

Okay, debriefing went rather well. I got called out again for talking too much (and especially for my language in referring to the guys at ExoGeni), but hey, I talk too much by nature. Which is odd, because when I have to concentrate, I'm usually extremely adamant about people keeping their mouths shut.

Ah, whatever. Things are all fine and good otherwise. What now...

Oh, yes. Movie night with Garrus. He picked out this turian vid all right. It's a fantasy vid; apparently, turians have their own mythology. That is totally fucking awesome, especially since there is an entire fantasy setting that can be created out of that. Especially since I'm a sucker for fantasy. And sci-fi, but I think I'm already in enough of a sci-fi setting already, so fantasy will have to do.

And apparently it involves a war between two gods. I wonder if a man with blades attached to chains is going to be there? Ah, well, I can dream about the possible God of War vibes I'll be getting if that kind of character does show up, but I think it's highly unlikely. But still, a war between two gods... I actually want to talk to Garrus a little bit.

And speaking of which... There he is, getting the movie ready. He looks up at me, and I smile, sifting a hand through my now free hair as I nod.

"Hey, Detective Vakarian," I greet him.

One of his mandibles twitches before he continues working with his omni tool. "You know I hate it when you call me that, Mr. Squarepants," he replies.

I still-

Wait.

"You did not just go there," I state, pointing my finger at him.

"I did," replies Garrus, feigning innocence.

My good mood instantly evaporates. "Well, I hate it even more when you call me after old cartoon characters," I reply. "So much I might consider stabbing your eye out with a mess utensil."

Garrus chuckles. We both know I won't be able to do that since it's technically impossible and I wouldn't have the guts. "I can't wait to see the day," he replies, multi-tonal voice betraying amusement.

I cross my arms as I look at him. "How the fuck do you know what Spongebob Squarepants is, anyway?" I ask.

"Joker told me," he replies. "All he told me was that it was about a little man who lives in a pineapple under the sea..."

"An anthropomorphic sponge, if you must know," I reply, shrugging. He turns to me with a rather curious look on his face. "I know. That's... partly why the character is so annoying to listen to."

"Right..." says Garrus as he looks back down on his omni tool. "I'm afraid to know what most Earth children's programming is like."

Oh dear, Garrus. "I think most of it is pretty shitty these days," I reply tersely. It's true; children's programming has gotten progressively worse, and if it kept on getting worse than it was in 2010, I'm afraid of how much my brain would melt at the sight of children's programming today. "But then again, I'm older than that. So... I'm not sure we're even the right judges of that stuff."

Garrus nods at this. "Fair enough," He replies, and suddenly I see the vid menu for the vid he's playing for us tonight. I look over and see a turian in some rather odd kind of armor while holding a spear. I raise my eyebrow as Garrus comes to stand next to me, admiring his handiwork. I'm just taken by how... er... revealing that armor is. It looks even... well, more revealing than the armor typically depicted in ancient greek vases. Like, there's the skirt there, and there are greaves, but... there's no chest plate or helmet. I guess the shield is pretty large, though.

But there's something else about that warrior. His facepaint projects over some kind of whiteness that overtakes his whole being... It's like he's covered in ashes...

"What's the warrior there?" I ask. "And what's up with his coloration?"

Garrus nods at this. "He's a legendary turian hero in these things," replies Garrus. "The two gods were at war. And he was the one who ended up getting caught in it all. But when he did, he also came to serve under one of them. And so, he-"

"Oh, dude, Garrus, spoiler alert, please," I say, cutting him off. "I'm of the kind that doesn't like to have his movies spoiled before he walks into them. Even if I'm already sure he's going to kill the other god."

The turian seems surprised at this, and his posture... seems to indicate that, I guess. To another turian, anyway. "You're not so bad at guessing things," he says.

I shrug. "Heroes work the same way in some human cultures, it seems," I reply. "In some of our ancient mythologies the heroes overcome everything. Although, I've yet to see one where they killed a god."

Garrus nods at this. "I see," he says. "But he's like that as a mark that he was a chosen one."

And it's then that I notice that his facepaint is red. Huh, the turians have their own Kratos in the Mass Effect universe. Very interesting. Kratos is covered in ash, has a red tatoo on his head and body, and goes around without even wearing a shirt. This turian hero is almost exactly like that. It looks like turian and human cultures are closer than we like to think.

"I'm guessing it's also personal for him," I add.

"No," says Garrus. "He's pretty... well, hungry for glory. So much so that it gets annoying at some points."

"I see," I reply, nodding, feeling the anticipation rise. "Well, I dunno what to tell you, Garrus. I really, really can't wait to see what this vid is all about. I've always been a sucker for fantasy, see."

"I can see that," he replies. "Good to know at least you'll like this. I'm not sure if anybody else will. It is pretty bloody, especially for a turian vid."

I raise my eyebrows. "I see," I say. "I guess that would raise a few eyebrows. But sometimes human vids can be pretty bloody, too. I don't think you need to look past the exploding bodies in District 9 for proof of that."

"That's true," Garrus admits. "But for some, it might be a bit much. Especially for Liara."

I snort at this. "Jesus Christ on a pikestaff, Garrus, she's 106, her mother is dead, and she shot zombie creatures with biotic warps," I reply. "She'll be fine."

Garrus nods. "I hope you're right," he says.

Oh, come on, it's just a fantasy vid about two gods and a war where one god eventually gets itself killed. The God of War series was pretty bad with the gore (especially with Helios getting his head ripped off in part three), so how bad could this be?

Well, it certainly wasn't bad at all. It was actually not that bad a movie.

It was honestly pretty gory, but fortunately it was nowhere near as bad as it can get that I've seen. At any rate, it actually didn't seem to relish in the gore all that much. In fact, it seemed as if it tried to shy away from it. Something about it was a little skeptical, and yet all the scenes were played pretty straightforwardly. This is a bit of a jarring transition, I should think, and it took me out of the vid once. But it certainly wasn't bad; it was honestly a very emotional production and I kind of liked it.

As well, there was the fact that the character was part of some group... I don't remember what they were called. But they seem to operate a lot like Grey Wardens to me. Odd; I'm wondering a Bioware property, and I'm mentioning another Bioware property in relation to something within the Bioware property. This is a little confusing indeed. But still, it was fun to see that. I rather liked this turian vid.

Wrex seemed totally into it, too, especially during the action scenes. I guess he must have felt pretty dirty afterwards, what with not liking turians and all. Liara... didn't seem taken by it. Most of the rest of the human crew liked it, and Tali... Well, I don't know what she thought of it. I guess I could just ask her later, but I don't really feel like it now.

As for Garrus... well, I think he likes it. He wouldn't have shown us otherwise. I actually am sticking around the rec room a little bit. By now, Garrus and I are the only ones in there, and I'm sitting on one of the couches as he works with the omni tool.

"So I take it you liked it," says Garrus to start.

"It was certainly interesting," I reply. "Especially with getting used to the whole 'turian mythos' bit. It reminds me of a story I heard once back home that was overly similar to this. Two, actually."

One of the turian's mandibles seems to relax as he finishes with the omni tool. "Really?" he asks.

I nod. "Turian and human stories are more similar than we like to think," I reply. "Actually, I think we can all tell how similar various cultures are by looking at their stories."

"A very... interesting look," says Garrus. I sense the skepticism in his voice, though. "It's not one many turians would take to, I imagine. I'm sure a lot of us are still angry over the Contact War."

Oh, dear. I knew this would be brought up sooner or later. "I'll bet they are," I reply. "They really got their asses handed to them by the council after the fact."

Garrus shrugs. "What makes most of us angry is how you guys are getting away with it," replies Garrus with a gesture of his talon. "Ever since you were seen by the council you've gotten all kinds of colonization rights that have been leading you all over the galaxy. And then there's the Systems Alliance..."

I make a hand gesture. "Well, let's not forget that the turians started this by refusing to talk to us," I point out.

He looks at me, and I can sense some kind of injury in his pride. Wait... Garrus, the unusual turian, taking offense?

"Easy for you to say," he replies. "When humans were activating the mass relays without realizing what could lay behind them."

Hm. Turian pride really is a lot stronger than I think it is.

I shrug as I stand up. "True," I reply. "But that's not an excuse to start firing. Perhaps you guys should've thought about how naive we were before you opened fire. Seriously, if I was born forty years earlier the history books would not have told us of the Rachni wars. We had no way of knowing that, and I'm pretty sure that if we had been talked to first it would have made things much better for both of us."

Garrus, surprisingly, nods. "That sounds reasonable," he says. "Although... I don't know who fired the first shot in the Relay 314 incident, so we can't continue on that..."

I nod. "You know what makes things like this so great?" I ask. All right, time to quote Alistair on this one. "It's that it brings people together into one big, happy family. And it mends race relations too, while we're at it."

The C-Sec officer chuckles at this. "You know, when you put it that way, it sounds great," he says. "I never thought I would be serving on an Alliance vessel with humans, but here I am. We are a pretty odd crew."

Oh, boy, Garrus. "You have no idea," I reply, shaking my head. "We're far more diverse than some of us are really willing to admit." And that will only get worse later, I believe. Man, the crew of the Normandy SR-2 is really messed up...

We both begin to leave the rec room. "I can imagine," he says. "It's certainly been interesting being around some of the people of this crew. It is certainly different from what I've had before."

I smile at this. "Different is good," I reply. "There's a human saying that 'variety is the spice of life'. Without differences, life wouldn't be interesting, you know?"

"I can definitely see why you think that," says Garrus as we reach the elevator. "I guess I'll see you around. I have some more calibrations I need to do on one of my guns."

I nod. We've barely even reached the second game and he's already talking about calibrations? Dear lord... "All right," I say. "Nice talking with you, Garrus."

"Same here," says the turian as the elevator comes up. The doors close behind him, and he descends.

Hm. I'm becoming rather attached to these characters. And here I thought I had already done enough attachment thanks to the game. But I guess this one is entirely different. It's one thing to look at them as they interact with a player avatar. Here... it's completely different. They're interacting directly with you. And that is rather fun in its own right... It's definitely different from just seeing them. I don't know what about it is so different, but somehow it's just more invigorating.

And I'm getting attached to them. This isn't going to make dying on Virmire any easier, it seems... Ah, well. I think I'll have plenty of time to say goodbye when the time comes. And I know I'll miss them. And while they can't talk to me, I can always refer to Youtube videos and the game itself so I can remember all these guys. I'll have fond memories of them all, that much is for sure.

For now, I should get to bed. And I do that, heading to my quarters and going to sleep almost as soon as my body hits the mattress.

So we're heading to the Citadel now to take care of a few things. I don't think I'll get off unless plans change a little. Not like I'll mind, really. It'll give me time to catch up on a lot of things. Although, I really should find an instrument to get back into the groove with. Nah... I really shouldn't. I'll be out of the ME universe before long anyhow, so it won't be worth it to spend a few credits on an instrument that I'll be leaving behind anyway. If my memory serves me correctly, this will probably be when she gets the sidequest rush done. And then after that, we'll head for Virmire.

It won't be long before I have to start saying goodbye. Jeez, where did all the time go? I knew it would last a little longer than a final total of three days when all the sidequests are done, but still, where has all the time gone? Seriously, time goes so quickly around here it's ridiculous! These few weeks in the Mass Effect universe really are going to have an impact on the rest of my life, I'm sure. Maybe I'll write some character pieces for piano on each one of these guys after I get back. That'll be fun to see reactions to. Especially from my teachers.

Ah, well, I'll think about all that later. For now, there's me running on the treadmill to think about.

Or, not. As I run on the treadmill, I see Kaidan enter the room, looking at me with a rather suspicious expression on his face. I look over to him from the treadmill and nod. Huh, this is new. I've been going to everyone else thus far. A crew member coming to me? Aw, thanks Kaidan. I feel special!

"Hey Kaidan," I say.

"Hey, Art," he says, and I notice a purpose in his step. "I wanted to ask you something."

I look at him as I continue running. "Sure, what's up?" I ask.

The biotic nods before crossing his arms in front of him. "I noticed yesterday at Feros that you were overly disgusted with ExoGeni," he says.

I nod. "Who wouldn't be?" I ask. "They were using humans as a control group without their knowledge. That's just wrong, especially given what they were trying to prove. Why do you ask?"

Kaidan looks over to me and uncrosses his arms, preferring to put them behind his back. "I don't know," he says. "This may be just a feeling, but I thought there was a point where it seemed as if... and I know this is probably crazy... but it seemed as if you knew that ExoGeni was doing this beforehand."

Oh, crap. He caught on it seems. Oh, well. Well, Kaidan, I can tell you you're not really all that crazy, but I'm not going to tell you that. And... well, I can't just wave him off and tell him I'd rather not talk about it 'cause that'll just tip him off that something's not right. Hey, Zathriel did the same thing when I did the Nature of the Beast quest in my first playthrough of Dragon Age. So it came as no surprise to find out that he was the one who originally made the curse. So I can't just wave them off. I'll work around it.

I look down at him briefly before stopping the treadmill. My feet rest on the sides as the conveyor belt slows to a stop. Eh, I was almost done with my running routine for the day anyhow. A few seconds won't make me gain a few pounds.

"It probably is crazy," I reply. "It probably isn't. But what I can tell you is that I knew as much as you did going in there."

Kaidan nods at this. "I just wanted to make sure," he says. "It's just... I have this odd feeling about you. Like something's off about you."

Oh, yeah, he's definitely suspicious. "Why?" I ask, holding my arms out as I step off the treadmill.

"Well, it just seems strange to me that you wind up on the Citadel on a stimulant trip a few days before you find us," he says. "I find it even stranger that you'll help us go around without going to your friends or even attempting to contact them first."

Oh. Yeah, I guess that would be suspicious behavior. "Well, they haven't contacted me either," I point out with a hand gesture. "I mean, they probably lack the means to do so, but... well, you know how everything is when all your friends' contact info is saved onto a terminal somewhere and you can't access it. I'm not so good with memorizing contact information, you see." Mainly because I don't have anybody's contact info except for the stuff on my cell phone, but you don't need to know that.

Kaidan nods. "Fair enough," he says. "But still, there's the stimulant trip. Very few people your age ever survive one of those kinds of trips that you had, and far fewer manage to get back into taking a stimulant trip without relapsing into addiction at some point. Somehow, you're the only person I know that's done both."

I shrug. "There's an exception to everything," I comment. "I guess I'm just lucky to have survived. As for the relapse, yeah, Chakwas mentioned that too. But seriously, after the hallucinations I had there..." I shake my head at this. "I'm not sure I would ever want to do it again after that. And especially with this. I... I do kind of feel the urge still, but you know how it is..." Now I just have to make sure I don't actually take any and I'll be fine.

The biotic raises his eyebrow before sitting down on a machine that's nearby. "Should you join some kind of support group?" he asks. "That could make it easier."

I roll my eyes at this. "Why would I need a support group?" I ask, looking around the room. "I've got you guys to talk to. I dunno about you, but somehow being on the Normandy for so long is beginning to make me feel like we're all part of one big happy family. You know?"

He gives me a sidelong glance, his eyes filled with curiosity. He rubs his chin, and then nods, a smirk coming to his face. "Well, when you put it like that..." he said. "It's true. You can tell us everything, and we can trust you."

And almost immediately I feel a pang of guilt. Here he is telling me I can trust him, and here I am just completely bullshitting him. It's not fair, but he'll think I'm mad if I tell him the truth. It's a sad dilemma, really. And honestly, I can see it biting me in the ass one of these days. Somehow, I just know it will, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Ah, well. Since there's nothing I can really do about it, I'll just roll with the punches.

"Of course," I reply with a smile. Something about my own smile just doesn't feel right, though. Probably the guilt. "I don't think you have anything to fear anyways. I'm competent enough, right?"

Kaidan nods. "Yes, you are," he says. "No, I just wanted to ask. I'm sorry if I intruded in your personal space."

I shake my head, holding my hands behind me. "It's no trouble," I reply. "At any rate, I can see why you'd be a little skeptical."

"Yeah," he says as he begins to leave. As he approaches the door, he stops, and turns over to me. "Oh, Art?"

Oh, dear, another question? "Yes?" I ask.

"Well..." And immediately, I think I know what this is about. "There's this girl I like... And... I was wondering... well, you know... how I should approach her... It's just... I'm nervous about rejection... and..."

I stand there for a few seconds as I regard Alenko. Even I'm not prepared for how loud my laugh in response to this is. Jeez! He's asking me for romantic advice?

"What's so funny?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Kaidan, if there's one thing you must know about me, it's that I am the absolute worst person to ask when it comes to love," I reply. "I've had a lot of crushes on women, but they either left or got taken before I could act on it. Trust me, I'm the worst person to ask that to."

The biotic blinks. "Right," he says. "I'll keep that in mind then. Uh... wow, the entire Normandy isn't being especially helpful with that... I'll just go..."

My expression turns serious as I turn to him. Well... There is one thing I can tell you. If you are getting into a romance with Shepard... "It doesn't mean I can't try, though," I reply, smiling. "Just be yourself. Eventually things will work out once she catches on. Alliance regs or no."

He nods, and his disposition is considerably brighter. "I'll keep it in mind," he says. "Thanks, Art."

"No problem, Kaidan," I reply with a smile.

And with this, he leaves the gym. And it leaves me to think a little. If things were different. I just wish they were right now. I wonder what happened to my body back there. Did I die? Did I go into a coma? Maybe this is all taking place in one split second and I'll be on the floor of the conservatory when I return to my universe. Who knows? Either way, this will be a wild ride to the end.

I look around the room and head over to an excercise machine. Time to do some abs.

A little later, I wander around the Normandy. I'm prone to doing that it seems. I wandered around engineering and talked with Tali for a bit before walking around. Tali's a real sweetheart. I guess the fact that she's the first canon character I've met in the ME universe helps things, but she's still a very kind soul if there ever was one. I'm actually beginning to like her...

Wait... I feel a little odd thinking of a pixellated character like that. But it's not pixellated right now. So... I guess I don't really have much of a choice. But Tali is seeming to like me as a friend as well. Which is good, considering how our friendship started. Now that was a bit rough. But hey, I saved her life by it, so I still did good by her. So yeah. That's all fine and well I suppose.

I'm wandering around the Mako actually, when I notice Wrex standing there. I acknowledge his presence and go straight to him.

"Heyo, Wrex," I say brightly.

"Oh, hello again," he says. "Going about the ship without any direction again, I see..."

I shrug. "Hey, I'm prone to doing it when I'm bored," I reply. "That, and I think a lot. It helps pass the time sometimes. Remind me to tell you of that one time I showed up to a viola lesson an hour early. Now there was a train of thought I won't be forgetting any time soon."

Wrex nods. "I see," he says. "Next you're going to be linking my armor to your mother somehow."

I blink at this, raising one of my eyebrows. After a brief second, though, I give a hand gesture. "If I did, I honestly wouldn't be surprised," I say. "Just thinking of a phrase can sometimes bring me somewhere. Trust me, I once had a train of thought where I found myself thinking of medigel one second and then thinking of a show tune the next. My train of thought can be wierd."

Wrex nods simply at this, choosing not to say anything. It's then that I notice that he seems a little more on edge today. I look over to him and cross my arms.

"You seem a little on edge today," I say. "Is something wrong?"

The krogan gives me a sidelong glance, regarding me rather cooly. "Not that you'd understand," he says. "This is personal."

Oh, I think I see where this is going. "Try me," I reply, placing my hands on my hips.

Wrex gives me a rather knowing look, and I stand there resolutely. Yep, I know where this is going. I guess it's time for a little detour, eh, Wrex?

"Well, if you insist," he says. "I've been looking for my family armor for many years. It got confiscated by the turian military many years ago. I've been trying to find it since."

Yep, it's the family armor assignment! "I see..." I say. "Personal matter. Where do you think this family armor is?"

"I'm not sure," says Wrex. "Last I heard, it was in the posession of Tonn Actus. And that's a bad thing, because he sells krogan artifacts for a lot of money. If I knew how long he had it, I'd say he's been waiting to sell that armor for some time now. And we all know what happens then..."

I raise my eyebrow at this. "I can see why that would be a problem," I say. "Do you know where this Tonn Actus guy is?"

Wrex shrugged briefly. "From what I've heard, he's been on the Citadel a lot lately," he replies. Huh. That's different. I thought we had to go to Tuntau for that. Oh, well, it's just a change. "He's supposed to be there when we're there. I want to go after him..."

"But you're worried about something," I say.

The krogan hesitates briefly before replying. "If you want to put it like that, sure," he says. "I don't worry about things. You should know that by now."

"I dunno, Wrex, you sound worried to me," I say. "Maybe about failing?"

"Maybe," replies the krogan with a snort. "I doubt it, though. I think I just can't wait to crack Tonn's barefaced skull open on my way there."

Oh, barefaced, huh? So this guy's a turian. That detail adds up at least. And silly Wrex, not admitting that you're afraid. I know you're probably afraid of failure. Hell, in your situation I'd be pretty damn afraid myself. And Wrex just isn't willing to admit that.

"Right," I say. "It seems like it's a pretty dangerous deal. From the way you make it sound, he probably has enough mercenaries serving him to keep himself safe, am I right?"

"Too many," he says. "They'll all fall before me anyhow. It doesn't really matter."

I sense the hesitation in his voice as he says this, though, and suddenly I frown.

"You're worried about failing," I say. "And you're not doing a very good job of hiding it."

Wrex gives me a harsh glance before he throws his hands up. "Maybe," he says. "I just... don't have much else to help me hang on to my krogan heritage. You wouldn't get it..."

He turns away from me as he says this, and I can see the tension in his body. Well, this isn't turning out so well. It seems as if he hasn't told Shepard yet, either. Well... this is pretty important to Wrex, what with having killed his father and all, so... So maybe it's up to me to help Wrex get his family armor.

"All right then," I say. "I'll tell you what. Name a time and a place, and I'll meet up with you and help you get your armor back."

This gets the krogan's attention, and he turns right to me with a look of surprise on his face. "I thought I said you wouldn't get it," he says tersely. "You don't know my past."

"Yeah, I likely don't get it," I reply. "What I do get, however, is that this is obviously very important for you. The least I can do is help you out. And hey, if you can crush his skull, then I could probably make his skull... more squishy. If you know what I mean."

Wrex' expression seems to light up a little. "I see," he says. "I think I like where you're going with this."

"Hey, it'll be fun to bash on people that sell stuff for outlandish prices," I reply with a smile.

"Very well then," says the krogan. "Meet me at the airlock when we get to the Citadel. I think you should go in armor."

I nod. "All right," I say, smiling brightly at this. "I'll see you then."

Wrex nods at this as I turn to leave. "I'm looking forward to it!" he says.

And so am I. It's gonna be fun taking down a turian with an old krogan and a young human. This is going to be extremely fun indeed. Especially when we finally get the armor. Looks like I will be leaving this ship at the Citadel after all. Just, not for very long. I hope. I doubt it will be as short as I want it to be, especially if C-Sec gets involved. Which, if we're fast, we won't.

Well, I can't wait to help Wrex retrieve his armor. That will be plenty of fun indeed.

Ah, good old Varèse. Arcana is certainly one of your more interesting works, especially with its flippant middle finger to Les Six. I like to think it's so, anyhow: the first version of Amériques was written the year before those composers were dubbed such. It's also got your standard Varèse trademarks; long sections where percussion just hammers away, dissonant brass chorales, high trumpets, clarinets, and piccolos all blasting away, and then just these gigantic dissonant chords from the entire orchestra. It feels so good to hear it again after all the silence I've had to endure.

It helps that I can now download music to my omni tool. Yeah, that's right. It's like... an IPod, I guess. Which is odd, because I repeatedly refused to get one. Now, though, with CDs being non existant, I kind of have no choice in the matter. Oh well. At least Varèse still exists around here. That much is a comfort to me, really.

Well, I'm in my room, this ship is going to dock at the Citadel in an hour, and we're getting free reign. So I'm going to be meeting up with Wrex sometime in the near future, and kicking Tonn Actus' ass. Well, if turians have one, anyway. Well, it'll be fun, I can be sure of that.

As I sit there, my gaze goes to my armor. It's all ready to go, being freshly polished from all that acid. It's a good thing, I guess. Makes my armor look more... badass, I guess? Those creepers really were acidic. I was concentrating so much on making it like a zombie movie I didn't realize how much of their acid burned into my armor until after the debriefing. Fortunately, Ash says it's nothing that can get in the way of stopping bullets or generating shields, so I think I'll survive.

My gaze sets itself on the paperweight that Benezia gave me. Jeez, I just can't stop looking at it. What is it? What am I supposed to do with it? I don't know. And I'm starting to care too much for my own sanity. This is getting rather crazy. And with Virmire coming up soon, I just can't see any hope of ever getting that question answered.

Oh, well. At least I won't have to think about it. Or maybe I will anyways. Oh, this is all too complicated. I need to shut up, right now.

I just sit back and continue listening to my Varèse, waiting for the ship to arrive at the Citadel as I listen to this music some more.