(Sarah)
I felt... content, in a weird way. Rupert was more than happy to get an assistant, and now I had found something that I could actually do on the ship without feeling useless or inadequate. Of course it took me a while to figure out where the cleaning supplies were, and I knew it would take a while before I could learn some of Rupert's... more unique dishes. (But hey, working with stanard ship rations was hard... right?) But right now, I was in the middle of cleaning the men's bathroom.
I spent quite a bit of time just scrubbing the floor, trying to get all of the dirt and grime up. It looked almost as if Rupert had only been cleaning the toilet bowl and the shower, and leaving the rest of the bathroom a mess. Then again... I could assume that he was a busy man.
Well, I thought, at least now we have a woman's touch around here. I snorted at the thought. Who would have imagined that I would be on the best ship in Mass Effect 2, on my hands and knees doing cleaning, while Abby was out there fighting for her life?
...Part of me wondered if EDI was somehow watching, and if she was getting a kick out of seeing me on my hands and knees. Gosh I hoped not. I didn't want to think that she could see it every time one of us had to use the bathroom.
I was up to my elbows in soapy water when the intercom blinked on. "Man your stations, folks, Shepard's back and we're busting outta here!" I could feel the slight weight of the artificial gravity as it began to work harder to compensate for whatever g-forces Joker was putting the ship through now. We must have been making quite an exit.
I remained as still as I could, wondering if I should grab ahold of my cleaning bucket to try and keep it steady in case things got really rough. I took my hands out of it and grabbed onto the edge of the toilet seat for support, yet all things considered it didn't jar me too much. I figured the ship must have had some decent stabilizors.
Once I was sure that I wasn't going to get sent flying into the wall or sent sliding across the wet floor, I grabbed the cleaning rag and decided to get on with what I was doing. I figured I was almost done anyway.
After a little while I finished cleaning the floor and I did my best to mop up most of the water with a towel. After all, if people came in here with their dirty shoes on while the floor was still wet, that wouldn't exactly be a good thing, would it? I still had to clean the toilet, because Rupert asked me to do that too. But that could wait a moment.
The door to the men's room opened with a very audible hiss. Startled, I glanced up to see who was intruding, words already half-formed in my mind that would make them leave, when they died on my lips. Jack raised one eyebrow. "What the hell are you looking at?"
I realized I was gaping at her. I closed my mouth and blinnked a couple of times. "Uh..." I cleared my throat, grabbing the towel I had been using up off the floor. "What're you doing in here?" I blurted out. "This is the men's room!"
Jack snorted. "So? What the fuck are you doing in here?"
"Cleaning," I said, indicating the towel in my hand, along with the bucket of soapy water and the damp floor. "Now what're you doing in here? The women's restroom is down the hall from here."
"Shepard's gossiping with the Cerberus cheerleader in there," she said, a look of intense dislike upon her face. "So I'm here. I'm just going to take a piss and get changed. Get back to your... cleaning, or whatever the hell you're doing."
I stared at her with widened eyes. In many ways this woman definitely had an... intimidating look about her. And yet for some reason I also felt as if I was dealing with a swarm of bees here; if you left the bees alone or didn't aggravate them too much, they would leave you alone for the most part.
"Uh..." I muttered, suddenly unsure what to do. I simply moved out of her way and grabbed my bucket.
Jack was wearing orange prison overalls, something I hadn't... been expecting. She carried pants and what I supposed was five or six leather belts in her hands. She wriggled out of her clothes and dumped the ones she must have scrounged up from somewhere on my nice, clean floor. The overalls were stained with red, orange, and blue blood. I looked away politely when I realized she wore no undergarments, like a bra.
She sat down on the toilet, naked as a jay-bird, and took a very long pee. I could feel my face heating up as I struggled to do something with my hands. The stream didn't stop for the longest time, and when it finally slowed to a trickle and ceased she held out her hand and said, "Toilet paper?"
My lips pressed into a thin line and I looked at her with widened eyes. I couldn't even imagine what my mother would say about this woman if she'd seen her. I quickly glanced around, but then I remembered that I had taken out the toilet paper when I started cleaning. I put it... out there somewhere. I didn't even remember where at the moment.
"Uh..." I swallowed. "I need to go get some. Wait here and I'll go get a roll, okay?" I didn't really wait for a response; I simply opened the door, got out, and closed it behind me. I did have more decency than SHE apparently did, after all; I wasn't going to leave the door open for the whole world to see her.
I looked around, trying to remember where the heck I left the toilet paper. Then I remembered; I put it behind the kitchen counter. So I walked over there, smiling innocently at anyone who happened to glance at me, and grabbed the two rolls of toilet paper.
I then walked back toward the men's restroom, still smiling. But as I approached the door to the men's room, I noticed that someone was coming. I glaced up to see none other than Zaeed approaching.
I flinched a little in spite of myself. He looked as though he wanted to go in.
He glanced at me, as if looking me over, then said simply, "Uh... you might wanna wait for a bit, girl. Can't you hold it in?"
What was with this ship? Was it considered okay to use whatever bathroom you felt like using at the moment or something? "Uh, I'm just the cleaning person," I said simply, and I shoved the toilet paper rolls at him. "Here," I said. "All I wanted to do was put those in there. So uh... have fun."
With that I turned on my heel, just as he opened the door to go in. Then I broke into a run, not wanting to be there in case chaos broke out before me. I just wanted to get somewhere safe... fast.
I ran as quickly as I could, my mind racing as I tried to quickly decide where to hide. As far as I was concerned, the two biggest bad-asses were now in the same bathroom, violating each other's space, and I just wanted to spend a few minutes behind a door or a bulkhead or something until I was sure they weren't going to blow a hole into the side of the ship.
I paused at the door to Miranda's office... then decided no way. So I turned away from it and sprinted in the other direction, moving straight down the hallway toward the door to the armory.
I went in through the door, and noticed that Garrus wasn't there. Well that suited me fine; I only wanted to hide anyway. I dove behind one of the crates in there and simply... stayed there, on the floor, listening to the "hum" of the ship and to my own breathing for the next few minutes.
Suddenly the door opened, and I cringed. Although I doubted that Jack or Zaeed would have any reason to... well, come in here. I stayed where I was for a moment as I heard footsteps approaching the terminal. Then I slowly peered out from behind it.
It was Garrus. It looked like he was doing something at the console. And I doubt he noticed me.
Very slowly I sat up, peering above the crate. "Hey," I said, smiling cheerfully as though nothing was going on. "What's up?"
Garrus glanced up, his mandibles tensing up as his body reacted to the sudden stress. "What are you doing in here?" he asked, staying a good ways away.
I moved out from behind the crate and sat on the edge of it. "Um... hiding."
"May I ask from whom now?" Garrus sounded like he was getting testy. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
I shook my head a little, standing up awkardly and moving just a little toward the door. "You don't want to know," I said. More specifically, I didn't want to talk about it. "Just tell me one thing... is it safe out there? I mean, you didn't hear any screaming or yelling, or anyone getting smashed against the wall or getting shot at while you were coming here... did you?"
He frowned... if turians could frown. "No... Maybe I better go check, though. What did you do?"
I blinked, then scowled. What made him think I did anything at all? "Uh, forget it." I shook my head, hoping he would just forget it. I was preparing to sprint... again.
"No, no, tell me," he said. I noticed he was wearing his pistil on his side. "Does this have anything to do with the crazy criminal Shepard just picked up?"
"Yeah kinda." I was staring at the door, but I stayed where I was. "I um..." I paused. "I got very nervous. Let's just leave it at that."
"What did you do to him?"
Now I glared at him. "First off, Jack is a she," I said. I was getting tired of him acting like I had done something terrible, like provoked someone or whatever. "Secondly, I didn't do anything. I was just doing my job and cleaning the men's restroom because Rupert told me to. Then Jack comes in saying she wants to use it to change her clothes. So she takes off her clothes and sits down on the toilet, then asks me for toilet paper.
"So," I went on in a huff-finding that it felt somewhat good to rant a little, "I go to get her some. I then saw Zaeed coming. He wanted to use the bathroom. So I simply gave him the toilet paper and ran here because I didn't want to be there in case hell broke loose."
I sucked in a deep breath to inhale more oxygen into my lungs, and waited for his reaction.
"Oh, dear," Garrus said, scratching his head. He turned around and locked the computer console. "I suppose I better go make sure they don't kill each other... stay out of trouble," he warned, and then he was gone.
Yeah, he could handle them if he wanted to. I would just stay here... and hide behind the crate some more.
And I did just that.
He came back about ten minutes later with the most bemused expression on his face. "Uh... you're... safe." He coughed and unlocked the console, then just stared at it for a few seconds before getting to work... or writing up a resignation email for Shepard.
I slowly moved out from behind the crate again. "You sure?" I asked, glancing around the room.
"Uh, yeah... she went downstairs wearing the weirdest outfit... I think all the males here are going to be very interested in her..."
"Um... yeah, I think I can imagine," I said with a nod. "Thanks, Garrus." I turned to go.
"Zaeed is taking a cold shower, so you might not want to... go in there."
We would never know exactly what happened in the bathrooms between Zaeed, Jack, and Garrus, but I had an inkling that it had to be something horrible to take Garrus by surprise like that. I felt my face heating up again.
"Yeah, okay," I said dully, and then I hurried out the door. Right at this moment, I didn't care about shirking my duties. I was going back to the room I shared with HK and Abby and listen to some music... or something. Just ANYTHING to try and unwind my nerves after this.
Abby wasn't in there, like I'd kind of expected she'd be. Neither was HK.
So I simply grabbed my CD player and plopped myself down onto my bed... hard. I put on the headphones and listened to "Telephone" by Lady Gaga at full blast, hoping it would sooth my nerves and make me forget about what just happened.
(HK)
"Hmm. Getting closer and closer to finishing counter measure for Collector seeker swarms. Thought I almost had it, but turned out to be countermeasure for bee stings. Ah well, progress is still coming along. Hopefully, Shepard will be pleased with the results." Mordin said, constantly walking around the lab.
I listened to him drone on and on, tuning out on occassion. I loved Mordin, but sometimes you couldn't understand half of what he was saying, especially with his confusing way of communicating.
However, he wouldn't be Mordin if he wasn't like that, would he?
I had come to see him simply because almost everyone else had been out in Purgatory, and I had no interest in spending too much time with the crew or Miranda. Shepard and Abby had just returned, but I hadn't gotten the chance to see either one of them yet.
Things had been...very interesting. Sarah had apparently become a janitor now, which was strange, but it fit her...Sarah had always done a good amount of housework, from what she told me. And she had such a hard time with the training, maybe she could work better as a crew member than a party member. And in Shepard's eyes, or Paragon Shepard's eyes, the crew was just as important as the party.
And Jack was here. I liked Jack in the game, but it would be scary to be around her in real life. She was one of the...weirder party members. I felt comfortable around Jacob and even Garrus, after all the training, as well as Shepard. But the verdict was still out on Miranda, Zaeed, and now Jack.
I could hear some commotion in the briefing room, though. One of the voices sounded like Shepard's.
"You know, Mordin, this has been fun and all, but I think I'm going to go see what everyone else is up to in the next room," I said, smiling at him as I stood up from the chair I had been in.
Mordin nodded. "Alright, must continue work anyway."
I turned and left, going out into the small corridor, then taking a sharp left into the briefing room. Inside were Miranda, Shepard, Abby, and Jacob.
"Shepard, you are not authorized to just hand out Cerberus files!" Miranda yelled, irritated like she always got in the game. "Especially not to convicts!"
"It was the only way that she would join the team," Shepard argued calmly. "And she is under our watch. I doubt she can do much harm."
Miranda just shook her head, conceding to defeat. I had always wondered how she truly felt about being under Shepard's leadership all of a sudden. Sure, she had worked for two years so they could eventually be at this point, but still...a top Cerberus operative, then a day later under the command of someone that wasn't exactly Cerberus.
I looked at Abby, she looked...a bit roughed up. "Wow, what happened to you?" I asked.
"A heavy mech exploded in my face," she said a bit ruefully. "But it was fun." She grinned that Abby grin of hers, and Jacob pursed his lips in disapproval.
My eyes widened, though I wasn't shocked that she had enjoyed it. "Are you okay?"
"You really should get down to Chakwas." Shepard suggested, turning to look at the young girl.
She felt her head gingerly and winced. "Alright. And... give Jack the files!" She ducked out of the room, leaving me standing there wondering. She poked her head back around the corner. "Come on, HK!"
I shrugged at the three left in the room, then turned to follow Abby. We walked out of the briefing room, and headed towards the elevator. "So, I take it that you enjoyed Purgatory?"
"Uh... no." She sounded serious, too. "It was... gorey. Really gorey. And we didn't make all of the Paragon choices. We skipped Billy's cell..."
My jaw dropped. I was beginning to get concerned, and was suddenly alot more grateful that we were away from everyone else. "This is...this is alarming," I said, lowering my tone to a whisper as we boarded the elevator. "First Daniel, and now Billy...I am not sure if the Charm/Intimidate bars even exist anymore, but she's...not saying the right things."
That almost sounded wrong in itself; to say that someone wasn't saying the 'right' thing, but it was the only way to put it.
"I know," she said worriedly. "And the fighting... the fighting isn't what we've experianced before, even at Mordin's. It was crazy out there. Like a madhouse. We were just slaughtering everything. I killed a lot of humans. By the time we got to Jack I was just ready to get it the heck over with."
I nodded, actually agreeing with Abby on fighting for once. "Its just...this is all becoming alot more real. I wondered if it would from the beginning, but now I know it. Its not just a simple game anymore. Its just...I want Shepard to be able to say the right things in the conflicts. To say the right things in the loyalty quests...if not, it could be disasterous."
I shook my head at all of this as the elevator stopped, and we stepped out onto Deck 3.
"Exactly. That's what I'm worried about. I'm not gonna lose Tali or... other people. Totally not doing that. We can't. But if we tell Shep exactly what happens... wouldn't that screw everything up? And there is this thing that may or may not happen that I have no control or idea over. Before we got here... there was another DLC that was about to be released, called Overlord."
"I really have no clue...so far, it seems like all the downloadable content already exists in this. So anything in the future that is going to be released is likely already here...the question is on whether we end up actually doing any of that content, aside from Zaeed and Kasumi," I speculated. "By the way, when does she come into this?"
"Oh, Shep has the email," she said. "Probably the Hammerhead email, too. When we go to the Citadel, it will be to pick Kasumi up, I bet you. We'll probably do her mission while we're there, too." She stumbled a bit on her way to the MedBay and winced. "Okay, I think Chakwas should take a look at me. I didn't even feel whatever it was hit me."
I nodded. "Good idea...I'm assuming she'll want to examine you without any interference, so I can just stay out here," I said. "See you later?"
"Sure," she said. "I'm starving! We'll get dinner."
I nodded, as Abby walked into the MedBay. After the door shut, I took a deep breath and looked around. There were those two eating, or talking, at the table like usual. Rupert was at his station, but the one difference was that I could see Zaeed walking in.
"Your new assistant is bat-shit crazy," he commented.
I blinked.
I don't want to know.
I walked away from them, deciding to not even listen to what was going on with Sarah now...but no one had screamed or blew their top yet, so I assumed it was nothing major.
However, I saw Miranda approaching. At first, I thought she was simply heading back to her office, but she was staring right at me. She had a hardened look on her face, but what else was new?
"You," she said. "My office. We need to chat."
"Ummm...okay then..." I replied slowly, raising an eyebrow while I turned to follow her. I wondered what the heck she could want.
We entered, and she took her place behind her desk, and gestured for me to take a seat in front of it. I did so, and felt like I was in the principal's office.
"Apparently, Shepard has decided that you will go on the next mission. She and Jacob both believe that you can handle it, and they wanted to give Abby a rest after all that happened on Purgatory. Since your other friend has taken up the local janitor role, you were the obvious choice." Miranda told me, folding her hands while she stared at me. "I will be going on this mission, as well, and I hope that you are up for it."
My heart dropped, and I wasn't sure what to say. I had done considerably well in shooting lessons...I had grown attached to that gun that Mordin gave me, and was using it well. I was able to beat Jacob at sparring. I had been trained well, but I still needed alot more training before I was an expert, and Korlus was far worse than what I had encountered on Omega.
"You handled yourself well enough on Omega, and that was before you got proper training," Miranda continued. "But every mission seems to get worse, and we are recruiting a krogan. This will be no piece of cake."
"Trust me, I know..." I said, trying to muster up some kind of meaningful sentence. "I-I...I'll try to do my best."
I had no clue what else to say. If Shepard wanted me to come, I would...technically, wasn't I under her command now, anyway? And I was not going to outright refuse it, either way...if Abby could handle Purgatory, I could handle this.
But that didn't stop me from being nervous. Maybe my nerves would be a bit more controlled than they were on Omega.
Oh, and of course, there were a bunch of mad krogans on Korlus, courtesy of Okeer and Jedore. Krogans had just become my favorite enemy on Omega.
This time, though, I would have a gun, and proper hand to hand skills.
Miranda was silent for a moment, and I wasn't sure what she was thinking. After a moment, she exhaled a large breath, and stood up. "You know, I am well aware of my reputation around here. I also know that you three probably hate me more than anyone, because of how I first reacted to your...presence. I still do not have a complete opinion on you, but I want you to know that, especially with all the training I oversaw, I have adjusted to you...and I am not doing this just to lecture you. I want you to realize how high the stakes are."
I was actually impressed. The only one you ever saw Miranda open up to was Shepard...even if this wasn't exactly opening up. "I don't think any of us hate you...and we know just as well as anyone else how high the stakes are, with all the...info that we have, and I totally understand what you are doing." I told her.
"Humanity is at risk, and we all have to be at our be-" she began.
"The entire galaxy is at risk." I corrected. For some reason, I had to interject that there. I always got tired of them preaching on and on about humanity in the game.
Miranda shot me a look. "I don't see asari and turian colonies being abducted."
"True, and I understand that humans are the ones being hit hard right now...but we all know that the Reapers are behind this. They aren't out to just get rid of humans, they are out to get rid of all organics. This is much bigger than Cerberus's ideals." I explained, though right after the words escaped my mouth, I realized that I should have termed the last part better.
"Cerberus's ideals?" Miranda repeated, looking shocked and frusterated. She wasn't raising her voice at all, but I could tell that what I had said got to her. "Cerberus is the only thing trying to properly protect humanity. Humans need something to rely on, and the Alliance doesn't cut it."
"But Cerberus takes it to the extreme. Really, Miranda, I like you...but I can't really agree with Cerberus. I'm of course going to work with them...and the Illusive Man probably has good intentions, but don't you think that sometimes the group gets a little...erm, insane?"
Miranda still looked surprised. "You truly are an interesting group," she commented. "I don't think I've ever heard a human talk like this. Most typically complain about humans and the treatment they are given...yet you endorse it?"
"The humans got a Spectre and Council seat long before the volus and elcor did, that's for sure." I told her, smiling slightly.
I was surprised that I was doing this, or part of me was...but I had never been exempt from having little debates like this in real life. It was never anything violent, but when I had a strong opinion like this, I didn't hold it back for too long.
Miranda scoffed. "How in the hell could a volus Spectre even exist? Or an elcor one? They are not able, HK...humans are. It took far too long for a human Spectre to exist, much less a Council member."
I shrugged. "You do have a point, but still...the only things humans are the victims of right now are colony abductions. And that is why we are all here, on the same ship: To stop it. So lets not get too deep into discussing something that was rectified two years ago, if you want to call it that."
"That is something we can agree on. Just be ready...even you can acknowledge that having a krogan on the team will be risky." Miranda warned. "Now, I have to get back to work."
I got up and began to leave...indeed, having a krogan on the team would be risky, she was right there. Especially when it wasn't even the krogan they expected to get.
And then it hit me.
I stopped immediately once out of Miranda's office.
"Dangit, dangit, dangit..." I muttered, deciding to continue walking once the initial shock wore off. I had to go to our own quarters to think about this.
I was going with Shepard to get Okeer...but Okeer was going to die, and I knew it. No one else did, but I did...and conflicting thoughts began to grow in my head.
I could tell Shepard all about what would occur on Korlus, about how Jedore would end up killing Okeer through toxic fumes...and we could somehow save him. But wouldn't that dramatically alter everything? Grunt would still be along, but with that nut of a scientist, he would likely be very different. And who knew what else Okeer could possibly do.
On the other hand, I could just stay silent...let Okeer die, and everything would continue on like normal. In the end, it was alot more safer option...but I'd be sending someone to his death. And then, it would probably come into question on why we let him die in the first place, because everyone knew about our abilities by now.
I approached our quarters, but I stopped when I saw Sarah peacefully listening to music. She probably didn't want to be disturbed right now, especially after whatever happened with Zaeed.
I sighed, turning back around. I had to discuss this with somebody. I just had to.
As much as I hated to disturb her after all that she had gone through on Purgatory, I felt like I needed to talk to Abby about it...she sometimes could offer words of wisdom on these type of things. So could Sarah, but she had been a bit strange lately.
I headed for the MedBay.
Once inside, I saw Chakwas sitting down at her desk...Abby was on one of the beds. It looked like Chakwas had just finished up with her.
"Ah, Dr. Chakwas, hello...I am just here to discuss something with Abby."
Chakwas nodded. "Alright...she must stay in bed, for now though. She has a concussion...but I will leave you two alone. I probably should go see if anyone else from the mission has injuries, as well."
Chakwas left, and I approached Abby. "Hey, uh, I really hate to bother you but...I need to talk to somebody." I said, my alarm present in my voice.
Her face was completely scrubbed clean of the blood, though a nasty-looking gash stretched from her eyebrow to the center of her hairline. Orange medi-gel sealed the wound, and it looked like Chakwas has just finished stitching the skin together. A raised brown bump on her right temple made her look like she'd just walked out of a car accident. Her brows furrowed when she saw me, and she nodded, concerned. "What's up?"
Her wounds nearly made me shudder, but I was just glad that she was alive at this point. "Miranda told me that Shepard is taking me on the next mission. I'm going to have to fight through Korlus," I explained, gulping. "But...thats not what is bothering me. Its, uh, Okeer. He dies in the game...we all know that. But now...I know he's going to die. All three of us do, and I...I am conflicted on the entire thing."
"Shh," she said sharply, her eyes flickering over to EDI's terminal. She pursed her lips and glanced out the observation window at the crowd of people heading for dinner. "It's... a sacrifice we're gonna have to make. If we go against a fact, save somebody when they're supposed to die, can you see how different that would make things? Remember what Wrex said: Okeer is frowned upon in all krogan cultures, and what he was doing was morally wrong. If we save him? Who knows what will happen?
"I don't think-look, I'm just as conflicted about it as you are. I don't want to let somebody die. But..." She just shook her head. "Sorry, that's the best I can do."
I nodded. She had valid points. "I know...and its not even anything personal, because we'll see him for all of five minutes...and I think he's too weird to even have on the ship. Its just the idea of letting someone, anyone die...its disturbing. But you are right...it may be disasterous if we actually saved him. It's just going to be hard to walk out of that room, knowing that his life is about to end. But at least he'll get his wish...in a weird way. Grunt will grow and prosper."
"Here we go with the Vulcan metaphors," she sighed, then cracked a smile for my benefit. "Look, I'm not saying... okay, maybe I am saying it. Okeer will live through Grunt. We're just going to have to... accept it, somehow."
I had no clue about anything Vulcan or Star Trek-related...maybe Sarah should have been involved in the conversation, so I didn't know about the metaphors.
Then, suddenly, Abby's words a minute or so ago made me think of something else.
"If we're going with sci-fi stuff," I said, surprised that I actually came up with this. "Maybe I've...figured out a way to put it. It vaguely resembles Sacrifice, by Karen Traviss, remember? Mara had to die to push her kid in the right direction, or the results could have been horrible...that's basically what happens here."
Abby loved Karen Traviss to death. The similarities weren't lost on her. "Huge difference, though," she stated. "Mara's the awesome one. Okeer creates dumb krogan clones for insane reasons. Okeer is like that evil scientist in the corner nobody likes talking about."
I nodded. It was definitely true. "Its not that I mind letting Okeer personally die...I don't care for him. We barely know him, and all thats been said and witnessed was that he was insane. Again, its just letting anyone die...but it may be necessary. In fact, it probably is necessary."
"It's not like if he lives we can say 'Oh, by the way, we're just going to drop you off at a random planet and take Grunt with us. Kay-kay, bye!' Like it or not, it's one of those unpleasant things we're going to have to do." She frowned.
I nodded. "You're...you're right. There's no way around it." I acknowledged, before letting out a sigh. "This seems to get more and more complicated everyday."
"Yeah," she agreed, probing her head absently. "And then that big choice at the end... will she side with You-Know-Who, or will she destroy it? And who will live?"
I shuddered. "I would like everyone to live...and I hope she will." I said, disgusted at the thought of her keeping the Collector station. "That would be horrible...heck, I just had an...erm, mini-argument with Miranda about Cerberus."
"I don't know..." she said, shifting around uncomfortable. "I would have kept it, but now I'm not so sure. What if keeping it means we beat them?"
"It may mean beating them...and that would be good, but we'll be facing the exact same problem after they are all taken care of," I pointed out, lowering my voice to a whisper. "You-Know-Who has bigger ideas than to just use it to stop the Reapers...he'll use his own for dominance. Its just going to create another problem."
"Yeah, yeah," Abby muttered. "True... It's just like that thing we talked about before all of this happened. What if all the P choices screw us all up? Seriously. That would be horrible."
"I really don't know...I guess now, we're going to actually get to find out." I said, looking around. "At least we seem to have some friends on here aside from each other...Jacob, for one. Maybe Garrus and even Shepard...I think relations with them are improving every mission."
"And... maybe Zaeed. I don't know." Abby shrugged. "We kind of took down a heavy mech together... and I saved his butt. Definitely Jacob, though. He's an awesome guy. Miranda will come around eventually. I think she likes us. Kind of. But she doesn't realize it yet."
I nodded. "She was...nice to me, even when we had that small disagreement. Or, maybe nice isn't the word...peaceful is a better way to put it. She actually took the time to explain that she just wanted everyone to survive and wasn't trying to lecture me, and that she had definitely come around more than when we first arrived. I think its going to take time with her...Mordin's also been pretty nice, too, but he's really focused on his work." I said.
I thought about the newest addition to the crew, and cracked a smile. "Think any of us are going to be friends with Jack?"
"Oooh I am," Abby said confidently. "I want to learn more swearwords."
"You know..." I started, amazed at her comment. "You and Sarah never cease to impress me. Neither of you...if its not Sarah biting people's fingers off, its you wanting to hang around with the local nude cusser."
Abby laughed. "You know me, I love diversity among my friends."
I nodded. "And there certainly is diversity here, thats for sure." I commented. "Uh, actually, speaking of which...any idea on what Sarah has been up to now?"
"No clue," she said, shrugging. "I actually would have come to the MedBay sooner, but Jack needs those files and Shepard seemed to be meeting some resistance. I needed to nudge things along a bit. Why? You hear anything?"
It was then that it hit me that because of the situation with Shepard and Jack, Abby may not even know of Sarah's new role on the ship. "Well, first of all...she's sort of become an...assistant to Rupert. Apparently, because of her problems with fighting and how she excells at things that some of the ship crew do around here, she's become a janitor of sorts...and before I spoke to Miranda, I heard Zaeed telling Rupert..."
I paused, recalling the exact words. "To put it nicely, he called her very weird."
Abby blinked. "Well, that pretty much sums her up," she agreed. "She probably told Zaeed that his accent was cute or something."
I nearly laughed. "I doubt it...Sarah's not the type, and she likes Garrus, anyway." I said.
"Hey, you never know," Abby said, but I could tell she was joking now. "His accent is pretty hot."
I snorted. "Of course it is, Abby, of course it is," I remarked sarcastically.
"Austrailian," she said wistfully. "He's WAY too old, but still..." She elbowed me. "Time for you to laugh. You shouldn't be this worried. You'll get premature grey hairs, and then I'll have to waste my money buying you hair color, and I have a Gears of War 3 fund, mister."
I rolled my eyes. "Are you sure you'll even get GoW 3? Technically, it doesn't even exist in this universe."
She raised an eyebrow. "Never doubt the Abby Intelligence Network," she said mysteriously.
"Probably true," I acknowledged, then proceeded to stand. "Well..I suppose I should go talk to Shepard or someone about this upcoming mission, and you need your rest anyway...wish me luck."
"Bye, strange one."
With that, I turned and made my exit.
(Sarah)
I'd finally gotten my nerves settled down enough so that I could put aside the CD player and step out of the quarters. I was aware that HK had been there earlier, and he'd simply left, apparently having chosen not to disturb me. I also took that to be a good sign. Abby was probably fine; if she wasn't, he would have come forward and told me.
But now I had a completely different problem; I had a headache. It was probably because I had spent so much time listening to music on full blast.
Or maybe it was because I had inhaled too much of the cleaning chemicals I was using. I frowned slightly. Had it been a bad idea to mix them together? I'd heard that that could cause problems sometimes.
Well, if I was going to get anything done, I knew I couldn't go around all day with a headache. The medical base was closest, but... um, I didn't want to go through THAT area right now. I wanted to avoid that general area of the ship for at least a little longer, considering what happened there.
So instead I rode the elevator up to the bridge level and then quietly slipped into Mordin's lab. There was something I had been dying to ask him anyway, and this would be the perfect opportunity.
I quietly approached the lab table, then I cleared my throat. "Mordin?" I said, getting his attention.
Mordin looked up at me. "Ah, Sarah. Glad to see you are still here, and heard about your new duty coming through. Excellent. Very busy, working on countermeasure. Need something?"
"Yeah," I said with a nod, taking a step closer to the lab desk. "Um... got anything for a headache? I've got a bad one." I winced. Of course, the bruise on my temple was still a bit tender, but this had nothing to do with that.
Mordin scratched his chin. "Hmm, do have some medicine for it...simple, non-addictive painkillers. Still must take them carefully, though. What happened?" he asked.
"Well," I said slowly, "it's either because I was listening to music full-blast on my bed for at least an hour, or because I breathed in something I shouldn't have." I sure hoped it was the music.
"Loud music is not good for the head. Hmm, interesting..I was not aware that Cerberus would allow fumes on a ship that would hurt humans. But, I still have medicine." Mordin said, leaning down and taking out a small bottle full of headache medicine.
"Well if it was fumes, it was probably my fault," I said with an impassive shrug. "I mixed some cleaning ingredients together in a bucket. I don't know what they were, I just grabbed them after Rupurt showed them to me and I poured them both into the bucket."
"Very dangerous to do that, could prove disasterous. But luckily, cleaning ingredients are nothing to be too worried about. Now here, swallow this pill with a cup of water." Mordin said, giving me one small pill.
"Thanks," I muttered. I chose to ignore the second half of his directions, simply popping it in my mouth and swallowing, hard. I felt it stick a little on the way down my throat, but I swallowed a couple more times, forcing it down. I stroked my throat warily afterwards.
Mordin raised an eyebrow. "Would be wise to drink water, like I instructed, next time. But glad that you got it down." he said.
"Yeah," I muttered. I inhaled and then swallowed again, just to make absolutely sure it wasn't stuck anywhere down there. Then, satisfied, I looked at him again. "Thanks," I said. I then studied him thoughtfully-specifically, his head-trying to figure out how to ask my question.
Mordin seemed to go back to whatever he was working on, but after several seconds, he looked back at me. "Need something else?"
"Well, I was kind of curious about something, if you don't mind me asking," I finally said, still looking at the right side of his head intently.
"Do not mind at all." Mordin said.
"How did you..." I paused, trying to figure out the best way to phrase it. I didn't need to offend or weird out anyone else on this ship, after all. "I mean, how did..." I raised my hand, almost pointing at his head, but stopped myself. "What happened to..." I trailed off, squinting in frustration.
Mordin blinked.
I was doing it again, wasn't I?
"What happened to your head?" I finally blurted out, bluntly.
"What happened to my head?" Mordin asked, looking very confused.
I scowled, irritated. "You know, one of your... uh... head-things is shorter than the other," I said, a tad bit snippily. The medicine hadn't kicked in yet, but I also had a habit of getting annoyed with people when they didn't get what I was saying when I felt it was totally obvious.
"Ah, personal matter. Do not wish to discuss it. No offense." Mordin simply answered.
"Oh, okay," I said with a little nod. I felt a little bad for snapping now. I shouldn't be pressing people to talk about something they didn't want to talk about, after all. "Sorry," I added quickly. "Didn't mean to pry."
"Oh no, not prying. Simple curiosity. Part of human nature." Mordin said, smiling lightly at me.
I returned his smile with a grin in spite of himself. Despite his... oddness, Mordin really did seem like an understanding person. Probably why we all loved him so much. "So... do you like orange juice?" I asked randomly.
"Hmm, on occassion. Why do you ask?" Mordin inquired back.
"I love orange juice," I murmured, thinking about that sweet, tangy taste it always left on my tongue when I drank it. "I used to drink it sometimes back home. I guess I wish we had some onboard." I snorted a little. "I bet it's better than ryncol, at least," I muttered as a joke.
"And far less harmful. Made more for humans than anyone else." Mordin said, nodding slightly. He paused for a moment, then spoke again. "Actually, Sarah, need to say something."
I blinked. "Um, what?" I asked, bracing myself. I had no idea what he was going to say.
Mordin moved from behind the table. "Aware that you come by often since I have joined...and also aware that rumor says that you like an alien onboard. Have had other species attracted to me before. Awkward. Not interested."
I simply stared at him for a moment with my jaw hanging down as far as it would go. I turned away from him for a moment, giving myself a chance to get over my shock. That was the LAST thing I'd expected him to say.
Then, with my back facing him... I pressed my hand over my face, but it couldn't quite keep in the nervous laughter. Something like the cross-between of a snicker and a chuckle escaped through my hand.
"Not sure what comedy comes from this...unless perhaps humans react differently to rejection than I originally studied." Mordin commented.
Maybe it was because the medicine was starting to kick in a bit, or because I needed some sort of release after these past few days. There have been times when I would simply crack up over the stupidest things if I was under enough stress and if something struck me funny. So, there it happened. I totally cracked up.
I started laughing to the point where I was almost wheezing in and out and I had to move over to the nearby crate to sit down. Once I was there I just continued to guffaw, clutching one hand against my chest.
Mordin continued to look at me, utterly baffled. "Hmm..perhaps there is more than I thought. Should bring mental competance into question as well."
I finally managed to stop laughing enough to look at him with a fairly straight face. However, one look at his face... and I started cracking up all over again. Only now my laughing sounded strained and breathless, and I was practically panting.
Mordin leaned down, looking like he was examining me. "Very strange. Are you alright?" he asked.
I turned away from him and took several slow, deep breaths. Then I stared down at the floor rather than at him, so I wouldn't risk setting myself off into another fit of laughter. I felt like I had pretty much laughed myself out, though. "I guess," I finally breathed. "Don't mind me, I've been known to... have short bursts of insanity sometimes," I grinned.
"Hmm. Odd trait...may have to study it more. I hope I have not upset you," he said, looking at me concernedly.
"Actually," I said, breathing more easily now, "I need to tell you something." I took a chance and looked at him. So far so good. No more fits of laughter coming. "It's not you," I said simply. "I mean, I like you, you're a great person and you're fun to be around, but... uh, it's someone else."
Mordin's eyes sagged slightly, but it was most likely in relief. "Ah, not interested? Very good...making me feel more at ease. Happy to be friends." he said as he stood. "However, there is only one other alien on this ship..."
My lungs were still trying to replenish my body's oxygen supply after that huge fit of laughter I'd endured. I sucked in another breath and released it as a heavy sigh. Great, not Mordin knew my secret. Although it was probably only a matter of time before he figured it out or heard about it anyway. And for some reason... I felt better about letting him in on it myself if he really had to know, or was about to figure it out anyway. Less chance of EDI or Joker being able to use that as blackmail, if it was already pretty much out, right?
Besides... Garrus knew. So it wasn't like this was really earth-shattering news.
"Yeah... I like Garrus," I murmured with a nod. Then I winced. Was Mordin going to give me the same sex talk he'd given Shepard in the game?
"Hmmm...in that case, must warn you. Medical matters." Mordin said, confirming my fear.
Uh oh. I turned my head away just enough so he wouldn't see my grimance.
"Sexual activity normal stress release for humans and turians. Still recommend caution. Warn of chafing." Mordin said, still controlled and calm as he talked about this openly.
"Yeah I know," I muttered. "And any ingestion leads to an allergic reaction, right?"
Mordin smiled. "Done your research. Excellent. Most species do not bother to examine the consequences of relationships like this. Still can give you booklet, though...and you should come see me afterwards."
I coughed a little, yet somehow I still managed to smile. "Thanks," I said. "But... I really don't think that's going to happen," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. Since when did I feel so calm about anything, especially a sex talk? All that time around the msn gang must have REALLY rubbed off on me. Or maybe I was just too exhausted to care. "I... don't think I've made a very good impression on him..." I shook my head.
"Oh, not in relationship? Hm, perhaps for the best. I apologize for getting ahead of myself." Mordin said, turning to head back to his work table.
I opened my mouth and closed it again. I was considering asking him something, but... I really wasn't sure if it would be appropriate at this point. I pursed my lips as I thought about it.
"Need to say more?" Mordin wondered.
"Well..." I scratched the back of my neck sheepishly. "I was wondering..." I winced. Oh gosh, was I really thinking about asking this?
"Please, say." Mordin encouraged politely.
I made myself spit it out. "I was wondering if I could... see that... booklet, anyway." There, I said it.
"Hmm...interesting. Despite not actually having contact with other species, there is no harm in more education for future reference." Mordin said, being so open as to pulling the booklet out from another part of the lab, then extending it to me. "Here you go."
My eyes widened a little, then I reached over to slowly take it. "Thanks," I murmured, and I activated the datapad in my hands. I sat back a bit on the edge of the crate and began to glance it over.
After a couple of minutes my eyes went even wider than ever and I pressed my free hand over my mouth. My eyes darted across the tiny screen, taking in the words and... um, very graphic images. "So that's how they... do it," I muttered under my breath.
"Indeed," Mordin said as he got back to work.
"Wow," I said, shaking my head as I stared at the datapad a moment longer. Then I shut it off and stuffed it down my shirt-my pockets weren't big enough to hide it. "Don't say a word of this to Abby or HK," I muttered. "Please."
Mordin smiled again. "Do not worry, strictly between us in confidence. Oh, and EDI and Joker, who may have heard." he said.
I actually smacked my hand against my forehead. "If I don't die of embarrassment or stress before this is all over, it's gonna be a miracle," I growled.
"Ah, do not worry. Many embarrassing moments in life. However, we must overcome them and forge on." Mordin told me.
"Yeah, I guess," I muttered. It wasn't always that easy, though. "Hey, I have another question," I then said, looking toward him intently.
"Yes?" Mordin asked.
"Um..." I shrugged sheepishly, but made myself continue. This was Mordin I was talking to, after all. To him, I might as well have been discussing the weather, no matter what the subject was. "Well, I really don't think it's gonna work out with... that turian," I began. I knew that he knew who I meant. "But... is it possible that... another turian out there somewhere might be... interested in a human?"
I couldn't believe I was asking this. But... surely it was okay to satisfy my curiosity, at least.
Mordin nodded. "Very possible. Despite dangers, interspecies relationships very common. See them everywhere. Never rule it out." he replied.
"I wonder what it might be like to hook up with Sidonis..."
...Did I really, REALLY say that outloud?
Mordin shrugged. "Just take proper precautions."
"Yeah," I muttered absent-mindedly, not really hearing him. I was staring dreamily off into space, pondering the idea.
Then, realizing I must have looked like a spaced out dope, I shook myself a little and stood up. "Thanks Mordin," I said, giving him a sloppy salute, and I walked toward the door.
Now all I would have to do is figure out where to hide this datapad so that Abby and HK would never find out about it. I guess I could just keep it stuffed in my shirt for now.
"Goodbye, Sarah. Glad to clear the air. Now, must get back to work." Mordin said as I left.
(HK)
I had actually decided to go back to our quarters before talking too much to Shepard...there wasn't much to talk about, anyway. We both knew the mission, and I had been trained as well as I could. And I wanted to get some final rest in before this all went down.
Though I wasn't aware of when we'd get to Korlus, either.
Sarah was also missing, and I was direly hoping that she hadn't gotten into anymore trouble.
I sighed as I laid on my bed. This was all getting so...insane.
Just then, she entered. I looked up at her. "Hey there."
Sarah started a little as she walked in, apparently not expecting to see me. "Hiya," she said as she crossed the room to sit on her own bed. She then glanced down at her shirt and turned her back toward me, a bit stiffly. "Where's Abby?" she asked.
"She's in the MedBay...as you probably know, she got Jack, but she got a concussion and took some bad hits. She has to stay in there for awhile." I told her. "I get to go on the next mission."
"Oh really?" she said, turning to look at me. "How do you feel about that?"
"Nervous," I replied, very honestly. I felt I could still be very open with both Abby and Sarah. "Not only about the mission, but about Okeer...I'm sending him to his death. I spoke to Abby about it, and we agreed that it was necessary, but I still feel a bit bad about it."
Her eyes darted downward and she looked thought, and perhaps a little distracted. "Yeah... not sure what to say there. From what I remember of the game, they didn't exactly give you any choices there. But here... things are different." She shrugged a little and leaned back a bit on her bed. "Well, since I'm just a lowly janitor now," she smirked, "I guess it's up to you guys for the most part."
I smiled. "Nah, a janitor is just as important as anyone else...how is that going, by the way?" I asked.
"Ummm..." She sighed, shifting her position so that she lay flat on her back on her bed. From her position, she could still look at me though. "At first it was going great," she said slowly. Then she narrowed her eyes. "But... well..." She waved a dismissive hand. "Nevermind."
This must be about what I heard earlier. Alright, I'll bite. May regret it but I will.
"I didn't bother to learn the details, but I know it has something to do with Zaeed," I told her. "What happened?"
Her eyes went skyward, as if she was going to roll them but stopped. "Yeah, him... and Jack..." She sighed. "And Garrus..." She winced.
"Oh dear," I blurted, knewing that this meant trouble. "What happened?"
She hesitated a moment. She was either gathering her thoughts or trying to decide whether or not she wanted to tell.
Finally, she launched into the story. She also kept glancing toward the door every so often as she told it, as though worried someone might walk in in the middle of it.
"...So then," she said, concluding her tale, "after I gave Zaeed the toilet paper I told him to 'have fun' and I ran for it. Because I had no idea what was going to happen when he went in there. So I went into the armory to hide, and I went behind a crate, and I ended up having to tell Garrus what happened. And..." She put a hand over her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I've thoroughly convinced him I'm nuts, or a weirdo. But at least Mordin doesn't think I'm weird... I don't think, anyway."
"Oh...my Lord..." I said, blinking. I wasn't sure whether to find that story funny or just gross. However, I couldn't hold back a chuckle. "I mean, just wow...I don't know what to say...except I can't believe Jack is so weird as to randomly use the men's restroom."
I laughed again. "Its just...of all the people to be involved in this...the two rough ones and your favorite...person." I commented, shaking my head.
However, then I noticed her last comment. "Wait just a minute, how do you know that about Mordin?"
"Uh..." She moved and in a swift, abrupt motion, she sat up on the bed. "Well..." She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood, as though getting too restless to stay in one place. "Let's just say..."
A clattering sound cut her off. She glanced down as she realized a datapad had slipped out from under her shirt. She gasped softly and snatched it up off the floor, tossed it on her bed and threw her pillow on top of it.
I looked at the datapad, wondering what in the world she was doing with a datapad, unless it was like...cleaning schedules or something. And what was going on with Mordin?
"Lets just say...?" I said, pushing for her to continue.
She sat down on her bed... putting herself between me and the datapad. At least it seemed like that. "Well," she said with a shrug, apparently deciding to continue, "I was in here for a while, listening to music. Then I started to get a bad headache, so I went to Mordin for some painkillers.
"Then," she went on, "uh... well... I asked him about his head. You know, why one of his head things is shorter than the other." She gestured at her head for emphasis. "Then I started making small talk and... he thought I liked him, because he'd heard a rumor that I liked an alien onboard." She rolled her eyes.
My eyes went wide...so Sarah got the talk that Shepard would get if she didn't romance anyone? I was tempted to burst out laughing, but didn't, as it probably irritated her and I was not sure how funny this truly was. "Ummm...what did you tell him?" I queried.
She was silent for a moment, apparently trying to decide what to say. Then she shrugged. "At first... I just cracked up. Then I told him that I wasn't interested in him. Next, he figured out that I liked Garrus, just like that, so... he started to give me advice."
My eyes went wider. "Oh no, you got the alien talk, too?" I asked.
Then, I realized what the datapad was. "Oh Lord."
She glared at me. "What?" she asked, as though guessing what I just deduced.
"The datapad..." I said slowly.
For a moment she continued to look at me with a scowl. Then her expression softened, replaced with a more... mischievous look. She turned away from me a for a moment, snatching up the datapad and pressing a few keys on it.
"So basically, Mordin gave you sex advice...and then you took a datapad that further expanded on it." I said outloud. "And why do you look like you like it?"
Quite suddenly, she hopped off of the edge of her bed and came straight toward me, shoving the datapad in my face. It had a... graphic image on it. "What do you think of this?" she asked impishly.
"EXCUSE ME? EW!" I shouted, throwing the datapad out of my face and onto the floor. "Um, I am sorry, but I do not need to see graphic images courtesy of Mordin! I don't need to see graphic images at all, thank you very much! What in the world prompted you to do that?"
She snatched the datapad up off the floor, giggling a little. "Sorry," she muttered. "I can't exactly go on the internet and blow off steam or do anything silly now, can I?"
"That doesn't mean that you can go shoving graphic imagery in the face of anyone, much less a minor!" I said, still astonished at her actions. "I mean, Sarah, what is going on with you?"
She shook her head a little. She was still smiling a little, but her expression had sobered a bit. "Come on, it's no worse than some of the stuff I've shown you or Abby on DA," she said as she returned to her bed. "Well, maybe a BIT worse," she consented as she sat down on the edge of her bunk. "But..." she shrugged. "I dunno. I've had a rough few days. Gotta blow off steam somehow." She then laid back on her bed, setting the datapad beside her, apparently wanting to leave it at that.
I took a very deep breath, trying to collect myself. We all needed to relax right now, not start some kind of event. "I...I understand that its been hard for everyone. And I know that having Mordin so bluntly bring all this stuff up to you is no picnic, but...wow. Just...try not to do this kind of stuff to everyone." I said.
She actually laughed. "Course I wouldn't," she said in sort of a "duh" tone. Then she sighed. "Sorry. It's just... I always do goofy things around you guys on msn. And with my DA pals. But..." She frowned a little. "I guess it's a bit... different when you're face-to-face with a person." She looked thoughtful, even a little... ticked at the notion she'd just realized.
I nodded. "It is different, indeed...you have a valid point. But I've never seen you even do that online...or do half of this stuff online, not that you even could. But again...these are very different circumstances, so I can get it." I said.
Her face changed expression a bit. She still looked like she was thinking, and was still a bit ticked... if anything, her face showed that she was just thinking more deeply, and feeling a bit more ticked. Or something. "Tell me about it," she finally muttered, and said nothing more.
I sighed. Perhaps it was best not to speak with her about this anymore...if I were her, I would not even be looking at that datapad or have it in the first place, but it was her choice. Maybe reading about this stuff helped take her mind off of things...I didn't know.
"Well, alright then." I simply said.
"Mmm-hmm." She gazed up toward the ceiling and didn't utter another sound.
With that, I decided maybe it would be best to leave and get on with talking to whoever about the next mission...I needed it, and Sarah probably needed some time to herself and...sort all of this out herself.
I stood, and made my exit.
"Hey," she said as I moved out the door. "Good luck out there." She then resumed staring at the celing.
I looked back at her, and smiled. "Thank you. It means alot." I said genuinely. I wasn't going just yet, heck it could be days before we even got there, but that still meant something to me.
She smiled a little. "Let's just hope I don't cause anything else crazy-like to happen while you're out there," she commented. "Just look at all that's happened so far." She passed her hand through the air, as though gesturing at an invisable list. "I swear I've become a jinx in this place, instead of just an internet jinx."
I snorted. "You make a point...I guess we'll just have to see. Lets hope nothing gets too out of hand," I said, smirking slightly.
"Yep," she muttered, in an almost Jack-like way. She made a noise somewhere between a little chuckle and a grunt. "One other thing happened in Mordin's office too," she muttered. "But..." She closed her eyes briefly, waving her hand through the air as though trying to erase her words. "Nevermind. You've got enough to worry about with this mission. Forget I said anything."
"I have plenty of time, really," I said, walking back into the room. "What happened?"
"Hmm." She got an odd look on her face, as though she wanted to spill it, yet was holding back at the same time. "Well, I told Mordin I knew that, um... it would never work out between me and Garrus." She made a small shrugging motion. "I'm sure he probably thinks I'm a fruitcake by now anyway... him and at least half the crew," she muttered.
I tilted my head slightly. "Not sure about that exactly...but not sure if it would work out anyway...I mean none of us know how Garrus feels, or how anyone feels for that matter...I can't remember if we even decided on who Shepard herself would romance," I said, lowering my tone in the latter part of the sentence so EDI wouldn't catch wind of it. "People do probably think you are odd, but I think some still think you are alright...I mean, look at everyone else on this crew. We have Mordin, the open and strange scientist. Zaeed, the rough merc...Miranda, the uptight woman...and now Jack, who just takes the cake. And Abby and I are probably still regarded as weird by the bulk of the crew, too."
"Hmm," she said thoughtfully, her expression perking up a bit. "I see what you mean. In other words... we fit in just fine." She chuckled a little.
I chuckled myself. "Yes...really, we know we seem so weird to the rest of the crew. But as the party gets bigger, who won't? This ship is going to be made of weirdos."