Me: Just what am I gonna do if the damn Krogan's don't take to football…?

Delta: (reading the prinout of reviews) Hey, someone suggested Rugby.

Me: (looks at Delta with a lifted brow) Carpetfly? What?

Delta: (rolls his eyes)

Change of Character

I sigh in annoyance, leaning against the wall. Well this is a problem… I was in the Afterlife VIP area again, after having checked the apartment building first to see if she was there then coming here. Good news was that I did find Morinth, however the bad news is that Morinth's found someone else. Well, only one thing to do now then. Make a bit of a scene to show her I've returned.

…Or I could just go up and say hi. That might work. Alright, I'll need to approach from behind the person she's talking to. Or maybe I should approach from behind her and try to warn that person. Who is that person by the way, looks like a chick but I can't really tell from here. Oh wait, that's a dress she's wearing, definitely a chick. Or a trap. I'm not that unlucky am I? Nah, that's just slightly weird, not unlucky. I should check to see how well it's going.

With that thought I lean forward some, looking towards Morinth's booth. She seems kinda bored actually, though her female boothmate is looking to the side while talking about something she apparently likes if the smile is anything to judge by. Huh, she might strike out on her own and save me the trouble. I lean back against the wall, watching the two still. Sure enough, after 5 minutes in which the girl seems more and more desperate to regain Morinth's attention once she's noticed she's started losing it Morinth excuses herself. Or rather just says bye and leaves. I watch her, seeing her circle around the edge of the dance floor before she reaches the exit. I get out and follow her, cloaking to help conceal myself. Once we've reached a larger walkway than the private one to Afterlife's club I uncloak and walk up beside her, tapping her arm.

"Glad I found you." I start. I raise my hands up when she whirls on me, helmet already off and an easy smile planted on my face, "So if you'll let me start, I'd like to apologize. Apparently the Blue Suns decided to wait until after you had invited me over to try and enact revenge. They're handled now, but I was hoping the offer was still open."

Her expression slowly turns from startled surprise to caution then back to her seductive smile and half-lidded eyes. "Ah, well of course. It so happens I am free tonight, so why don't you come over?" She responds, a hand drifting over my arm.

I smile, and turn as we start walking back towards our apartment building. "Perfect, I could use a good vid to relax after that. I'll just go upstairs first and change out of my armor. You don't mind waiting a few minutes do yo?" I ask.

She smirks. "Not at all."

It takes me about 10 minutes to get into my room, take off my armor, change my outfit to something more fitting for a date, shoot Shepard a message telling her that I'll be at Morinth's if she needs me and telling her the floor and room number. That shouldn't be suspicious. I pick up the hard case of my armor and open it, pulling out one of the attachable plasma blades Mordin had designed for my first suit, rendered obsolete from the built in, more powerful ones in my Mjolnir armor set. I place it on the underside of my wrist, the streamlined teardrop shape hidden well by the long sleeve of my shirt. I smile at this and place the other one, hissing in pain from the grav-lock as some loose hairs are suddenly torn out of my skin. Ignoring the pain I flick my wrists and am pleased to see two plasma blades erupt out from beneath the palm of my hand, forming thin stiletto daggers with an edge. Better for stabbing though the plasma makes slicing actually possible. I turn them off and inspect the shirt for any burns. Finding none on the material I quickly walk out and go down to Morinth's room.

The door opens and Morinth looks me over for a second before smirking again and stepping to the side. "Come in. I have the vid loaded up."

"Thanks." I reply, stepping into the lion's den. The apartment is spacious, similar to mine except the entrance to her bedroom was altered so there's no door between it and the living area, and the wall is mostly transparent as well. On my right is a short wall that leads to a kitchen and towards my left is a wide floor-to-ceiling window that spans the length of the public living area. I can see the couch and television set through the bedroom wall along with a large statue of what seems to be a krogan. Facing the apartments cityscape window are two couches arranged in an L shape with a couple loveseats placed nearby and small tables at each end. It's a good party area, with apparently nothing off limits and the atmosphere expresses that with the slight bass sounds echoing through the walls. Afterlife is literally next door, but the entrance to it is placed at the end of a long, circular and annoying walkway from this building's entrance.

I see Morinth walking towards a coffee table by the window, grabbing two glasses of what looks like wine. My eyes lock on the pill bottle resting on the same table.

"You sure you want a Hallex? You won't be able to watch the vid so well with one." Morinth comments, walking beside me.

"Thanks but I'd rather not. Have one, that is." She looks back with a smirk. I check out the revenant machine gun on the wall, hanging under an antique katana.

"Like it? I was into dueling once. I enjoy many things where you can see your enemy up close right before they fail."

"I remember having lessons as a child in the art. I wasn't too skilled and ended up losing a lot." I respond, looking at the katana. It was pretty cool and it'd be damn nice to have it, even just for decoration. I walk up the short steps and stare at the Krogan statue.

"That was a gift from a suitor. The statue had more personality than him. Still I gave him what he wanted, but I don't think it ended as he thought it would." Morinth says, sitting down on the couch before the screen. Over it, production company brands start playing, and I don't recognize any of them. I take a seat by Morinth, seeing as how the couch is barely large enough to sit 3 and she's set herself up to take half of the space already. I lean back and rest my arm on the back of the couch, reaching past her. We watch the screen for a few seconds, seeing one animation of an Asari in a skintight combat suit biotic blast the wall behind her, causing a company name to appear from the attack. I take it that company does a lot of action movies. Soon the credit thing is done and the screen fades to black as the lights around Morinth's room fade as well.

The movie starts with an overhead pan shot of a mountainside clearing on a planet. Obviously part of a range, more mountains are present on the skyline along with a large, white orb, which seems to be a moon or nearby planet. In the clearing a blue, modest, smooth edged pre-fabricated house sits near a personal power generator running a host of what looks like sampling and surveillance equipment. An Asari woman steps out of the cabin and walks towards the equipment, stopping by each and taking down notes on what they all say. Well, this might be an interesting movie…

Alright, halfway through this and I can be sure of about two things. One of the lead actresses is supposed to be an Ardat Yakshi. In the movie she has a condition in which sex leaves her partner noticeably more exhausted, and if done with someone already in a weakened bodily state its possible to kill them. Her current mate is a human actress who knows this and suffers from asthma, yet still convinces her to have sex more times after their first night. Also, both of them are rising stars in theatre but the film seems to focus more on their recreational and home life than their jobs.

Watching the film I actually take note of something else. They always seem to have something flashy but fitting on. I guess that's why she said they're so glamorous. I blink upon feeling a shift. With a slight tug my arm hanging across the back of the couch falls forward and drops around Morinth's waist. I turn to look at it, finding her leaning onto my arm with a gentle but firm pressure. A coy smile is on her face and a look of victory bounces around in her eyes before she closes them then opens them. A shock goes through my head and suddenly everything changes, the room is a little brighter, the tv is muted and the vid doesn't matter anymore. Morinth's face has gotten extremely lighter, now more like ivory with a light sky blue tinge rather than the blue skin color she had earlier. Her eyes greatly contrast this, as now they are pure black, little pinpricks of light in them as if I was staring out of two tiny windows into space.

Fuck.

"Tell me you want me. Need me. That you'd do anything for me, even kill for me."

I need to break out the blade now! I think, my hand twitching and I feel the device hum quietly against my skin as it starts to produce the field for the blade. Meanwhile my lips move on their own, and I respond like a robot. "I want you. I need you. I would kill for you."

She smiles predatorily, bringing her outer hand up and caressing my cheek before settling it on my shoulder. Come on you damn thing, work faster!

"Embrace Eternity." She says, almost mockingly. A light blue pulses through us both. SHIT!

I convulse as my whole body feels like it got tasered by the jail cell again. That was NOT a pleasurable experience to relive. Especially now that it actually feels a bit stronger. I fall back, my mind hazy and clouded and my body not responding to anything I tell it to do.

"Mmm, that was exquisite." I barely hear Morinth say. A low, choked groan comes out of my mouth. "Huh?" I can hear the surprise in her tone.

Jesus fuck this fucking hurts… Wait. Hurts? Pain? I can still feel pain? That means I'm not dead. That means I'm not DEAD! Where is she? Where is she? One of my eyes snap open and I feel barely a twitch in my foot. I shove all my energy into that foot and send it forward, kicking Morinth's leg back and sending her forward onto the floor beside me. I growl, getting feeling back in my body and slowly turn over, opening both my eyes fully and glaring at Morinth who lies on her stomach beside me, gaping at me. I slowly push myself onto a knee, simultaneously summoning my right plasma dagger, which forms and stabilizes a lot faster than my body has moved at all in the past 3 minutes.

"You tried to kill me." I growl out. I raise my arm and am prepared to stab it down before something entirely unexpected happens.

She tackles me back, her arms wrapped around my neck and kind of choking me as she practically forces her lips onto mine. Though I had managed to force some action into my body, it was still recovering and this surprise attack apparently set it back a good amount. Unable to move much I basically laid there while she forcefully kissed me as long as she pleased. My muscles screamed at me in protest every time I tried to force a knee up to try and push her off or try to stab her but after 2 attempts she just pulsed some of her energy and used her biotics to bind my arms and legs down on the floor.

After securing my body Morinth immediately kissed me again and suddenly I felt a bunch of different emotions. Elation was first and foremost, relief, a nearly overpowering desire and a mix of compulsion, demand and need suddenly tied to myself. I felt kinda weird at that. Then suddenly the positive feelings all came crashing down at a sudden realization. Oh shit, she found out about my plan to lead Shepard and her mother here.

As I think that Morinth pulls away and stares at me, I still feel the same things but they're vaguer, more hazy than the clear-cut emotions that had flooded me earlier. Now I could differentiate between Morinth's mind and my own. I look up to her and am about to respond but pause with, yet again, surprise.

Her face had the look of utmost betrayal. Like I had taken a puppy, cared for it until it was at it's happiest then just chucked it into a random yard miles away from home and drove off. My heart clenched at that analogy. Morinth's eyes turn back to their usual white and greenish-blue, the edges noticeably tearing up. I watch a few drops run down her cheek and splatter onto my shirt.

"Why now… Why do I find one now…." She mutters sadly, her voice cracking on nearly every other word.

"Because our luck is utter shit…" Well damn, now I can't tell if this is just remnants of her feelings or if she's stoked my own. This could be a problem.

Morinth only looks at me, still greatly saddened but her eyes show a hint of hope. She leans down towards me again, much more slowly and hesitantly. Surprising myself and her, I feel my body relax and she quickly closes the distance. The joy, relief and desire I felt from her earlier all come rushing back as the proximity between us lessens and the kiss gets intimate very quickly. Before I even have time to start responding though, the original plan decides to plow on.

"DELTA!" Shepard yells out. I just have time to open my eyes and look towards the apartment door to see her in full battle armor with Samara glowing blue beside her. Morinth is immediately launched off me and the mind meld snaps just as violently, causing a burst of pain in the back of my head. I growl and clutch my head, curling up slightly. Shepard's by my side in a second, trying to help me up.

"Delta, you're alive! Oh thank god, I saw her on top of you and thought were too late! Morinth's an Ardat-Yakshi. We suspected it when you told me about your date but we had to do some checking up to be sure and I thought it was too late by then. If she had mind-melded with you a minute earlier we…" Shepard starts, cutting herself off once I'm mostly upright, still clutching my head. The pain slowly dissipates but leaves a lasting ache.

"I guess I wasn't supposed to survive that huh?" I ask. Shepard's eyes widen and Samara looks back surprised.

"Survive that? Did she already?" Shepard asks.

I nod. "It hurt a lot and I was paralyzed for a minute but yeah. We mind-melded." And now I have a deep connection with a 4 century-old, blue-skinned, tentacle headed, alien succubus that is on a more personal level than any relationship I have ever experienced in my 18 years of life. Oh, and she's supposed to die in the next 2 minutes or so. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Impossible…Ardat-Yakshi overpower the very nervous system of their victims…No creature of this universe has ever been able to survive such a coupling." Samara says, surprise piercing her normally calm voice.

Wow, guess that makes me some kinda mega-alien. Forget Extra-terrestrial, I'm Extra-Universal! E.U...phone...home.

At that point Morinth's bedroom wall suddenly explodes outward then back in, all the pieces flying towards us. Samara reroutes her power to form a biotic bubble around the three of us though I'm the only one to notice that any sizeable piece likely to cause an injury flies straight at or near Samara and Shepard. Morinth uses this distraction to run into an adjacent apartment she had just made a door to and blast open their window to jump out of. Samara gives chase as soon as the hail of stone ends, slowed down as Morinth sets a small singularity at her feet by a corner that pulls a chair into Samara's legs, forcing her to slow down and deflect it before continuing on. Shepard and I run through as well, or rather Shepard runs while I set off at a brisk limping jog. We reach the window and look out below at the walkways leading off to different areas of Omega. On an impulse I look to the left and see Morinth ducking into an alleyway, glancing up and pausing as our eyes meet. I watch her as she ducks into it, then check to see if Shepard or Samara saw her. Shepard seems to be scanning the area while Samara stares all around, frustration starting to seep into her biotics as her energy aura is gently tinted red at the edges.

"I don't see her Samara." Shepard says, a note of disappointment in her voice.

"Neither do I." I say, my voice dropping low.

"Not again." Samara says, turning around in a calm and controlled manner but obviously in a huff. I sigh and turn, leaning against the wall and looking at Shepard. I hang my head.

"I'm sorry you guys." Shepard puts a hand on my shoulder.

"It's not your fault Delta. You didn't know how dangerous she was, nor could you have been prepared to handle her. I flinch slightly at that comment, the twin plasma blade pods seeming to hang a bit heavier on my skin. "It's enough that you managed to survive her trying to mind meld with you. I might've been worried at the time but now, I'm more thankful than ever you got that surgery done, even if it was without my permission." Shepard remarks, smiling a bit.

…Do I really fuck up so bad I have to be superhuman to endure it? I smile back a bit at her. We both know its forced but I guess it's enough for her that I'm still alive and well after what would be a fatal encounter for the rest of the galaxy's occupants.

"Perhaps there is a silver lining in this." Samara says, watching me limp back into Morinth's apartment, my left leg still mostly asleep. Shepard had diverted her course to speak to the owner of the apartment Morinth had just blown apart, apologizing and explaining the situation. We're probably going to get billed for this. Damn. I look at Samara with a raised brow

"And what's that?"

"Morinth knows you're able to survive her disease. That alone makes you almost invaluable in her eyes." Samara starts. "Morinth's always enjoyed darker themes but she never delved into them and delighted in them as she does now. Her choice led to a solitary lifestyle that will remain unchanged so long as she can't find a companion, and to cope she's surrounded herself in dark themes. She will crave your presence Delta. And as long as she does, she will seek you out. When she does, you must contact me if I am not already nearby." Samara turns to look at me, her face grim. "As long as you are alive, you will be her target. And in all likelihood you wont survive a second time."

I shiver at the thought. I was in no hurry to go through the process again. I might be able to survive, but that was painful as all hell. I look behind us to see Shepard finishing up with the neighboring tenant. She walks back up with a slight grimace.

"Let's get out of here. Now." Guess the guy took a bit of Shepard's patience. Following her orders, Samara and I trail behind her as she briskly walks out of the room, down the hall and into the elevator.

"…She was pretty powerful. Why couldn't we have tried to recruit her? I mean, aside from the whole, sex vampire thing, but we just keep her from being along with anyone and that's handled." I ask, looking at Samara and Shepard.

"Morinth wouldn't go along with something so easily from what Samara's told me. And Samara is honor-bound to kill or confirm her death personally." Shepard responds, looking at me.

"Wait so if she actually joined us for our suicide mission, then Samara would only have to make sure she doesn't leave, not kill her personally?" I ask.

"Wishful thinking is not wise at this moment Delta." Samara responds.

I fold my arms and raise a brow at her. "I'm just running a scenario. But let me get this straight…Morinth joins our suicide mission, then you aren't required to kill her by your code on sight unless she survives or tries to escape?"

"If such an unlikely event were to occur then yes, my code would allow it. That scenario is nearly impossible to happen however, considering Morinth's past actions and strategies."

Hm. So it would actually be possible to have them both. Too bad that option never came up in the game. Samara and Shepard don't share any looks with me, or each other. Both seem to have retreated to their own minds.

I sigh silently, my thoughts turning to other matters. For instance, the fact that Samara's loyalty hasn't been secured, so she's definitely at risk. We still need to grab Legion and secure Tali, Garrus, and finally Thane's loyalties before we can proceed. I don't care about Sidonis so I see no need to interfere with Garrus' mission. Kolyat would be interesting to meet. Hope Shepard lets me handle Thane's. After that, we deal with invading the Collector base. Wonder how well that'll go. I have my uh, special surprise nearly finished, just need some more palladium and eezo, then I can build the main gun. Shepard's likely to stop by a mineral rich planet soon enough for me to stock up. Until then, I'd better get working on that new Sentinel design and see how many resources each one takes.

I blink, looking up to notice that we're at the docking port for the Normandy and nearly everyone of the battle crew is standing there except for Jack, Grunt and Zaeed. And they're all staring at me.

"Where the hell have you been?!" They all demand at the same time.

"Wow, did you guys rehearse that or what?" I respond, a smirk coming to my face. The only response is a pistol being flung at my head, which I duck. "Whoa Tali!"

"Come closer, I have a shotgun as well!" She says, starting to walk up towards me but is deterred by Garrus' outstretched arm.

"Great to see you too. Srry for disappearing on you guys, but it wasn't exactly my choice." I say, stepping back a few paces to pick up the gun where it landed. As our tiny group meets the big one outside the docking door I hand it back to Tali.

"The Blue Suns kidnapped you correct?" Miranda asks, her brow slightly furrowed in what I suspect to be concern. "They haven't harmed you too much have they? Perhaps you should get checked up on by Chakwas." Yup, definitely concern.

"No worries Miranda. They didn't hurt me too much aside from the shocking. And I got revenge for that, hehehehe." Sadistic bastard. I'm glad he's dead, the little shit. Everyone gives me a once-over, Jacob and Kasumi lingering while Zaeed claps me over the back and saying I did well escaping on my own. He also mentioned I should've destroyed their base as well but I didn't feel like it. It isn't too long before we're all through decontamination and headed to our separate rooms. I check in with Joker before heading to the armory, finding Jacob has gone down below to be with Kasumi. Again. I see Silver standing by my bed though, the light on his head flickering as he stares into space.

"Delta. We are pleased to see you are healthy and functioning at full capacity." He says a few seconds after I enter the room. I smile at him.

"Good to see you too Silver. Did you make any progress on our toys?" I ask, dropping into my bed and folding my arms behind my head.

"Progress is minimal. We have found that we lack the current resources required to complete the SP project. We have however, identified that the necessary hardware to enable functionality can be salvaged from Geth bodies, though the accompanying software will have to be rewritten." He answers, turning towards me as his light dims.

"Geth? We can farm Geth to make more of these?"

"Yes. Preferably Heretics. And our best chance of acquiring necessary parts, lie in systematic shutdown of Prime and Hunter model platforms. Also, we have successfully tracked Creator Tali' Zorah's last shipment. Its final destination was the Migrant Fleet, addressed personally to her father, and contained an almost complete Geth platform."

Perfect. "Alright first, I need you to copy the code to my omni-tool. Tali's going to give her dad a little surprise. Second, we need to find a nearby geth occupied world and harvest some bodies. This project WILL be completed before the final battle, as soon as possible preferred. Silver, we have work to-!" My speech is interrupted by a shake as Joker dislodges the ship from the Omega docking platform. I look out the window to see the station slowly grow smaller and smaller as the Normandy pulls out of the asteroid field.

"Oh, we're already on our way. I bet we're going to the Citadel next, damn…" Well, Shepard did want to take care of Garrus and Thane before we went to get the IFF. Just as well I suppose. Still, that makes the final battle that much closer, so my two greatest projects don't have long to be completed. And I still need resources for the first one and Geth for the second.

"Silver. Could you finish at least one?"

"Affirmative. We could disassemble our auxiliary platforms and use those parts. We have 1 Prime platform and 2 standard troopers. We can construct a new one after finishing the prototype."

I nod. "Alright, sounds like a plan! I'll go ask Shepard if we can take a mining side-trip soon. I'll probably have to pay for the probes myself, but oh well." Silver and I nod to each other and walk out of the armory. He takes a right and goes down to the cargo hold by elevator while I continue straight on, walking up towards the cockpit where Shepard and Joker as talking.

"I dunno Commander. He does raise a point, more strength on the team would be great, but I'm against having a hot, asari sex vampire on the loose in the ship, for obvious reasons." Joker says. I raise my brow in curiosity.

"I agree. Still, Samara even said it was highly unlikely she'd appeal anyway and she's already lost her chance. Still, the way she looked around Delta…it gave me a bad feeling that's not going away." Shepard responds, arms folded across her chest.

"That's just your rape senses tingling. It's okay Shepard, it's common for it to go off randomly around Omega, or Catholic churches."

"Actually about half a year before you joined the crew Delta, the Catholic church on Earth got a new Pope. He's pretty cool from what I've seen so far." Joker remarks.

I tilt my head slightly at him, "Since when do you follow up on organized religions newest things? I thought you'd be more occupied with trying to convince EDI to hack into Fornax's databases again."

"Hey, you said you wouldn't talk about that again." Joker yells out.

Shepard shakes her head. "Did you want something Delta?"

"Yeah, came to check up on the Witty Wimp. And I wanted to ask if we could do a quick probe trip. I'm in need of some Palladium, Iridium and Eezo. Not a lot, but it'll take a few probes I imagine."

"What's it for?"

I smirk. "Whoa now Shepard, it's a surprise. Don't worry it'll be useful, and pretty damn fun to shove up the Collector's collective asses once done. Which should be painful. I assume they're bugs so would it be asses or cloacas? And their shells can't be too loose around that area can it, or else-"

"Ok, we'll do it. No more images of Collector's and their private areas, please!" Shepard says, pointing back towards the armory.

I raise my hands in surrender, noticing this is a dismissal and semi-grounding for the image. "Alright, thanks Shepard. I'll see you later." I wave and walk off, headed back towards the armory. I give a little mock salute to Kelly as I pass and she waves. Once inside I look down to see the Mass Effect core below me. Deciding to sleep I turn off the lights, drop into bed and close my eyes while relaxing. I like how much space I have on this cot. Not too huge, but large enough for me to comfortable spread out if I desired. Pretty quickly I black out.

My mind is hazy as I wake up, my body sluggish and a weird weight on my left side. I open my eye and look towards it, snapping awake and up in a second as I see what lies before me.

Morinth is lying on my bed, cuddled into my side and holding my arm against her.

Oh, and she's naked.

"THE FUCK!?"

Me: Wooo! New chapter done!

Delta: Finally!

Me: Let's start the next one!