Aetheis watched the entire event from the side, careful to keep herself distanced enough from the conflux and not draw attention to herself.

"...You're still good. But I'd get some distance. You're gonna stand out among the crowd if you don't fit in, so get some distance soo- Ah crap. Don't look. You have incoming."

~Understood.~

"You can't agree with him, can you?", a quarian-accented voice asked at her side.

Aetheis still almost jolted even with the forewarning, but she caught herself in time. The masking skin tugged at her face, kept it passive.

Slowly she looked around, all the while seeing and feeling how the transhuman AI reconfigured and booted new apps in the background.

Sami'Sariz vas Bekenstein nar Xateriasera had silently maneuvered herself around the perimeter of the assembling people around her partner, apparently almost as soon as she had spotted the Asari moving about, then stopping and listening as well.

"I think she's trying to turn this into a public dressing-down; she just spawned half a dozen livestreams and got posted on social media. Deflect and disengage, and don't let her get to you", Salasa informed her with an aside.

Finally, after a moment of a silent look that already transported contempt and anger for the social attack, Aetheis spoke in flowering High Thessian Selanis cant: "Pardon me, Sheziris Sami'Sariz?"

"So you don't agree." The quarian girl casually dropped her own shot glass into the air; the tiny disk of a contragravity drone swept in from above and dived below the glass, rising up to easily catch it; then it rose back into the air, shimmering and vanishing into the transparency of AR-censoring.

Her other hand meanwhile gestured to Aetheis empty hands, easily resting at her side, neither applauding or returning a glass back down from drinking lips. She wasn't the only one - a few other turians, salarians and volus were visibly not clapping or were removing themselves from the area - but she was the only asari within sight. Not that surprising; few asari came to such events just due to professional interest, at least not those who were completely opposed to augmentation and transspeciesism.

Aetheis had known from the briefing she'd be an anomaly. And she had just floundered. Time to shape with the waves on the shores.

"I have concerns over the end results of Shezires Tavios Salenis' vision, yes. Self-deception and -manipulation are all treading on dangerous shores."

"And you think that is what transspeciesism is? Where's the self-deception there?"

Sami'Sariz crossed her arms as Aetheis opened her mouth to speak again; then the quarian raised a hand.

"Oh wait,it's not there", Aetheis was interrupted. Her response was a hard glare of contempt and anger at this breach of etiquette, but Sami'Sariz brushed it aside with casualness. She didn't care anymore. "It's pretense, a fancy lie of the conservative mind that fears change. Of a culture, of a people, who are not used to being left behind."

Aetheis opened her mouth again-

"What does it feel like?" The quarian leaned forward, looking into her own eyes, searching for a reaction on the face. "That feeling of losing control? When the galaxy turns away from you? It's not nice, is it? Now you know what my people felt like! Rejected for our ways, cast out, left behind to rot! Well, guess what? This time, you are wrong. Your wisdom and your… your sainthood, it matters not! Not anymore! You're 1.0, oh what am I kidding, 0.9! Might as well be Beta with your biochauvinistic attitude. And in a few more decades, you'll be nothing at all! All your high culture," her hand pointed at the Tiara of Kurinth, "your civilization, forgotten as we ascend."

[Kusanagi is inbound to get her off your back if you can't disengage.]

Copy.

Around her and Sami, the people were looking, some concerned, most anguished by the loud noise that intruded upon proceedings not with a sensible speech, but a rant.

Aetheis decided to smooth the waves. Mediation was even more important now. "Sheziris Sami'Sariz, I understand your position, but please do not deflect from the point-"

"Oh, that's good! Hahaha, that is really good, coming from you, asari! Accusing me of deflecting! Do you see me?" She turned in front of Aetheis, spreading out her arms, the dress whirling and rising as she speed up, then slowed down, the cloth winding up around her shape before it rustled in the other direction and came back to rest.

"I am free. At last, free to walk this universe as I wish! See it as I like! Do whatever I ever dreamed off, and more! And not even the failings of the body, or the mind shall keep me.

"Freedom. Something you asari are always very adamant about. Freedom of choice, of life. Of existence itself."

Now, suddenly, her voice was softer, and Aetheis began to really listen again. Now the quarian spoke from her good heart.

"That is what we dream about. What the transhumans are already realizing. Think about that for this evening, asari. While you still have the time."

Aetheis thought about replying. Then she just turned, and brushed past the quarian, back to the bar.

After a moment, she stopped, turning around. "A good evening, ShezirisSami'Sariz. And thank you for your thoughts."

~I need a drink right about now,~ she signaled, suddenly tired.

Kusanagi's mental voice sounded in her ear, the now-familiar thrum of neurovocalization giving her a strange accent of sorts: [A good save from that idiotic quarian, Aetheis]

~Thanks. You were ready to intervene?~

[Already did. Shut down that quarian's stream without her noticing. Bitch.]

~...Thank you, but why?~

[...Let's say you aren't entirely wrong.]

Aetheis mulled over Kusanagi's words for a moment, then realized what the woman had just said.

~Wait, wait!~

But Kusanagi was already gone as she climbed the stairs, and Aetheis did not manage to catch a glimpse of her pale skin among the crowd that had gathered inside the lower areas of the big room. Pale skin was apparently popular right now; she could easily see six people with similiar skin tones, but differing hairstyles. She also caught a last glimpse of Sami'Sariz and her partner. The quarian lady was talking with the turian, his hands smoothing over her right arm; he was definitely more calm than her.

~Why did she get so worked up over this anyway? There's a backstory there.~

Wehlau came back in her ear, sounding slightly bored and like she was reading from a screen: "She's known to be viciously Anti-Biocon, very Pro-Transquarian. Her partner, Tavios Salenis, the one you saw speak, is a major proponent of transturianism."

~So I heard. Both Bekenstein… natives? I guess.~

"Hmm. Immigrated both in 2226 after Salenis made a name for himself importing turian products into transhuman space; he also spearheaded a bunch of the popular Xeno-shells available for buying here. And both of them sleeve products of their Shivaslaen line themselves."

~"Rebirth". Very… indicative.~

"Indeed. But, you know… I can see where she comes from."

~Come again?~

"I'm currently reading the metadata on her. She's got a really big Noon'-trail, essentially from her childhood - not surprising given she's a quarian. She grew up when transhumanity had just entered the galactic scene, aboard the Nascata Task Force. That Task Force is known to have really suffered under continued exile and hostility in the galactic west, Sol-relative. Uh, by the time she was a teenager she was enticed by our people. Big philosophical blog entries, long Vir discussions… even played transhuman-based RPG games a lot, judging by what I can see here."

Aetheis subtly shook her head.

"Then she found her now-partner on her Pilgrimage, and from there it went. Brilliant with engineering and biotech integration judging by what I can see; she also struck a big contract with Sirta Augmentics for prototype clinical tests on quarian augments and BMI tech. That's how she got her foothold in transhuman society and allowed herself to build up to what she is now."

~Look… a moment of pause, please? If I could, I'd like to enjoy my drink without heavy thoughts.~

"No problem. I recommend the… pashiviali. They serve it with original Thessian ingredients, and in proper tshi'sartouzi."

Aetheis stopped in her tracks. "What?", she whispered, shocked.

"You heard me right. Mr. Howard Antonio Sanchelli-Bauer leads the bar here tonight. He's very skilled. So you're in good hands."

~That name does not tell me anything,~ she pointed out.

A file dropped into her Inbox. "Allow this little file, and his person, to shed light on his skill then. It's on the house." With an audible smile, the transhuman signed off.

And the evening has only started. Athame's azure, I wanted to enjoy this.

...Why didn't I shout her down?

She reminder herself of her posture. You're letting yourself get dragged down. For nothing.

Finally she spilled from the crowd and onto the large area around the bar; winding tables of carved wooden spirals, covered with thin silk sheets weighted by cheap 50 carat diamonds with gold inlays, trigraphic interface spires of white light surrounded by blue-white polygons hovering above them, provided a place to rest drinks.

Right now, the place was mostly empty, the snack bowls still (or again?) filled to a perfectly balanced amount, and the bar itself was vacated, safe for one transhuman of which she could only see the dark hair in the shadow of the red and orange light currently playing across the bottles and glasses. She approached one of the chairs, and slowly sat down, careful to not sit on any of the draping cloth strips, then arrayed her hands on the bartop.

"Good evening asiyoata T'Salya," a warm transhuman male's voice said to her.

His six hands landed on the bartop, two pairs holding hands in different postures.

Howard Antonio Sanchelli-Bauer was definitely the most exotic transhuman she had seen over the last years, apparently dedicated wholesale to his one work - bartending and mixing of drinks and cocktails. His shell was humanoid, and had the same rough proportions - a look thoroughly destroyed by the six arms sprouting from the upper torso, ending in hands with two thumb and six extra-jointed fingers. Two pairs had open synthetic looks with gunmetal black metal and dark, carbon composite backed by red-gold highlights, but she had no doubt the entire Shell was bionic; no biological construction would be able to support three pairs of arms easily.

"You are dedicated", she remarked.

"Oh yes, asiyoata, to drink and drinker. What would you prefer?"

"I've heard you're making a pashiviali… I would like it as a Serrice classical. And a good one, please."

"Most certain, asiyoata. One pashiviali Serrice Classical, on the style of Matriarch D'Sayatio, for you."

Behind him, the bar started rotating in tune with changing lights; the glass and diamond vessels of human spirits rolling to the right, their artisan paper etiquettes flashing for a last moment with latin and asian characters before they vanished out of view.

The flower pots melted away and shimmered with a glass-like texture full of colored cracks as they reshaped into facsimiles of Thessian flowers in asari-like pottery; spiralling upwards from a wide base. She had to concede, the recreation was perfect to the eye.

The rush of new light, blue and green with warm white, made her look up; new asari bottles were now rotating into view, the rows coming to a stop from to bottom. The liquid within did not slosh about a bit.

Sanchelli-Bauer's left second left hand reached under the counter and came back up with a framework of smoked glass and sapphire crystal, spiraling into an abstract shape from its looped foot piece; the material had been molded for a full hold with the left or a thumb-and-finger hold with the right; perfect for social evenings, leaving the strong hand free. He carefully placed it on the top, then brought up a big, carat-style hand-blown mixing glass with golden inlays of High Thessian runes spelling out the name of the artist along the lower throat, a highly polished mixing cup, and an elegant sapphire mixer with discrete platinum wiring wrapping around the grip and down the shaft.

The bartenders second right hand casually danced across the mirrored surface of the table-top, and the first ice ball seemed to phase out of a spot on the table, rising into the air and tumbling about inside an invisible bubble; Aetheis felt the thrum of the modulated mass effect field edge. The transhuman turned around, a third right off-hand pushing the mixing glass under five tumbling ice balls, and one after another they levitated down the throat into the glass.

Aetheis had to admit it was fascinating watching Sanchelli-Bauer practise his trade. He was utterly skilled and smooth with his arms, easily multi-tasking the different things of a bartender, quickly and expertly picking bottles out of his impressive collection and holding them by one, evidently strong hand and arm; then he arrayed the future ingredients easily side by side, and started by pulling the cork off a bottle of Serrice shelse'visa, 2682 A.C.E., measuring a good two and a half ounces of the thick, violett-ish liquid before pouring it into the mixing glass.

"So what has brought you here this evening, asiyoata?"

"A friends graceful invitation," Aetheis explained, then stopped as the transhuman laid his two biological-looking hands on the glass and she felt the rising harmonics of an… expert biotic sleight.

"You really were tutored by Matriarch D'Sayatio."

The man smiled. "Indeed so. We met fourteen years ago at a large convention at Old Florence; she was fascinated by the old italian wines and the cocktails of transhumanity. I showed her some of my most priced drinks… so she showed me a few of hers.

"I love mixing these kind of drinks." Half an ounce of Kashiwi-9 juice landed in the mixing glass and was stirred with a casual swivel. "You can learn so much about alien cultures through their cuisines - Asari teas, salarian fruits, the ales of the batarians, the masterful stews and bread of the turians… the alternative kitchens. Quarian CHON-hacking is impressive to say the least….

"And the classical drink." Three drops of bitters were the last to land inside the drink. Sanchelli-Bauer casually swirled the diamond-saphire mixer through all six of his hands before plunging it into the mixing glass and beginning to stir the liquid within together with the ice. "Distilled from unique biospheres, with unique aroma but a common base of spirits and other psychoactive substances… always something different from communality."

A hand vanished under the table and pulled out a tray out of a hidden-away refridgerator, easily picking up the bead of pearls within it. At the same time, another hand grabbed the tshi'sartouzi, and primed it with an easy hand. The air within the framework shimmered, then swirled as kinetic fields sketched themselves into being.

The transhuman brought both together, and watched the chilled pearls spiral down and through the fields, bouncing around inside the geometry for a moment. Then he placed a fine mesh filter on the mixing bottle, and began to pour the pashiviali, taking his proper time.

Aetheis watched as the liquid poured down into the glass and began the first change of color, interacting with the fields of the tshi'sartouzi, running through the dynamically permuting, two-layer kinetic field structure of the "glass", swirling over itself, but never changing overall volume distribution and thus, the level of the drink.

"Here we are. Samei shazu'se, asiyoata."

"Deyse."

She swirled the fluid in the glass for a moment, then tasted the cocktail, eyes closed, sampling what Sanchelli-Bauer had created.

The conclusion was surprising, kind of humiliating, and for a moment she searched for words. "This is…" she still searched for words; Sanchelli-Bauer turned around from putting the bottles back in their place, and smiled at her expectantly. "...perfect."

He bowed ever so slightly. "Thank you. You honor me and the lessons of my teacher."

"Also", she asked, "are you a natural biotic?"

"I am afraid not; the Mediterranea has remained rather free of natural eezo exposures over the decades. But I had the work done a few decades back; it has always stayed with me. As a matter of fact, I pioneered the transhuman equivalent of Tsa'ari ikelirai; using eezo-rich, self-neutralizing nanocompounds to mix drinks."

"My respect, especially making it safe for consumption by non-asari."

"Thanks again. Enjoy the drink." He vanished to the left, approaching another customer.

Aetheis raised the drink again, and breathed in the fumes before taking another sip.

"A long evening already, is it?", a salarian voice asked at her side, slow and melodious.

She looked up and turned around on her stool. The salarian was a male, a pale blue skin with red and white highlights over his horns and cheek; minute augmentations were visible at the sides of his head. The dress was meticulous smart fabric, bulging out his form and trailing behind him at shoulders and hips, primarily green with again white highlights.

"Ridann Poralan", the salarian introduced himself.

"Anasata T'Salya." They shook hands the Citadel way.

"Well, asiyoata T'Salya", Poralan smiled. "Welcome to Bekenstein. I hope the… introduction did not scare you. I'll be taking a Harelohw", he said to the passing Sanchelli-Bauer.

"Coming right up, Sir."

The salarian leaned back. "Why are you here tonight?", Aetheis asked.

"For business, I am afraid."

He turned to her, his black eyes fixing her face.

"Now, what about you?"