Zha should have known this was going to happen. At this point she just should have known better. The moment Zha started thinking that life was going to go her way, that things would get better, things took a turn and she should have expected this from the very start. But standing face to face with the blue alien dressed from head to toe in merc gear Zha reminded herself to keep her expectations low next time. That was, if there was even going to be a next time.
And that was a big if.
Sunei was smiling brightly like it was the best day ever, but her manic grin couldn't hide the pure malice simmering beneath. She didn't look too good. The smile was forced and her eyes twinkling with barely hidden anger.
Zha's gaze flew to the asari's left eye. Last time she had seen her, that eye had been nothing more than a bloody socket, but now the missing body part had been replaced by a prosthetic to match the remaining one. It was almost lifelike, but something about it made Zha's skin crawl. It was just a little bit off, just on the side of uncanny valley. Maybe it was because of the grin the madwoman was sporting, maybe it was the tight and scarred skin around it tightening as Sunei showed her clean rows of teeth, Zha wasn't sure. In the artificial light of Gatla Sunei's eyes looked mismatched, the left one incapable of replicating the spiteful glow of the right one.
The asari noticed Zha staring and the smile twitched a little. She straightened up to her full length and tapped a finger on the marred flesh underneath her prosthetic eye.
"You like?" she asked conversationally. "Take a real close look at it, little girl. This one's on you."
Zha had to look away, she couldn't keep eye contact with the imposing asari. Looking around desperately Zha tried to find a way out, but couldn't see anywhere to run. People were giving them a wide berth, avoiding looking at them as if afraid that they would somehow be forced to participate in whatever it was that was going on there. Zha's throat was dry, her eyes jumping from person to person in a panicked effort to find someone to help them. But there was no one. No one was going to step in, not even if things got violent. And one look at the asari told Zha that Sunei knew it as well.
"I've been looking all over for you, dear," Sunei said and took a few steps closer, cutting the distance between them by half. Zha stumbled back, nearly falling over her own feet. Behind the asari she could see the geth getting on its feet, but it wouldn't approach Sunei. "It was really silly of you to put my crew's armor on sale like that. Did you not think things through?"
Her head was ringing empty, her tongue like a dead fish between her teeth. Was she going to die? Was Sunei going to rip her into pieces so small that not even her own crew would be able to recognize her? She wasn't ready, this couldn't be it!
Zha's silence seemed to amuse the asari. She lurked closer again, moving like a predator stalking its prey.
"Our first meeting didn't quite go as I had planned," Sunei said, her warm voice contrasting with her movements. She circled around Zha only to end up right in front of her, leaning in awfully close to the quarian's visor. Personal space apparently meant nothing for her. "I had no idea that things would go the way they did, let me tell you. I thought you'd be an easy target, you know?" Sunei's fingers brushed over Zha's chest, just over where her heart was. "A little girl all alone in the Galaxy with nothing but cheap salvaged mechs to keep her company. I underestimated you. Or, well, your mechs really." She leaned back and crossed her arms, eyeing Zha up and down like a piece of meat.
Zha's feet felt like they were glued to the ground and she couldn't look away. It was like the world around them had died and there was no one else but her and this terrifying asari left on the whole station. Zha's mouth tasted bitter and her heart was hammering hard in her chest. And Sunei just smiled. Blood was roaring in Zha's ears, nearly drowning out the words the alien spoke.
Sunei tapped a finger on her lips in thought, eyes narrowing and the smile dying down a little. The look she was giving was condescending. "The human I work for was very impressed when I told him what your mechs did to my crew," she said, fake glee washing away to reveal something cold and sharp underneath. "He would very much like to hear more about them from you."
When Zha was unable to give out any kind of answer to the expectant look of the asari, Sunei's smile grew wider again, the skin around her left eye tightening. Zha's genuine fright made the asari laugh, the throaty sound burrowing under Zha's skin and sinking its tiny teeth so deep she could feel them chilling her bones. She wanted to turn her earpiece off to block out the sound, but didn't dare to move in fear of provoking Sunei.
"I…" Zha stared, barely managing to spit out a single vowel. "You wouldn't attack me on a crowded station. Too many witnesses." She was praying for the Ancestors that she was right.
The laughter quieted so quickly Zha worried that she'd angered the asari. But Sunei just looked at her with a cocked head. She stared at Zha and shook her head with clear amusement.
"Trust me, little girl," she spoke in a hushed tone and moved closer as if to entrust Zha with a great secret. "If I was here to kill you, your pretty face would be paste on the walls. But I'm not here for you, girl. I'm here for that." She pointed at the geth.
Zha turned to look at the geth behind the asari. It was frozen to its spot and Zha thought it hadn't moved a single step after getting up. It looked from the asari to her, expressive plates flat against its head. Zha balled her fists and forced her legs to move, walking to stand between the geth and the asari.
This seemed to only amuse Sunei more.
"Oh, my dear, there's no need for that," she laughed. "When we're done here, you are going to hand over the geth yourself."
The threat hung in the air, heavy and cold. Zha's eyes landed on her Omni-tool and a thought entered her mind. She should contact her crew, contact Scribble and tell the AI to send everyone and she meant everyone to protect her skinny behind. But Zha couldn't reach for the device, not while Sunei was looking. And the asari was not taking her eyes off her, staring at Zha like she knew every step she was going to take even before Zha had thought of them herself. The blue alien looked like she was waiting for an excuse to tear Zha's arm off just for the fun of it.
"Why don't we do this the simple way? There's no need for all this fuss," Sunei said and spread her arms wide. If she was beckoning Zha to come for a hug, she would be waiting a long time. "My boss would like to meet you. He sent me here to pick you both up. So why don't you come along nice and easy and we can do this without any extra drama?"
"Your… your boss?" Zha squeaked and turned to look at the geth behind her. "As in the…?"
"Overseer," it confirmed her fears in one single word.
Oh boy.
"Indeed," Sunei said as well. Her arms were crossed over her chest. "So here's how this is going to go, dear. You and your geth are going to come with me, peacefully. We're going to walk to my ship and then we're going to take off to meet the Overseer. He'll pay you for the geth and things will be peachy." Sunei's teeth glistened in the low light of the station. "I promise I won't kill you."
Shivers ran up Zha's spine. The asari was staring down at her with a look of pure malice. There was no love for her there and the violence rolling off of Sunei was doing its best to suffocate Zha in her suit.
"If… if you think I'm going to come with you on my own free will, then you are out of y- your mind!" Zha squeaked as bravely as she could muster. Her whole body was shivering, she felt like she was going to die, but she stood her ground. She was not going to play to Sunei's tune.
But the asari refused to be intimidated by her ramrod straight pose and trembling fists. Sunei just covered her mouth and laughed softly, like a parent witnessing their child trying to be funny. Her amusement sounded genuine and her other arm cradled her middle. Zha bit her teeth together, looking around desperately trying to find at least one person wiling to help them out. None of the passers-by even gave them a second look.
She only looked away for a second. Zha could have sworn she had the asari in the corner of her eye, but when she turned back to look at her, Sunei was standing right in front of her again. Zha yelped and tried to jump away, but the asari threw her arm around the quarian's shoulder and drew her real tight and close. Zha could feel the asari's sidearm against her thigh, pressing into her suit and the flesh beneath.
"Proximity alert!" the geth proclaimed loudly.
"Let me tell you a little secret, my dear," Sunei said pleasantly, speaking like one friend to another. "I'm trying to be as nice as I can, but you are wearing me thin. The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because the Overseer wishes to speak to you for some ungodly reason. If it weren't for him, I'd tear open your suit, right here and now, witnesses be damned. I'd tear you open, crack your visor and leave you here to die for what your little bot did to my eye. I told this to my boss and he keeps on insisting that I bring you to him in one piece. And you know what? He's only doing that because he thinks that you are smart enough to take up his invitation." Sunei's eyes were shining bright, a mad glint in the real one. "So tell me, brat. What do you think will happen when he realizes that you aren't that smart? Go ahead. Guess!"
"Step away from creator Zha'Ora," AI775 said.
Sunei pulled Zha even closer, fingers curling around her shoulder in an effort to dig through the exo-suit. Her breath was fogging up the front of Zha's visor, something the younger quarian didn't much care for. She was getting a closer view of Sueni's gums than strictly necessary and wouldn't have been surprised if the asari had attempted to eat her whole then and there.
"He's not going to care what happens to you," Sunei purred. "You won't be an asset anymore. And he won't mind if you live or die. No one will notice that you've disappeared. They Galaxy won't care that some quarian brat with no plans for her future goes missing."
Zha couldn't move. Her whole body was stuck at the side of this homicidal alien. Her life was flashing before her eyes, breath stuck in her throat. She hadn't even realized she was crying before the tears rolled past her trembling lips. The salty taste did little to wake her from her stupor.
Suddenly Sunei was yanked back and there was a geth between them. The unit AI775's expressive plates were flared out as far as they could go and the lights around its photoreceptor were shining bright.
"The asari's proximity causes creator Zha'Ora discomfort."
"You don't have to tell her that!" Zha whispered in mixed embarrassment and relief. Her voice was breaking, but as far as she kept it down, maybe the others wouldn't notice. "I was this close to threatening her away, I swear."
Sunei burst out laughing again, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Oh, wow," she said, mockingly impressed. "You've trained your pet, haven't you? Maybe the Overseer was right. That was a real neat trick."
"The asari needs to leave this station. This platform is not coming with her."
"It doesn't really matter if you two come with me or not," Sunei said to Zha, completely ignoring the geth. "It's all the same to me. I have a feeling that you'll come running back to us sooner rather than later anyway." She reached into a satchel on her belt.
Zha's back grew rigid and she grabbed a hold of the geth's arm, ready to yank it back whatever the asari was planning. AI775 let out an auditory warning and shifted so it was standing ready to make a run for it.
Sunei didn't care about any of that. She smiled wide and fake pulling out a piece of paper from her pouch and offered it to Zha.
It was a calling card with the same curious logo on it than her armor. Zha moved past the geth to grab it with shaking fingers and turned it around. On it was a set of coordinates to… somewhere.
"When you decide that you want to exchange the geth for money or your… well, anything, really, then come to this location. We'll be there for fourteen days. After that we'll be gone."
"I won't go," Zha said with a shaking voice. "I… Nothing you can do will make me go there."
Sunei just chuckled and winked. "Oh, if you say so. You are a brave little girl, aren't you?"
Zha looked at her, trying to stand up taller but only reaching the asari's collarbone. The geth was standing at ready by her side and Zha felt a little bit of strength returning to her body.
"Well, if you're so sure, then I guess there's no point in wasting my time here any longer," Sunei said and lifted her hands in surrender. Her voice didn't speak of submission, though, sounding more like the asari was laughing in Zha's expense at a joke she hadn't realized just yet. "But I'd suggest you return back to your ship to see how your crew is doing. You seemed so attached to them last time." Sunei smiled wide before saying: "Remember. Fourteen days."
What? Zha blinked rapidly, the words connecting slowly in her head. What was Sunei saying? She didn't understand. Surely it couldn't mean what she thought it meant, right?
Zha didn't have time to voice her questions though. Before she could get a word out, the asari had given a mocking bow and turned on her heels. Just like that, Sunei walked away, leaving both Zha and the geth unharmed and disappearing into the crowd like nothing.
It couldn't be this easy.
It never was.
The geth said something, its voice nothing more than a dull buzz somewhere beyond the roaring of blood in Zha's ears. What… what had just happened? What had Sunei meant by telling her to go and check on the crew?
The crew!
Without a word of warning, Zha bolted. One moment she was standing still like a statue, next she was running past the people of Gatla, pushing them out of her way in a desperate run back to her ship. She could just barely hear the geth's questioning chirps behind her, but she couldn't stop to see if it was following her or not. She didn't have time, she needed to get to her ship! Her heart had leaped out of her chest and was currently hammering in her throat with painful pulses. Breathing was hard, her legs were hurting, but Zha wouldn't stop. She couldn't.
She nearly tripped on her own feet trying to make her way through the masses of people around her. Someone yelled after her when she bumped into them, making them drop whatever it was that they had been carrying. Zha didn't stop to hear it, she didn't care. Everything around her was a blur and all she could see clearly was the signs telling way to the docking ports. Her goal was clear in her mind, she needed to get to her ship. Zha needed to make sure…
Surely Sunei had just tried to rattle her, to get a reaction out of the poor gullible quarian. There was no way that she could've… Scribble would have contacted her if something was wrong, right?
The docking port came into view and all Zha could think of was barging into her ship. All else would come after that. Pushing through a group of salarians, she brought up her Omni-tool, calling desperately for Scribble. She was yelling, crying the AI's name until her throat was sore.
The ship was where Zha had left it, thank the Ancestors. The door was shut, like it should be, but the sight of normalcy wasn't enough to quell the uneasy twisting in Zha's stomach. She was panting so hard she thought she could taste blood when she finally made it to the airlock. Zha was leaning against the door, heaving and huffing like a dying woman, but there still wasn't enough oxygen in her lungs.
"S- Scribble," she wheezed. "P- please… open the airlock."
There was no response. The door didn't open.
"Please, Scribble!" Zha was crying now. "I know I was being a complete idiot and I'm sorry, but please open the door. Just… just please, I'm so sorry."
Nothing. Zha's legs gave out under her and she slid down the surface of the door, sobbing and snotting under her helmet. She could hear the geth approaching, the uneven sounds of its steps just loud enough to reach her ears over her own crying.
"Please step aside, creator Zha'Ora," it said.
Zha looked up at the platform pitifully, crying loudly.
"We will open the door for the creator," the geth said.
She couldn't stand the geth's unaffected blasé voice. It sounded bored, it sounded like it couldn't give a damn about the situation. And Zha wanted to shove the thing back, kick and scream. But she couldn't even get to her feet, her whole body was convulsing with hiccups. Tears were gathering into tiny pools near her neck where the suit was stuck to her skin.
"Asking permission to move the creator with force."
Her sobbing would never be good enough answer, but at least she tried to make it sound like she was telling the geth to go somewhere the suns didn't shine. Instead of following her muffled orders the geth kneeled down in front of her and grabbed a hold of her shoulders. Carefully it moved her aside so it could reach the door easily and fed a code to the panel next to it to open the space-side airlock door. AI775 was looking expectant when it turned to look down at Zha.
"If creator Zha'Ora wishes to inspect the ship, she needs to get to her feet. Please give us an auditory signal if you wish for assistance from platform AI775."
"They're gone," Zha bawled loudly. "Gone! Don't you get it! She destroyed them! Scribble isn't answering me, they're gone. And they won't come back, she got them!"
"We are choosing to interpret that as a plea for help," it said, leaning down to grab her by the arm.
"Don't touch me!" Zha barked and ripped her arm away from the geth.
The geth straightened up and stared down at her. "Creator Zha'Ora is letting her emotions get the better of her. We implore you to think clearly." The geth frowned. "This is not healthy."
Who cared about healthy, Zha thought bitterly. Not the geth, that was for sure. All of this was just an inconvenience to it. She wanted to scream at it, to curse and throttle it a little just so it could feel even a sliver of what was going through her mind right now. She wanted the geth to hurt, to stop being so damn calm about this. But Zha couldn't get a word out. Her tongue was stuck to the top of her mouth, numb from the pressure she had put on it with her teeth.
Zha cradled her legs against her chest, crying louder. It was pointless! She didn't want to go in, she didn't want to see! Somehow she just knew that Sunei's mercs had gotten in and they had killed every last one of her mechs. There was no other reason why Scribble wasn't answering her, and she knew it. But Zha didn't want to see it. She didn't want to go in there to see it and make it real.
"The creator needs to get up."
No. No she didn't. She shot the dirtiest look she could muster in her state at the geth, but it didn't have any effect on the synthetic being.
"The creator can't stay out here forever."
Watch and learn.
"The asari Sunei will come after us sooner or later. Creator Zha'Ora does not wish to remain on the same spot when she gets here. The most logical course of action is to leave this station, hide and think of a plan for our next move."
Well the geth could take its logic and shove it.
"Creator Zha'Ora? We are waiting for a verbal confirmation."
Zha gnawed at her lip and looked down. Her nose was hot and stuffy and cheeks wet and she couldn't reach to wipe the tears away. All she could do was sit there and cry some more. But no matter how hard she might have tried to tell herself otherwise, the geth was right. She couldn't just stay here. She couldn't sit on her ass on some space station out in the great empty nowhere until she starved. Someone would come to kick her out. It might have even been Sunei.
Her knees were wobbly when she got on her feet, threatening to give out under her. The geth looked like it was about to offer her help, but pulled back before making contact. A sting of regret tried to penetrate Zha's stubborn anger, but didn't even leave a dent. Instead of helping her the geth turned around to let them in proper.
The ship was silent. Too silent. It made Zha's stomach churn as she stood rooted to her spot, unable to make it further in from the airlock.
"Scribble?" she called out feebly, hoping against hope. "Are you… are you here?"
No. No she wasn't. The ship was echoing with her pathetic voice and it sent shivers down her spine. Zha wanted to sit back down, maybe cry a little more. But she grabbed a hold of the wall and tried to force her legs to carry her in.
The geth moved past her, making its way towards the cockpit. A step away from stepping in it turned around to look at her, waiting for her to follow in further.
Zha couldn't move. Her body felt heavier than it should have and her feet weren't following orders. It was like she was frozen over, unable to do much else but shiver and sob quietly. The echoing silence was booming in her ears, making her head ache. They were gone. All of them. Her crew wasn't here. Scribble might have been sulking, but it wouldn't be as petty as to leave her hanging like this. Somehow Sunei had gotten to her crew, the AI installed within the ship included.
AI775 was surprisingly patient in its wait. It was standing at the door to the cockpit, silent and expressionless. Zha licked her lips and ducked her head. It was staring at her and she could feel the weight of its glare.
She couldn't stay here. She needed to get moving sooner or later. But walking further in would only serve to make it clearer. They were alone. Just the two of them. Zha's eyes were stinging. She couldn't just stare at the floor whole day.
Forcing her feet to move, Zha took one step. Then another. Her feet were heavy like someone had replaced the muscles with lead. Her footfalls were echoing loudly in the unnaturally silent ship.
"Scribble?" Zha called out, her voice wavering something awful. She didn't think she'd really get a response, but you could always try, right? Zha's throat was constricting. It hurt, it made breathing harder than it should have been. Wringing her fingers, Zha made her way towards the cockpit with snail's pace.
All the lights were out, the engines were off and the ship's internal temperature had dropped. The geth approached her carefully, stepping in stride next to her as the quarian made her way deeper in. It remained silent behind her, something Zha would have been grateful for had she had the mental capacity to think about it for longer than a millisecond. The geth was no doubt just filled with unimportant information it was preparing to spew out later, but its silence was a blessing for the time being.
The cockpit was empty when Zha got there. What she had feared was the corpses of her dead crew within, but there was nothing of the sort. It was like nothing at all was wrong, everything was as it should be. Everything but Scribble, that was. Zha sat on the pilot's chair and pushed some buttons on the console, trying to get a response out of the ship. The engines turned on with a struggle, just as always, the ship started to vibrate under the strain the motor was putting on it. Zha's hands were trembling as she coaxed the ship to respond to her commands. Scribble wasn't there. She wasn't there just like Zha had already known she wouldn't be.
Zha was working herself right back into the panic mode. She stumbled out of her seat, sending the old patched thing spinning. Zha backed away from the blinking consoles and bumped into the geth behind her.
Her yelp was pathetic and let the synthetic know that she was crying under her visor. She waited in horror for the geth's response, but none came. The platform wasn't even trying to emote, its faceplates completely still and lights dim around its eye.
Zha opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find the words. But then a loud crashing sound from somewhere further in the ship drew her attention. She peered behind the geth as the platform turned to the same direction. It sounded like something had fallen down. The sound had been so sudden and loud that it left Zha's heart beating fast and loud against her chest.
Biting her teeth together Zha squeezed past the geth to make her way towards the source of the sound. It had come from the kitchen. Or, at least she was pretty sure it had. Fists held tight at her sides Zha made the short walk to the kitchen and nearly tripped on her own feet when peered in.
VI-15 was lying on the kitchen floor. Or what was left of it anyway. It looked like it had been propped against the wall but the vibrating of the ship had made it fall to the ground, bits and pieces of it strewn across the floor. It had been blasted to bits, burnt chunks of plastic and metal telling tales of multiple shots fired against it.
Zha was feeling faint. Her ears were ringing and she was forced to take a step back. A sound akin to a wounded animal left her mouth and her hands scrambled to find purchase as the fell back until her back hit a wall behind her.
It was dead. Her VI-15 was dead, blown to pieces and gone forever. Her insides were empty, like a tiny void had appeared there and was trying to suck everything in. Zha's feet gave out under her and she slid down the wall to sit on the ground. And through this all she could do was stare. Stare at her mech on the kitchen floor, as lifeless as the components it had been built from. Zha couldn't turn away, couldn't look anywhere but at VI-15. When she tried to close her eyes, all she could see were the scrapped pieces of 15 around her, wires dangling and sparking while the mech's battery died down.
"The ship is empty."
Zha didn't turn her head at the voice. She didn't have to. The geth was standing next to her, calm and collected like nothing had happened. Its incapability to feel the raging emotions within Zha's mind was infuriating. It was filling the quarian's stomach with bitter acid. Well, you could say that anger was better than the hollow feeling residing within, but then again, anything was better than that. Zha bit her teeth together to keep poisonous words from slipping past her lips. She had to keep it down, had to maintain at least some semblance of control. It was getting harder and harder to do that, though, and the geth was just standing there.
"We understand creator Zha'Ora is upset. Even so – "
"You don't understand anything!" she barked, looking at the geth, then quickly returning her stare back on 15. "Shut up about things you don't understand."
"Creator's rash behavior will be disregarded as she is not in full control of her emotions. But we must recommend immediate takeoff. This station is no longer safe. The ship seems to be fully operational, so it would be best if we left now."
Her insides were boiling, it hurt to stay still but Zha couldn't just jump to her feet either. The geth's words sounded hollow, they were enraging in their logic. Straight to the point. Zha was grinding her teeth together, the pain radiating from them enough to keep her rage going, keeping the void of sadness at bay for a little bit longer. Her crew was gone. While she had been wasting her time with some stupid geth platform, her ship had been attacked and her crew either killed or abducted. Her mechs were gone and she was alone.
"Creator Zha'Ora."
She should have been there. She should have been with her mechs when the attackers came. While she had been out there doing nothing, Sunei's pals had gotten in and… and… and now there was nothing she could do.
There was nothing she could do to help her mechs.
It was… getting harder to hold onto the anger. VI-15's head had been separated from its body and it was rattling softly on the ground as the floor vibrated under it. It had been smashed shapeless, like someone had stomped on it after it had been dislodged. Zha's eyes were stinging and she couldn't reach them to scratch the pain away.
Zha pulled her legs against her chest. Trying to compress her body into the smallest possible shape, she realized that she was trembling so bad it could almost be called convulsing. Zha gasped for air, her nose stinging from the fast breaths she'd been trying to force in to ease a burning feeling in her chest. With the way VI-15's head was angled, it almost looked like the mech was staring at Zha. Like it was accusing her of leaving the ship and letting this happen.
A pair of mismatched legs came into her view, blocking the sight of the broken mech. Zha stared at them dumbly. She lifted her head up slowly, staring at the geth purposefully standing between her and the kitchen. It said nothing, just stared down at her as if expecting something out of her.
Had it said something? Zha had stopped listening a while ago and her mind was blank. She wanted to be angry, she really did, but… but she was just feeling so empty. She stared up at the platform's expressionless features and opened her mouth as if to say something. Nothing came out, though and her legs fell flat on the ground.
"Creator Zha'Ora," the geth said. "This is unproductive. We need to get the ship on the move."
"But…" Zha managed to croak out. But what? The geth was right, of course. Staying here was putting the both of them in danger. They needed to get going while going was still good. But Zha couldn't move a muscle. Her eyes fell back on the geth's legs, peering behind them and into the kitchen.
"Asking permission to fly the ship away from the station."
When Zha did nothing to answer the geth, it spoke up again.
"Choosing to interpret the creator's silence as an affirmative." It moved past her, leaving Zha to stare at the remains of VI-15. She could hear it walking into the cockpit and soon the vibrations on the floors turned into a familiar rumble of taking off. It lifted a disgusting taste into her mouth, channeling the acid that had previously filled her stomach into her mouth. The taste was vile and it had Zha gagging. She had to lean away from the wall to cough and hack but thank the Ancestors she did not actually throw up. She lifted her hands over her visor and let out a strangled whimper. The movement of the ship caused 15 to shift, its head lolling away from the rest of its body. Zha had to look away. She had to. Cradling to her side she lay on the floor, staring at the rusty grime on the wall instead of what waited in the kitchen.
She wasn't sure how long they were on the move exactly. Time kind of lost its meaning to her for a moment. She just lay there, on the floor, arms under her head to offer at least some sort of comfort on the hard metal floor. At some point she had closed her eyes in vain hopes that maybe she would fall asleep and when she woke up things would have sorted themselves out, but so far that hadn't happened.
This had been her fault. Zha should have been more careful. If she'd just stopped thinking about her money situation for one moment, she wouldn't be in this situation right now. But no, she had been desperate to get rid of the armor. She hadn't cared to check and double check that the people contacting her were actually who they claimed to be. This attack Sunei had pulled out had been ridiculously easy. The asari had just… snapped her fingers and now Zha had nearly nothing.
No. No, this was not her fault. The asari and the group she represented were not after her. Hell, the bosh'tets probably didn't care one bit for her. What they wanted was their investment. The geth unit. They wanted it back. If Zha had just let them take it in the first place, what had remained of her crew would still be here.
Zha lifted her head up only to drop painfully it against her arms again. She shivered as the cold of the floor seeped through her suit and into her bones. Welp. It wasn't like any of that mattered anymore. There was no point in running. She had no reason to keep going anymore. Her crew was gone. Scribble was gone. Lucky. 18 and 09, all gone. And 15 was dead. What was the point? If she kept going now, what would any of it accomplish? They had already taken all that she cared for, what could they take next? Her life?
What was the point?
The uneven steps of the geth drew her attention forcing her to sit up from the floor. Her arms trembled a little when her body's weight was propped on them, but by some miracle Zha managed to get upright. The geth platform's fenris leg let out a loud clank every time it hit the floor, when in comparison the original thudded softly with the padding of muscle on it.
The geth approached slowly, expressive plates moving up and down, seemingly unable to decide which expression to hold. At least it was trying to emote again. Zha stared up at the platform with empty eyes. She knew it was going to speak up sooner or later. All she needed to do was wait.
The geth decided to go with a frown as stared down at her.
"The ship is headed to the nearest Mass Relay. The creator needs to decide where we will head next."
Zha wanted to laugh. She gave it a try and ended up with gurgling dying sounds of a vorcha instead. She wasn't sure if the geth was able to interpret the noises she was making, but the frown it was wearing did not waver. Her cheeks were itching with the dried tears.
"And how should I know where to go?" she squeaked. "I mean, what am I supposed to do next? I got nothing left! There's no point!"
"That is incorrect," the geth droned. "You are still in possession of a ship and your health. Giving up no is not an option."
"Yeah it is," Zha said and curled to her side so she would not have to look at unit AI775. "I'm doing it right now. Just look."
The geth was silent for two whole seconds and during that time Zha started hoping that maybe it would just leave it be. But no, of course that wasn't an option. Hadn't she learned it already? Synthetics could be so damn stubborn, even when they might have not known what it was they were doing.
The geth circled around her until it was back in her line of sight again. Zha stared dumbly at its mismatched feet, cursing the tin can's existence with all of her might.
"We are having a hard time understanding the drive behind the creator's actions. It is clear that you are allowing your emotions to take control and they are overriding your sense of survival. It is not logical – "
"You can shove your logic somewhere the sun doesn't shine!" Zha shouted and banged her fists against the floor. "I don't care! I'm done! There's nothing left to do! I got no crew, Scribble is gone and all that's left is you!"
Its expression wavered, then settled back into a frown.
"The creator's actions are frustrating beyond belief," it said slowly.
"Well, welcome to the organic experience, buddy!"
"Does the creator wish to get caught by the asari? Because if she does, there are faster ways it can be accomplished."
"Don't you get smart with me!" Zha shouted getting up just so she could poke a finger at the geth's chest. "This is all your fault anyway!"
The plates lifted up and then flared open.
"That is unlikely."
"Yeah, sure. So you're telling me Sunei isn't after your precious hardware?"
"Clearly she is – "
"Oh? Then this is your fault!"
If Zha wasn't one hundred percent certain geth were incapable of experiencing emotions, she would have been sure that her shouting was angering this one right here. The lights around its photoreceptor were shining bright, the expressive plates flared as wide as they could be. It gave her immense satisfaction to see this, to think that maybe she was getting through to it.
"We will choose to ignore the creator's last statement since it was clearly made under the influence of volatile emotions," it said just as coolly as before. Damn this tin can and its inability to rise to her challenge! She just wanted to shout at someone and have that someone shout back, but the geth wouldn't even let her do that!
"Well I'm going to – "
Ping.
Zha saw red. She was just about done with her Omni-tool and with her father sending her stupid messages that only made her feel worse. She was going to block that bastard so he'd no longer be able to send a single word to her and –
It wasn't a message from Fha.
It was from the buyer. The one that had contacted her about the armor.
It was from Sunei.
Zha's fingers hovered over her Omni-tool. Should she open the message? She didn't have to, right? There was no way it could be anything else but more bad news. Her hands were trembling over the device, not quite close enough to touch, but still there, indecisive and uncertain.
The geth unit was watching her carefully. It's eye turned to the tool and then back to her visor.
"It's… It's from Sunei… I think," she told it. "I don't…"
Unit AI775 was silent. Its plates were moving, shifting ever so slightly and the platform's photoreceptor zeroed in on the Omni-tool.
The message was labeled: Exchange.