Chapter 37
Purgatory Bar, Omega, February 2171
"You are giving me what?" Charles asked from his side of the booth.
"Lessons, training, whatever you want to call it. A few hundred years ago men like me trained men like you how to function in society." Jack Harper said, across from him.
"You pulled me out of the first tests on my Prothean code linker to teach me how to be a gentleman?" Charles said, surprised. "That's a terrible idea."
"Well, consider this the speed version. I'm not going to go through etiquette with you, nor am I going to go over how to eat like a gentleman. The only thing you need to care about regarding that is how to present a drink in the correct manner." Jack Harper had pulled him from his computer in front of Vigil to come to Omega, of all places. Then he put him on board one of the normal ships that the Quarians had lent them. When they got to Omega, Jack had given him a nice suit, pants, and decent boots with kinetic barrier generators installed in the belt and lapels of the suit jacket. He also had a biotic barrier, albeit a weak one.
"I'm not so sure this is a good idea. I'm a programmer, not a gentleman."
Jack gave him a level look. "You're also brilliant and with a little bit of training you can mimic any profession that anyone else can do. You have excellent memory of conversations as well as visual prompts, and it is nearly criminal to have had you locked up at our base for the last couple of years. You need to learn how to socialize again, and most importantly present yourself in such a way that you can act as an equal in any exchange."
"Like you and Javik and your epic pissing match." Charles said. They had been near to blows on one occasion, and only Liara and the other Protheans kept them from devolving right then and there.
"Not so much. In that exchange, Javik needs someone to slowly grind down his arrogance until he realizes that his ego is only hiding a desperate barbarian of a warrior. Once I wear him down, we can have a professional relationship, but until then I'll match wits and threaten to turn his place of living into a zoo." Jack sipped from his drink, something that had smelled so bitter and foul that Charles had avoided it. Though he was trying something called Yekyub. It was a Salarian alcoholic drink that also included a mild hallucinogen. It apparently gave you weird dreams when you slept. But it also tasted like a sickly sweet candy bar that had been blended with jello. To him, it was awesome. It didn't look awesome, but it tasted pretty good.
"It's still really entertaining when you guys start yelling at each other." Charles said. "Is this whole trip for me or are we meeting with anyone scary?"
"We are here for business, yes, but not for another couple of hours. During that time, I am going to be teaching you certain things that you'll appreciate and need. First, posture and the art of holding a glass." Jack motioned to his own cup he held in his hand. "Posture and positioning convey confidence, even if you are terrified you can show that you are willing to stay at the table and not back down. Fear reactions will occur as normal, and you can predict your body reacting to certain stimuli. For example, a raging Krogan." He pointed out of the booth.
Down on the ground floor of Lower Afterlife, there was a small fight breaking out between two Turians and a Krogan. Only the Krogan could be heard above the hooting of the crowd. "Yeah, no." He watched as one of the Turians tried to punch out the Krogan, and was picked up and body slammed by the Krogan's cowl. "I am allergic to pain. Let's not go start a barfight, eh?"
"No can do, Charles, no can do. Part of growing up is to prove yourself in a fight. So, the first thing I am going to teach you is how to gentlemanly beat the hell out of someone else." Jack pointed to a Turian at the bar. "That one. You can beat him, most likely. He's an older one, and doesn't see so well with his left eye. Use whatever method you can, but beat him. To be a gentleman about it, you have to introduce yourself first."
"Why the hell would I want to start a fight with someone?" Charles said, horrified. "I'm the guy in the background, not the kind of guy who just goes looking for trouble. We are on Omega, too, where just fighting with people gets you killed!"
"I picked that Turian because he is well known to be a punching bag. Go, pick a fight with him, and then get back here. I'll back you up, if you need it." Jack said, leisurely sipping whatever brandy he was drinking.
"Great." He drawled. Sure, he had to go pick a fight with some Turian. Jack was being weird. He got up from his seat, and walked down to the bar where the Turian was located. He was sitting alone, and didn't have a visible weapon on him. Even if he did, Charles would be able to just jam it or overheat it. He approached the bar, and sat down with one barstool as a buffer between him and the Turian. "Evenin'." He said, not sure how to introduce himself to some guy he was supposed to beat into the ground.
"Stupid pyjak." The Turian spat. "Hasn't your race done enough damage to the galaxy?"
"Well nice to meet you, too." Charles returned. "I was just being nice and introducing myself. You didn't have to be an ass about it."
The Turian glanced upwards, the black and yellow markings on his face showing bewilderment and surprise. "I killed a few of your kind over the years. Now, I don't have a ship anymore and all I had was stolen from me. Because of your people. How kind of you to mock my pain!"
"Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?" Charles interrupted, before the Turian could froth over. The Turian, surprised and possibly a little drunk, nodded. "Did you participate in the way against my people?"
"No, I'd already left. My third tier of citizenship had been denied, and I didn't want to be a deep mining equipment operator anymore. I wasn't going to wait four more years before I could apply to actually buy property, or own a home. So I left. No home, no family, not part of the military beyond what was required when I was young." He glared at Charles. "But what do you care about me, eh? Your pirates did plenty."
"Were you on a mining ship?"
"Yeah. Just going to nearby systems and mining platinum and copper. Me and my crew were making an honest living out here, and we had money coming in real nice. Then one of your human ships came in and shot us up, took our cargo, took our ship, and dropped us off on Omega. Now, I've got nothing, and it's all your fault."
"How is it my fault, I was born only nineteen years ago." Charles stated. "If anything, the fault lies with your government that you already hate. I mean, what kind of law makes it legal to go to war against people just trying to explore and find friends in the universe?"
"What do you mean?"
Charles used his arms to demonstrate his emotions. "We were just searching for other life, you know? Go through the relays, find aliens, allies, trade partners. We didn't know about the law against opening relays, and we didn't know about the Council. In your people's courts, you can't be tried for a law that you weren't aware of, right?"
"Technically true." The Turian said. "But they make you aware of all the laws long before you reach adulthood."
"So then, answer me this," Charles said, arms in front of himself. "How is a race supposed to search through the universe without opening a relay?"
"Well, uh, I'm not sure. It would take decades to get anywhere." He mumbled. "You'd have to be an Asari or Krogan to travel anywhere."
"So you could claim that it would be normal to try to talk to people and help them understand that what they did was wrong?" Charles made a calming motion with his hands at that. "How about just showing up and shooting everything in response?"
"Admiral Caedus was an idiot to do that, I can agree."
"You can blame him for our piracy, then." Charles said. The Turian turned to him, confused. "Look at it this way. We were taught that violence is the answer by none other than your own people. Who were taught that by the Krogan, to the Rachni, and so on and so on until you go back to the Asari and Protheans. Really, humans and our violent tendencies are just a byproduct of how we were treated by the Turians. A cycle of hatred, yeah?" He had listened to Liara enough to get some of this down.
"That's surprisingly logical of you." He said. "My name is Verran." He offered his hand. "You're the first Human i've met that I don't want to kill. Now, get out of my face. Talking to you doesn't make me feel any better either."
Charles hesitated. He really didn't want to hit this guy. Not after all the stuff he just tried to prove wrong. But then again, the guy was being nice. They had introduced themselves, they had argued, and then said their goodbyes. Charles decided that he was well within his rights to not start a bar fight and get killed. So he scampered back up to the booths, and rejoined Jack Harper. Who had refilled his drink while he was gone.
"Good job." Jack said. "Proving his argument incorrect without spilling any blood. That old Turian usually starts fights with Humans without much provocation."
"So, you expected me to get attacked?"
"Yes and No. Turians are an honor bound people, and by introducing yourself you make them feel extremely guilty if they don't offer the same honors. I made you introduce yourself to see if you could start a conversation with him."
"So, to be clear, I wasn't supposed to start a bar fight." Charles said.
"Correct. A gentleman doesn't start fights, but he certainly finishes them." Jack said. "I don't have any sons, and I don't plan on having to do this with any of my sons-in-law, well, who knows what Miranda might bring home. Julia I am reasonably sure will bring home a male in some form. Either way, those men will have gone through this and I won't have to do it again." Jack motioned to the Asari dancers that populated the area. "A gentleman is always capable of hitting on any female at any time. As you are a human, you are considered attractive to enterprising Batarians, psychotic Elcor, Quarians, Asari, Turian Separatists, and other Humans. Lucky, lucky."
"Is this another mind game?" Charles asked, a bit afraid. Women were sort of not his thing. He wasn't great at dealing with women and women confused him easily. "I don't like where this is going."
"You and Kaidan would have done this eventually too, I am sure. Kaidan appears to have some success with women anyways." Jack said. Charles knew that Kaidan was having success with women. It was all over the net that he had slept with some model who had been visiting the Citadel. "Either way," Jack said, taking up his attention, "I'm going to teach you a few things about women."
He waved towards an Asari dancer, who immediately came over. Some of the dancers here were red sand junkies who just wanted their next fix, while others were just maidens who were in economically difficult situations. Omega made them grow up fast. She sashayed over to their table, Charles glancing at the exposed skin and Jack carefully meeting her eyes. She looked like a predator, approaching them. Good, someone with experience.
"Uh," Charles started.
"Good Evening, hostess." Jack told her in Asari. Charles didn't know or bother learning Asari. He just used his Omni-tool and his visor to translate everything. He had to leave it behind on Omega, as it would just bring attention to himself. "My friend here is experiencing his first coming of age. I was wondering if by chance you might be able to teach him a few basic things about what women prefer and how they are to be treated." A credit chit rolled off of Jack's fingers like a bouncing bauble. Charles decided that rolling a credit chit like that between the fingers would be pretty cool to learn. "Without a bonding experience, please."
Rella, or whatever her name really was, sat and talked to him for almost thirty minutes. Every time she looked bored, or ready to stand up and go back to work, Jack would roll another credit chit into her hands. So she stayed, and mentioned that women liked men to stare into their eyes, tell them what they liked and hold their hands. Not to mention how to spend money on them. That section was heavily edited by Jack, who offered a voice of reason to some of the things that Rella was mentioning were expected costs. Like paying for the girl's apartment if you liked her enough. He could see that, maybe. But only if she was living with him or something. Then she got into the gritty details of sex, speaking so plainly of it all that Charles had wide eyes and red face long before she finished explaining what Asari like compared to Humans or even Batarians. The amount of detail involved was immersive, and when she got to Drell Jack even took notes.
When Rella left, it wasn't with a lap dance or anything, but she let her hand linger on his leg for a good six seconds and flared her biotics to let him know she noticed he was one too. He couldn't flare his biotics, though. He barely had enough strength to bring them forward, anyways. He was out of practice.
"I thought that would be a lot more embarrassing." Charles admitted. "I totally thought you would have just had her do all kinds of other stuff."
"I considered it." Jack said, "But then I noticed that she actually knew more than the average Maiden. She might just be someone closer to Matron age, and knew enough to enlighten you. Asari don't care too much about the physical side of sex. Really, they don't. They don't feel anything, and anything that isn't fiddling with their eezo nodules or nervous system is more like tickling than anything sexual. They care only about the emotions invested into the relationship. The glances, the emotion-laden actions, all of that is what matters to them. Salarians, in the unlikely chance you have an interest in that, have no pheromone system and nothing to trigger emotional responses."
"What about Quarians, you know, since we are working with them," Charles quickly added the last bit. Whatever, he was allowed to be interested in other things that resembled Human curvature.
"Quarians require a significant amount of time to adjust to another creature's immune system. There is a few medications out there that can trick their system into accepting your goods for a few hours. Expensive, Salarian made, but very good. I understand that they were considered another group for the Asari to express interest in when their race first came to light. Beautiful people, but the constant medication needs make it somewhat awkward. Especially once their body adjusts to the dosage. It is far safer to spend the two or three years slowly exposing them to your immune system pieces and then having them adjusted to you. But yes, I can see where you would see some attraction." There was a couple of Quarians in lower Afterlife. Both were male, though. "Now, are you ready?"
"Ready for what?"
"Well, I didn't just spend a couple thousand credits for you to sit here and feel enlightened. Go test out what you have learned." Jack motioned to the bar. "But avoid the Krogan. Female Krogan are some of the most brutal lovers the galaxy has to offer. Though you can probably get that female Elcor's number. She is wearing Eclipse armor, right there." Sure enough, at the bar was an Elcor. She, if it was a female, was sitting with a few other Asari and drinking a pitcher of brown-green liquid. "Or perhaps some of the single Humans and Asari that are around. The Humans are probably here to bum drinks off of people with Asari fetishes, and the Asari are here to bum drinks and look good. Oh, and as always, do not let yourself get mind-raped. Asari are sneaky like that. But then again its what they get off on. Go on and try out some of what you've learned, or else any time you talk about women you'll sound like an old professor talking about 21st century feminists."
Jack had a point. But these people would kill other people if they felt threatened. So, he pulled his shirt back into place, and took a deep breath. Then he got up out of the booth and ran smack dab into a plate full of drinks. They went flying, and the serving girl carrying the drinks screamed as twenty glasses went over the railing and dumped over more than a couple of patrons. Including the Elcor at the bar.
"Start running, Charles. Bylaka there is one of the most dangerous creatures you could ever insult." Jack said from his booth. "She is one of the Eclipse Warlords."
Charles looked over the balcony, seeing the Elcor covered in alcohol slowly turning around towards him. "Murderous Exasperation. This is my newest armor. Bring me the one who did this." Charles gulped, and pulled back from the balcony as he saw two Eclipse sisters start moving for the stairs. Charles looked around, seeing empty booths and few patrons around. There was only the serving girl there in the balcony with him, whose clothes and drink platter had scattered. Though she didn't look like the rest of the servers, who were for the most part Asari and Batarians. She got up, some sort of shawl or head covering revealing a black face plate and a slim body encased in a suit.
"You stupid pyjak! Now my drinks are all over the place!" She exclaimed.
"A woman scorned…" Charles started saying, trying to remember what Rella had told him. He couldn't remember in time, as the Asari came up at the far end of the balcony. "Uh, I don't remember the rest, Sorry!" He started walking away from her, trying to decide where to hide. The Asari, on the other hand, asked the patrons who spilled the drinks. One of the Batarians was only too happy to help them, pointing directly at Charles.
"The Pyjak there did it. Knocked over the Quarian, too. Filthy creatures don't respect anyone these days." The needle toothed, four eyed jerk said. Well, that answered a few things. The Asari pair moved forward, pistols out. The people in the booths crammed inwards and took cover. Charles himself moved to the end, where he could jump down into the next row of balconies.
"Get 'em both. She'll want to have something more than just one bloodstain." One of the Asari said. Charles stopped, almost ready to jump down and start running.
"Girls love it when somebody can prove they're strong enough…" He muttered, turning around and grasping his weak biotics. His pull was low to the ground, and hit the Quarian girl right in the torso. She was slowly backing away from the Asari, and went sliding along the balconies and into Charles' arms. Unfortunately, that moment where the guy is supposed to smoothly catch the girl and escape didn't happen. "No! Programmer arms!" The Quarian was way too heavy for him to hold easily. His musculature that he had enjoyed at Cerberus had decayed, and with that, they both went tumbling over the balcony and into one of the empty booths.
Thankfully, he landed on something bench-like and soft. Looking around, he saw that they had landed on a bench in between two tables. The Quarian was heavy enough to have knocked the wind out of him. Just wearing a suit meant that a weight of around one hundred and fifty pounds impacted his stomach. She took her sweet time rolling off of him, too.
"Uhh." Was all that came out when he tried to speak. He just had to breathe.
"Come on, you stupid bosh'tet, Bykala's going to be all over you!" The Quarian yelled. She dove under the table, opening up one of the floor panels with a small tool that emerged from her gauntlet. "You save me, I'll save you, come on!"
Charles rolled, and right after he did the table came apart like a bomb had gone off. He rolled again, chunks of plastic and metal lining raining all around him. Looking up, all he could see where the table once was happened to be the side of a glowing blue Elcor. The Elcor that he had last seen stationary by the bar. Oh gods, that was a Vanguard. An Elcor Vanguard. He rolled, wheezing, falling the four feet into the open grate. He coughed, feeling his swiftly bruising stomach hit a pipe.
The Quarian was already moving through the pipes, ducking over and under the pipes and supports that held up the balconies full of booths. "Wait!" He gasped.
"We're even!" She turned around, facing him. "Try not to get crushed!" Charles angled his wrist towards her, launching a tracking drone as she started moving away. He just dove under the nearby pipes as a massive Elcor fist slowly started reaching through the hole he had just dove through. He didn't have to move fast once the drone attached. She would show him the way out. So, Charles waited until he had caught his breath, and then moved through the pipes. He could hear the Asari from earlier coming into the area after him, but they were going to have trouble in here.
The pipes and supports were haphazard, and didn't follow any rhyme or reason as to why they supported the construction. There was even a couple of bodies down here, which smelled quite terrible. He didn't know where he was, but with the Quarian leading him, he knew where he was going. Her movements were marked on his Omni-tool, so he just followed the red line and didn't have to guess anything. The pipes eventually let out into some grimy alleyway, connecting to a water main and air filtration system. The Quarian had stopped moving up ahead, and so Charles just carefully moved forward, the supports and pipes giving way to catwalks above a massive water filtration chamber. The walkways were somewhat rusted and dark, and there was a large operations theatre style box on the uppermost walkway. That looked to be in better condition, but didn't connect to the lower walkways.
The sound of water churning covered his footsteps, and at the far end of the chamber he could see a few panels of the walls missing. His drone led him right to it. The panels of the wall had been removed, and a small ductway was behind the wall. Inside he could see wrappers and water bottles standing end upon end, and a small artificial heater. Next to it was the Quarian, who was going over her suit with her Omni-tool, probably doing a check of its systems.
The suit had a few cuts and marks that had only been patched up with medical tape. She didn't even have any Omni-gel for that. As he watched, she applied more medical tape to a long patch of the suit, one with wires openly visible from the left wrist. Quarian suits often had integrated Omni-tools, and Charles couldn't see one on her. That would explain why the suit was in such bad condition, if she couldn't even read her vitals.
"Hey." He said, seeing her jerk and press herself against the back wall.
"Ahh! No!" She yelled, holding her hands up. She was unarmed, on Omega. No gun, no knife, not a thing to protect herself. No Omni-tool came up with defensive programs or kinetic barriers. "Wait, its just you."
"Yeah, I followed you out because I thought it would be the easiest way out."
"There isn't a way out of here. This is all a sealed block, Afterlife itself being on its own power and water. I can't get out of Afterlife through any of here. Plus, where would I go?"
"Well, at least you're employed."
"Hah! Employment contracts don't exist on Omega. A few like me just facilitate drinks. We get orders, pay with our own credits, and then demand a higher figure from the table to get our cut. The bartenders don't care, and Aria doesn't mind the service improvement. Nor when we screw up and die, she doesn't have to care about the labor being out of her personnel."
"That, actually really sucks." He said. "I work with a bunch of you guys, and I know you're resourceful, but this is pretty bad." He motioned to the food wrappers and empty water bottles. "You're not surviving very well here."
"You don't have to be judgemental about it. There used to be three of us, working the balconies and saving up money for our Pilgrimage. The other two were killed and dumped in the water treatment plant and all that we had was taken." She sighed. "So, are you gonna rob me too?"
"Nah, not really. I was thinking of paying for you to go to Earth or something." Charles said. "They're always hiring engineering and tech positions for you guys."
"You're even more of a bigot than I thought. That is the worst stereotype that is going around these days. Everyone assumes that all Quarians know how to fix anything, work on anything electronic. Not all of us have those skills, you know."
"So, what are you good at?" Charles asked, sitting down on a small pile of bottles.
"Do you really care or are you just doing this?" She had her arms wrapped around her midsection, and a small cloth wrapping around her shoulders like a shawl.
"Well, if you're on your Pilgrimage, I would prefer it if all the Quarians possible make it home. So, you helped me escape from certain Elcor death, and in return I'm willing to help you out." Charles said, "No matter what skill set you have."
"I like to sing." She said. "I came to Omega to work for the Pan-Terminus vid-station. But they wouldn't hire me unless I paid fifty thousand credits up front to cover the costs of my training."
Charles brought up the group in his Omni-tool, which she was looking at with no small amount of envy. He had a spare, but it had TartarusOS and it wasn't safe to just hand off. Information on Pan-Terminus came up, with their four all hours all species vid-entertainment channels. They did news, music, and even had a Krogan history night every month. They brought in an old Krogan to come and talk about his exploits, something that he did that was entertaining. Whether it was true or not was a matter of debate.
"Sounds like they were scamming you, then. There aren't any Quarians on staff, and they have a strict no hiring policy for Turians and Quarians."
"Figures the only place I want to be is like that." She said. "The Humans don't have enough hearing to appreciate our music, and the Citadel hates it for the most part. So, I'm not allowed to work there. What do you plan to do about it?"
Charles looked at the company. They didn't seem to be too well off. "I think I'm gonna buy 'em out and make them different."
"This isn't the Citadel, where you can just go and buy out a company. You need to go take ownership by force if you want to do that. The Terminus systems don't recognize anything else this far out. Maybe on Illium, but not here."
"My name is Charles, by the way." He said, offering his hand in the Quarian method.
She took it. "Buy me an Omni-tool and bring me some Omni-gel and I'll tell you anything you want to know."
"Well, that's easy enough. I'll just walk back through that maze of pipes and somehow find my way out of here." This seemed accurate according to Rella for what you were supposed to do for a woman. "Er, got a map?"
She waved her empty wrist. "You're on your own. But I can show you the way, I guess, if you throw in a pistol or something."
"Sure, you got it." She led him back through the old pipes and supports and brought him up right underneath Jack's balcony. Not specifically his booth but definitely his level. Things had filled up in the time since he had ducked underneath, and most of the booths were full. "Thanks." He mentioned.
Hey boss, are those Eclipse sisters still looking for me? He sent to Jack Harper. From under the floor, they didn't have a great view of anything other than the underside of people's feet. They couldn't see the main bar where Bykala would have to fit her massive weight and mass.
Of course they are. Asari are patient. Without a good distraction they stay focused on their task and with a boss like Bykala they have plenty of reason to stay on task. What's going on? Are you still on station?
Jack didn't appear to be worried about him at all. Figures, he had to maintain a low profile. Yeah, actually. I'm underneath the floor panels. But you can't get out that way. It's all sealed off. I need to get past their observers.
No message came for a few minutes. He and the still unnamed Quarian sat still, waiting for Jack's message. I'll be taking a short romantic liaison with a few Asari for a moment, my friend. Please courteously do not send me any messages for an hour. Charles coughed. "Uh, I think we are clear."
The Quarian nodded, coming up in one of the booths and sitting in the seat. "I'll be here, then. I don't have any way of re-entering the bar if I go outside."
"You've been living on bar food?" Charles asked, horrified.
"That's most of what I spend credits on, yes." She said.
"Yeah, no." Charles handed her a few credits. Around fifty. "Go, get some food and water. You sound tired." She looked at her hand, curious. "Well? Go eat, jeeze!"
Charles watched as she made for the bar to go order food, and Jack sitting with three Eclipse sisters, holding their attention completely on himself. He was able to leave Afterlife with just a head bob to the Krogan bouncers, and he safely avoided the Batarian brute squad that tried to hassle anyone coming or going from Afterlife.
He bought a standard VD-55 Quarian model Omni-tool from the market, a bit used but still workable. But it was the best model that had connections to become integrated that he could find. Then he bought some food, Omni-gel, and a new battery for her suit. He couldn't buy her more than that, since she would probably need a clean room to use anything else. These all fit in a small bag, and he wrapped that up and put it in a greasy fast food bag. No one cared that he carried that. Human fast food didn't interest anyone but Krogan, and the few fast food joints here used synthetic vegetable oils and meats. It made all the meats taste weird. Different, of lower quality.
He found the Quarian girl working the upstairs balcony, picking up drink orders and carrying them to different tables. He chose to sit down in one of the booths there, waving her down by using his flashlight function to reflect light off of a credit chit. Jack told him it would get any girl used to getting money over to him as fast as she could run. She wandered over after finishing putting down some drinks, and he motioned for her to slide into the booth.
"Well, I got what you needed. Mind taking a short break and telling me about yourself?"
"Um," She muttered. "I didn't expect you to actually come back."
"I'm a human. We're usually nice like that." Charles said. "So, I have an Omni-tool for you and fifty grams of Omni-gel. Then I also picked up some dextro nutrient sticks for you, with paste and ground mixtures."
"That must have been expensive." She muttered, eyes focused on the small bag he brought with him. He opened it, and she immediately attached wire leads to the Omni-tool, integrating it and bringing it online. It started booting, and she applied the barest hint of Omni-gel to the wire leads to fix their exposed ends. Her suit came more online, and he could see more lights turning on, as well as temperature control units. "A new battery, too? How much was all this?"
Charles considered for a moment. "A Prothean doohicky, some bubble gum, and a fast food run. Didn't spend hardly any credits." All of those things were different kinds of resources. Charles was if anything good at haggling. He was also rolling in Prothean knick knacks. Javik threw out old parts all the time as they repaired things, which were sold again to bidders for big money. The black market for those things was already out there, and they meant more credits and more buying power. Ilos was a gold mine, and Jack Harper was slowly building up something out there. A couple hundred Quarians now swarmed over it, eager to learn anything they could. The Quarians had their own beacon, back when they had a home world. With the help of Vigil they were finally researching new information for the first time in hundreds of years.
"Wow. This is some high quality food." She remarked. "I'll be right back to answer all of your questions, I promise. But I need to get this table, this guy always tips well." She slipped out of the booth, and Charles settled in to wait for her. Or at least he planned to until a large Krogan in armor walked up to his booth alone and sat himself into it. He was shorter than the normally towering Krogan that Charles was used to.
"Hi there." Charles said. "How can I help you?"
"You're the human in the suit that came in the Quarian frigate." He said. "I am to meet with you regarding business." The Krogan brought out his Omni-tool, bringing up some files. "I am Ganar Grunt. Son of Ream, son of Okeer. My untainted line of ancestors screams in my blood." Odd introduction, that. Worse, this guy thought he was Jack. What the heck would the boss do?
"I represent certain elements that do not share a love for my home government." Yeah, Jack said that a lot. Charles didn't know what it meant, but Jack said it a lot when introducing himself. "What did you bring me?"
The Krogan gave him some sort of look filled with teeth and rage. Or happiness. How the hell would he know? Their faces were like leather and bone. This guy had a smaller forehead-thing than all of the other Krogan he had met. It was smoother, less triangular. It was also black as night, and made his pale skin stand out. He brought up his writs, the ham hands gently settling on the table. "You expressed interest in Collector technology. My clan leader wanted to know where you found out about our connection. We need to feel secure before we can do any sort of business with your ilk."
Well. Crap. "My contacts are not to be bought and sold like cattle. If someone reported your interest, that is harmless. I don't know anything about any sort of specifics, only that you are a contact for the Collectors. Or rather a good source of information." This lying and going on about what they had and didn't wasn't going to last forever.
"Ganar Speaker." Jack Harper's voice came from behind them. Oh thank whatever god that was listening. Jack settled in right next to him, taking a seat at the table and leaning forward with his elbows squared towards the Krogan. "My body double here was only supposed to be meant for the initial contact. My apologies in waiting so long."
"Your security speaks well of you." Grunt said, unconcerned. "Yet I bring the same question to you. How do you know of our connection? Why do you approach the ancient house of fire?" This Grunt fellow liked his epithets.
"You sold technology to someone on Earth. They got caught and now people are getting killed over it. I want you to cut your contacts and talk to me if you need money or funding. Human concerns are my concerns, and I don't like being left out of the loop when dangerous technology goes unnoticed."
"You are just one varren pup in the pile, Human. The runt of the litter, as well. Others have been at this for centuries, and still we wait for them to become proper trading partners. You can climb that ladder like all the rest." The Krogan seemed unconcerned, his hands remaining loose and away from the gigantic shotgun located on the beast's back.
"If Okeer wants to play that game, we can. That's fine, so long as his dangerous technology does not destroy my people." He shrugged. "Your Human industry paid its price for our assistance. Two strong biotics, traded to us for our needs."
"I helped establish the biotic training school. Those children were kidnapped." Jack said, anger sounding through his voice. "Their parents still hold a grudge. Should I tell them you bought their children?"
"Heh. Go ahead. Yet another blood feud forgotten in the ages. Clan Ganar has forgotten more blood feuds than any other. We are the oldest, the strongest left in the galaxy. A Human declaring blood feud would only grant us another drop of blood in the great line of history. Your biotics were part of an important study group. One that will affect our grand design. I don't care and neither shall those who follow me. If you want our understanding and science, you will accept our blood price like all the rest." The Krogan settled them with a glare. "Your questions suggest that you have some interest in Collector technology. I speak for my clan when I offer this price." He held up the Omni-tool on his arm, and the image of an Asari. "I need three of the Asari genetic quirk called Ardat-Yakshi. The first to bring us these shall be rewarded with their current desire." The Krogan stood up. "This exchange is at an end. Contact us if you dare." He stomped off, his footfalls going towards the stairs.
"Cheerful fellow, huh?" Charles remarked.
"Bastard. They have Jennifer Gosling and Jacqueline Louis, two of our best biotics. They were taken during that mess with Ricardo." Charles shuddered a bit at that. That had been a bad day at Disneyland. "Took me three years to find out, no wonder they couldn't be found. More than likely they aren't even in one piece anymore."
"Um, what's an Ardent-Yakshahbab?"
"Our. Dot. Yak-shee." Jack corrected. "Asari vampires, effectively. Rare, usually sequestered in monasteries where they can't be out of control. The free ones are pursued relentlessly by an ancient knight order of Asari called Justicars. Getting three of them is going to be near impossible." Jack took a sip of something clear and held an ice pack up to a reddening mark on his face.
"What happened to you?" Charles asked.
"I told her that she bonded like a child. It's sad, that I am used to Matriarchs and their tender touches. Maidens just feel like a blast of tear gas, coming into my mind and trampling around. They took offense to this and returned to the bar." Jack motioned to the booth. "Someone had taken my old booth, so I had to find out where my contact was sitting. Thankfully you did well. Saving my business is an admirable skill."
"Are you leaving?" They both looked up, seeing that the spot the Krogan had just vacated was now filled by his new Quarian friend. Or moocher. It remained to be seen.
"Well, that was what we came for. Sorry I couldn't do more for you."
"You've done more than anyone else here. I was wondering if you might be able to give me a job, though. Waiting tables for food just doesn't seem like it will keep me alive forever."
Jack gave her a close look. "What's your name?"
"Tesai nar Saerinlas." She answered. "I've been here for five years, so far." Her suit looked to be falling apart a bit. No wonder it looked to be in poor condition.
"What can you do in terms of skills, then?" Jack asked.
"I can sing. The old way. Dance, as well." She said, and Jack waited longer to see if she would talk more. "I also know how to take care of customers, tables, my regulars. Um, I think I could run a drone or two?"
"I think I can find something, Tesai." Jack said. "I happen to have a place that might take you. Song and dance might be more important in the Migrant fleet in the coming future."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, they are building a new Live ship." Jack said. "Come with us, we need someone that isn't a programmer."
"What?!" She stammered, jumping out of the booth. "How?"
"You're making a scene, Tesai. We can tell you all about it on the trip. But for now, consider yourself part of a project." Jack said. He gave a glance at Charles, and then at the Omni-tool she was wearing. "Charles, next time you buy a girl an Omni-tool, don't buy her a male version. Kellish is gender-disparate. Reinstall her OS with the proper Kellish on the trip there."
"Right." Crap. He knew a bit of Kellish, but not much. "So, how do we get out of here if the Asari from earlier are looking for us?"
"By taking the route that leads to more dangerous paths. Come on." Jack led them down the stairs and towards the door that led to Upper Afterlife.
"Why are we-" Tesai started
"Shh." Jack said. "Aria knows who I am, and if she chooses to see me, then the Eclipse won't bother you. Bykala is up here, anyways, so you're going to have to keep your cool. We don't need any more reasons for booths rated for Krogan strength to come apart on us." The pathway to Upper Afterlife was filled with graphic images and ads, and small hallways leading off of it led to kitchens and storage facilities. Then it turned into a gently sloping carpeted ramp leading into the upper deck. This area was managed, and really nice. Why Jack didn't meet up here bothered Charles slightly, but right behind that worry was the way his visor went crazy with the number of signals and hacks that struck his systems.
"Wow. This place is nice. Sorta like New York Arcology." Jack got that, but Tesai didn't. She just stayed right behind them, looking somewhat afraid. New York was a bad place. A really bad place. Where you always felt like someone was sighting a rifle on your back.
"It's nice enough. It lacks some of my favorites, but those are hard to find even on Earth." He walked towards a platform mounted in the back of the area, where a raised area sat observing all of the booths. It looked more like a throne in some arena rather than the comfy place it was supposed to be. The ramps leading up to it were guarded by a mixture of Turians, Batarians, and a couple of Krogan. Jack approached one of the Batarians, and greeted him in that rough language. "Greetings. I demand a visitation."
"She doesn't want to see you. Leave a message and get lost." He replied in the same. Looks like he wasn't impressed by Jack's ability to speak the language.
"She might want to hear about a few things that I know. Profit margins, intelligence." Jack said.
"I told you Human, get out. You aren't even flagged as a threat. Leave."
Jack shrugged, and started walking out towards the exit to Afterlife. Charles stayed with him, and Tesai was about as near to his back as possible without touching him. They stayed far away from Bykala, who was hard to miss at the center of the first floor. They made it to the exit, Charles thanking whatever deity gave him protection, and Tesia muttering some Kellish phrases. "We might have to start meeting new people on Illium." Jack mentioned. "I keep on making all of these friends. Charles, get us an air car and get us out of here. Old friends are following us."
The two Asari from earlier were walking behind them, casually keeping pace with them. Trundling along behind them at the far end of the entrance hallway was an Elcor, the flames of the hallway's haptic screens making it seem like a demon from the depths of hell was following them. Charles started walking faster, but Jack's hand kept him from going too fast. "Calm in the face of danger."
"If that walking tank hits us, our bones are dust before we hit the ground." Charles said, quickly doing the math in his head at his likelihood of surviving while wearing a suit. "Not to mention we can get Singularity'd by those Asari like its nothing." Charles said.
"Or we just take the air car and go." Jack said, pointing at a couple getting into an air car, Jack pushing the Turian couple into the vehicle and passing them a hefty credit chit. Charles pushed Tesai in, finding her armor to give in quite a bit. She felt malnourished rather than sexy when he pushed, though. She made some chattering noises at the action, but he was right behind her as they piled in. "Docking bay G4 please, as fast as you can!" Jack stated.
The Turians shrugged, looking at the pile of credits that had already been dropped and drove. Charles kept looking out the back window for anyone following them, and he breathed a sigh of relief when they got to the G docking ring. No one was waiting for them to try anything, and only a couple of Salarian juicers were around. Their ship still had its standing guards, and Jack slowed his pace as soon as they entered the actual dock. Tesai, beside him, froze.
"That's one of ours!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Jack was the one who provided your people a new shipyard and the deal that gets them a new Liveship. So they're helping us out."
"No, you don't understand! I'm not done with my Pilgrimage yet!" Tesai said. "I can't return, not yet. I have nothing to offer my people."
"Good thing we aren't heading back to the fleet, then, huh?" Charles said happily. Tesai didn't seem to be perked up by it, only becoming more morose. "Come on, you can help me with some of the mess. Where we are going, it doesn't matter what you bring back. Anything you pick up is worth more than five years of saving anything at this station."
"If my people trust you, then, well…" Tesai said, rubbing her fingers together. "I can try."
"Good." Jack said, interrupting them. "Javik and his ilk need to have a liaison that can do customer service. Everyone else is either in awe or socially awkward. She fits what we need perfectly." Jack looked her over closely. "Perhaps after she gets back to a more healthy state. She will need some level of patience to survive all this."
"Come on, I promise that we won't go back to the fleet." Charles offered. "We're going to someplace so much better than that."
"Anything's better than here. Thanks, Charles." The way she said Charles was almost as if she was speaking around some sort of twist in the tongue. It could have been disdain, or it might have been her trying to pronounce his name. He hoped it was the second one.
Author's Note
To Shiney McShiney, you posted your review regarding the last chapter moments ago. This is not a prank or a response to the review directly, I just finished this scene and wanted to put it up. I was trying to decide on another person's perspective to share this chapter with, but they didn't quite fit. This is just an interim chapter between some of the more important parts of the story, but more importantly I wanted to introduce a couple of characters that will be in the later parts of the story.
Bykala is the Elcor vanguard that is among the Eclipse. She's a bit irritable, a bit focused, and very much enjoys violence. Sociopath, completely nuts, and well worth any investment to keep her. Bykala left one of Dakuuna's colonies to join up with anyone that would let her fight. The Asari decided to teach her how to use the muscles of her back to allow her to create biotic impulses, therefore charging and a few other nasty pieces of business. Bykala likes being able to move around as she pleases, or over other sentients.
Grunt. Grunt is a bag of crazy and hormonal that I had a hard time deciding on at the start of this story. I never liked Grunt as a squad member when I first played Mass Effect 2. It had been my introduction to the series, and when confronted with a teenage Krogan, I thought I was about to get Krogan history 101. Names, dates, who and why. Instead I got carnage and slaughter, and no visible change in Grunt's attitude. With everyone else's loyalty mission, you got some sort of attitude shift. Thane got his family connection back, something to live for after the suicide mission. Miranda had Orianna, and was generally less of an ice queen. Jack became happier(ish). Garrus got a bit back to his ME1 snarkiness. Oh how I do love my snark.
My version of Grunt here is part of an attempt to apologize to the character. When we went through the Collector Base, I had one casualty. That was Grunt, and boy did I feel guilty. I hadn't talked to him since we got back from Tuchanka, and I felt sort of bad that I just watched him get carried off by bugs to go die in some pile. Or more likely when I fired the neutron purge. His regeneration would have kept him alive long enough to experience that kind of hell. So, when I wrote this story I decided to make Grunt a happier life. This is my apology and format for that. I hope you enjoy him better here as well.
I also felt that Aria doesn't care too much about someone like Jack Harper. Or at least not yet. He hasn't gone on her radar because he doesn't really leave a huge trail of bodies to follow. So yeah, getting shut down by Anton is realistic. Not everybody gets to see her, and even Jack needs to do something pretty heinous to get close. Thanks for reading guys, and have a great end of semester and such. Also, everyone please give the Anon reviewer Lucas a hug. The man faithfully checks over every chapter and lets me know how he feels. At the end of this I might have someone pay homage to him or something. It's that awesome to have fans like that. You guys make me feel pretty well loved, and that makes writing that much easier.
Also, funny note, I thought about breaking up my story into arcs, and labeling it with an acronym. Then I realized what the acronym would be for Living an Indoctrinated Dream. LAID. Awkward, yet awesome. So yeah, that's happening. Unless you guys prefer I keep it all in the same story block. Tell me your thoughts.