Chapter 19

Illium Entertainment News Update – Well-wishers packed downtown Nos Astra's Dantius Memorial hospital, where hanar superstar Blasto is stable following being treated for a near-fatal drug overdose. Doctors declined to comment on the actor's condition but did say they were seeking a specialist to determine whether his current sickly-green color is unnatural for a hanar. The head priest of the Enkindler religion issued a statement that Blasto's overdose was a clear sign that the Enkindlers were angry that the actor had refused to donate a cut of profits from his latest book to the church.


Solik Vass found asari actress Linia T'Pala seated on a bench just outside 6th Dimension Vids' Soundstage 11. She was decked out in her asari commando costume, but rather than fighting bad guys she was quietly holding her legs against her chest and staring at the ground. She had obviously been crying earlier but that had passed. Now she just looked numb.

"This seat taken?" Vass asked. Linia remained silent and didn't move.

Vass understood. The news earlier that day that production on Blasto: The Hunt for Saren had been indefinitely postponed following its star's drug overdose had left the studio's employees and the numerous actors working on the vid in a state of stunned disbelief. Lead actress Adria S'Voz had estimated to Vass that the studio had finished about three-fourths of the vid. Unfortunately, that remaining quarter mostly included scenes featuring Blasto, the vid's titular star. The hanar actor's erratic behavior had meant that few of his key scenes had been satisfactorily completed and thus had been pushed to the back of the schedule. The studio's veteran employees were used to Blasto's antics however and over the past few weeks had assured others that the star would eventually get his act together and things would be fine.

Now Blasto was in a hospital with no official word on his condition - an ominous sign. Any hope that he would return soon seemed hopelessly naive and rumors were flying thick and fast that the studio would soon cut its losses and close the production down entirely. It was a bitter pill for those who had worked so many long and occasionally dangerous hours on Blasto: The Hunt for Saren. For people like Linia, who had assumed the vid would be her big break as an actress, it was even worse.

Vass took the spot next to the asari. "You don't have to say anything," he told her. "But I'll stay here if you want me too."

Linia put her arms around Vass and laid her head on his shoulder. She started softly sobbing. Vass embraced her and patted her shoulder. Linia cried for another minute, then brought her head back up.

"Thanks," she said, wiping away her tears. "Hey, let's get my skycar and get away from here. I know a nice place."


The spot Linia had in mind was a public park not far from the studio complex. It had a lake that featured some of the odder-looking but harmless animals native to Illium. The pair picked up soft drinks from a vending machine and sat on some moss-covered rocks by the edge of the lake sipping their sodas. The change in scenery improved Linia's mood, nudging her from sorrowful to merely depressed.

Vass was quietly grateful that the moss on the rocks was even softer and spongier than it looked. He had recently made a change to his daily routine, a result of his having been recruited into the Special Tasks Group. He now got up two hours earlier every day in order to get trained in advanced combat techniques by Major Kirrahe at Nos Astra's Armax Arsenal Arena. The major was an exacting coach and Vass' muscles were aching and sore as a result. His status as an agent was a secret though so he tried his best to hide his discomfort from Linia. The best thing he could do for her was just be a sympathetic audience, he thought.

"I know there will be other opportunities if this vid is scrapped," Linia told Vass. "But will I ever get to do another vid with Adria S'Voz? One where I get to do a bunch of crazy action scenes with her and a big, tough krogan like Dreed? No, that's once-in-a-lifetime."

Linia looked out at the ripples in the lake and sighed. "I'm sorry that nobody will get to see the 'waterfall scene' either. Savara, the vid's cinematographer, showed us maidens a rough edit of the scene the other day and it was just wonderful. We were all having the time of our lives and it showed," she remarked, faintly smiling at the memory of that day. It had started off awkwardly with the studio trying to film a cheap titillation scene featuring her and the other actresses playing the Normandy crew but it had unexpectedly evolved into something exhilarating, even inspiring, after S'Voz took charge of the direction. "It was just a few days ago, but it all seems so distant now..." she lamented.

She squeezed Vass' hand, her five fingers entwining with his three. "At least I got to make some friends..." She looked into the salarian's large, black eyes and Vass could see that a thought had suddenly struck her.

"Solik, I had an odd conversation the other day with Dar Rarbin, the stunt coordinator," she began, her voice wavering at times. "He said something to the effect of you and I having had a 'wild, action-packed day' in Nos Astra and not to worry, he wouldn't tell anybody about 'what really happened to the skycar.' I didn't know what to say, so I pretended to know what he was talking about. I did get that he meant that day that you and I went downtown to see Dr. T'Soni and I then rushed back to the studio because I thought the shooting schedule had been moved up. After Rarbin said that, I remembered that the major got quite anxious that day when I told him you were in downtown Nos Astra alone and he said he would head out immediately to fetch you himself. I also remembered that you really wanted to see the faked studio alert I got that made me leave you downtown in the first place."

Linia stroked Vass' hand and her voice became quieter. "Solik, something happened after I left you that day, didn't it? What-what was it?"

In his head, Vass could hear Major Kirrahe's voice admonishing him to not tell Linia anything. To lie to her. 'It's for her own good,' he heard the major explain. 'The less she knows, the safer she is.' Vass weighed this against the fact that Linia obviously knew that something had happened. And there was another consideration. Along with the major, Linia was the one other person he completely trusted. She deserved to be able to trust him too, Vass decided.

"Linia, you have to understand. I cannot tell you everything. I've been sworn to secrecy," Vass replied. "But, yes, something happened that afternoon after you left. I was kidnapped by enemies of the major. They wanted to find out what I knew about the STG. So they grabbed me in broad daylight and dragged me off to a place where they could question me. Luckily, the major was able to find me and get me out of there."

Vass congratulated himself on the answer. It was all true, so he had avoided lying to Linia. But he was certain that he had not done much more than confirm what she already knew. He then saw the horrified reaction on Linia's face and realized he may have given away more than he intended.

"Kidnapped?! By who? And were you hurt? What did they do to you?" she exclaimed.

Vass gave her hand a squeeze. "It's ok. It was scary for a while, yes, but like I said, the major rescued me. I was roughed up a little, but nothing permanent. The funny thing was that they grabbed me because they wanted information on the major. They were kind of surprised once they realized that I didn't know anything, really. The only reason they believed that was because an asari member of their gang forced me to meld with her."

Linia gave out a sharp gasp and grabbed Vass in a tight hug. She began slowly rocking him back and forth. "I'm so, so sorry," she told him. "I had no idea. If I had known you had been melded with against your will… "

"Well, yeah. They used some drug on me," the young salarian replied. "It wore off after a while though. No permanent harm."

"No, I mean that you were *forced* to do it," Linia explained. She then noticed the perplexed look on Vass' face. "Oh, yeah. I guess being an alien, you may not understand… How to explain this? Umm… Well, the first time an alien melds with an asari is supposed to be an important moment. It's when the alien's mind is, uh, 'opened up' to other perspectives, to understanding the galaxy in a broader way. It's supposed to only happen between people who trust each other. For it to have been some asari thug who was rooting through your brain like a burglar ransacking a house is just … wrong, you know?"

Vass caressed Linia's cheek and brushed away the beginnings of a tear. "It wasn't fun, true. But I am ok now," he tried to reassure her.

Linia sighed softly. "Maybe it is more important to us asari. Our whole culture is about seeking out other species and sharing. It's how we spread our influence," she said, breaking into a slight, sheepish grin. "The turians do it through military force. The volus use economic might. You salarians use scientific know-how. But what do the asari do? We try to conquer the galaxy through love and understanding. Sometimes we forget how pretentious that must sound.."

The actress planted a peck on Vass' cheek. "My reaction may also have been a little selfish. You see, I wanted to be your first melding. I was working up the courage to ask to exchange memories with you," she explained.

"Well, you still could," Vass replied. "Be my first, that is. The other asari never exchanged anything with me."

Linia pulled back a bit and studied Vass' face. She thought for a few seconds and asked, "Are you sure?"

It only took Vass a moment to ponder the question. "Yes, I would like that," he affirmed. "I want to know what it is like with a friend."

The asari's eyes turned into twin pools of obsidian. "Then embrace eternity with me," she requested. Vass stared into her eyes and the world around him vanished.


Vass found himself standing in a dark void. Flickering images of his past stood in front him, just beyond his reach. The images were shards of past memories, each one morphing and changing into another memory after a few seconds, like a cloud in the sky taking on a different shape. It was similar to how the previous melding went but this time Vass was aware of far, far more. The cascade of images was enormous. His other senses seemed more alive as well. He noticed voices both familiar and ones he had nearly forgotten. He recalled the sounds of cities hadn't visited in years, the aromas of foods from the family kitchen, the feeling of diving into the rivers and oceans back on Sur'Kesh. The flood of sensations ought to have been overwhelming but instead they remained wispy fragments, things that he could will forward like pulling a book from a shelf.

It was then that Vass noticed that the several of the memories were completely unfamiliar. They were those of an asari maiden - more than a century of joys, laughs, sorrows, triumphs, embarrassments, adventures, secrets and even romances. All were as open to Vass as his own memories because at that moment he was no longer just Solik Vass. He was Linia too. He could pluck any memory he wanted and not merely experience it but actually re-live it.

Linia walked up next to him and grabbed his hand in hers. "This is why trust is so important," she replied to a question he wasn't even aware he had asked. "In a true melding there are no barriers."

"I don't remember it being this... vivid," Vass admitted. "I didn't feel much of anything the last time. I guess the drug must have really deadened me."

"Solik, let's not waste our time on that," Linia whispered, "Show me things that make you smile. It's all open to me but I don't know where to look."

Vass nodded and with a simple, reflexive act of will he caused ghostly versions of Major Kirrahe and Tyruss Aklaysius to materialize before them. "I'm guessing my assistant here would like a picture of the three of us together. Do you mind?" the major told the actor.

"Oh, neat. A pic of you and both of your heroes..." Linia replied, leaning her head against Vass. "Hey, Solik, how about showing me the waterfall scene? I want to know how it looked to you."

Vass nodded and the images morphed into Linia and the other actresses playing the vid's asari commandos nakedly splashing around on the fake Virmire set. They alternately laughed and shrieked as they raced around and kicked water at each other. Vass could feel the spray of water across his body, the adrenaline rush of sprinting across the set, and the sheer joy of the moment. Linia watched and sighed, then broke into a snicker. "Hmm, I guess the water was a little cold for some of the maidens," she giggled.

"Your turn," Vass replied. "Show me something that made you smile."

Linia gave Vass' hand a firm squeeze and the images of his memories faded away, replaced by passing glimpses of her own recollections. "Here, I'll show you one of my recent favorites," she declared.

Vass suddenly began staring at himself. His doppelganger's face was all earnestness as it began to speak. "I want to apologize for laughing at you before. Honestly, I didn't mean to do it. You just caught me off-guard when you blinked at me the first time. Still, it was pretty rude of me. So, I'm sorry," it said. He recognized it as a comment from the day he first met Linia.

The asari actress grinned broadly at the memory. "I was having such a miserable time that morning. I was thinking of just quitting the vid altogether. And then I got the one thing I really needed. A friend. Everything got better after that…"

Vass grinned as well. "Here, I'll show you a recent favorite of mine," he announced and his double transformed into one of Linia.

"Well, you're a gentleman at least," the ghostly version of Linia declared. "Whatever a 'gentleman' is. I mean, I assume from the way you said it that it's a good thing."

"That was from the same day as my memory, wasn't it?" the real Linia asked, her head still resting on Vass' shoulder. "I didn't realize that meant so much to you."

Linia straightened up and slowly turned towards Vass. She caressed his right cheek with her hand, then drew his face towards her for a kiss. Their lips met, then a second later the void around them fell away and Vass found himself back by the park's lake.


The last time Vass had come out of a melding with an asari he felt confused and disoriented. This time, the dizziness was much less severe and the world snapped back into focus much sooner. He felt better, too. His mind was buzzing and everything seemed sharper and clearer.

"Linia…" he asked. "Did we... Did you & I…?"

The asari shook her head "no" but grinned nevertheless. "No, Solik, we didn't do *that.* Trust me, if we had, you would have known," she replied. "We just exchanged memories. Which is a pretty intimate act itself, but not the same thing. You're not supposed to do *that* without your partner knowing beforehand. But… maybe next time? I'd like to include that in my memories of you."

Vass tried to respond but found he could not form any actual words. The best he could do was simply nod "yes" back to the actress, who grinned again and slowly nodded "yes" back to him before drawing him back in for another hug.

"One other thing, Solik," Linia asked as she held the young salarian. "In one of the memories you had of the major that flashed by, he distinctly referred to you as 'Agent Vass.' What did he mean by that?"


An hour after the trip to the lake, Vass was pinged on his omni-tool by Major Kirrahe. The message was to get their company skycar and prepare to head to downtown Nos Astra.

"I have a theory about Blasto's overdose," Kirrahe declared shortly after the trip began. "I don't think it was an accident."

Agent Vass gave the major a quick sideways glance. "Even after all of the stories we got from Adria S'Voz and others that his addictions were getting worse?"

Kirrahe began checking his omni-tool. "Yes, I believe so. According to those same people at the studio, in the past he had always been able to cut back and sober up when necessary. Therefore, something had to change to make him OD this time. My guess is Eclipse sent him a bad batch of drugs in the hopes that he would get sick and production on Blasto: The Hunt for Saren would have to be shut down."

Vass nodded along, even though he wasn't sure about Kirrahe's reasoning. In truth, the junior agent was glad that the major was monopolizing the conversation. It meant he didn't have an opportunity to admit that earlier that day he had accidentally disclosed to Linia T'Pala that he was now an STG agent, something the major had repeatedly told him to keep secret.

"But why would Eclipse want the vid shutdown?" Vass asked. "Isn't the on-location shooting for the vids how they smuggle the drugs?"

Kirrahe continued tapping away at his omni-tool. "Yes, but the Blasto vid is just one production. There will be others where they can run their smuggling. However, if the Blasto vid is shut down then my cover as the vid's military advisor is gone and I would have no excuse to be around the studio. If I stayed out in the open, it would be an admission that I was at the studio on official Special Tasks Group business. I could try to operate covertly, but that would mean I could not be seen and so I would no longer have free access to the studio. In short, Eclipse is trying to flush me out."

Vass took a turn off from the Nos Astra skyway to the downtown area. "So that's why we are going to Dantius Memorial Hospital? To see what we can find out about Blasto's overdose?"

The major smiled without looking up from his omni-tool. "Precisely. We'll see what we can find out from the hospital's records. If they prove my hunch correct then the search for Blasto's dealer is back on. He'll lead us to Eclipse, I'm - Blast it! I don't have the module."

Vass had already begun to pull into the hospital's parking area. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I don't have the latest STG hacking software installed in my omni-tool and we may need it," Kirrahe explained. "It was sent along to me with my guns and armor, but I left the data disc with it back in my hotel room. I need you to head there and get it - it's right on the desk - and then hurry back to the hospital. I'll stay here. There's a few other things I can do in the meantime."

Vass dropped off the major and headed directly to the hotel. A call ahead by Kirrahe to the concierge got the young agent into the room. After a few minutes of searching through the desk, Vass found a data disc that matched the major's description. He pocketed the item and began to head out, but stopped when the communications line on the desk began beeping. Somebody was calling for the major on the hotel's network. It listed the call as 'urgent.'

'It could be information the major needs to know,' thought Vass. He opened the com line and a second later the image of a grizzled, scar-faced salarian with only one cranial horn appeared on the view screen. Vass recognized the figure as the former STG agent who was Major Kirrahe's contact on Omega. The older salarian did a double-take when he saw the young agent.

"You are not Kirrahe," the former agent noted. "Ah, recognize you now. Young fellow with the major when he called about business regarding Queen of Omega. Recall he told me in subsequent message that he had taken on protege. You, I presume."

Vass nodded. "Yes, I am here running a quick errand for the major. I saw your message was marked urgent, so I figured I could pass along whatever you meant to tell him."

The scar-faced salarian smiled. "Enthusiastic. Decisive. Team-player. All fine qualities. Kirrahe did well in choosing you."

"Umm, thank you," Vass replied.

The two then stared awkwardly at each other for a few seconds.

"You had some message for the major…?" Vass eventually asked.

"Oh, yes! Quite right! Lost my train of thought," the other salarian said. "While no longer Special Tasks Group agent myself, I maintain contacts besides Major Kirrahe. Recently heard from Agent Rentola. He said higher-ups at STG not pleased with Kirrahe's efforts to alter script for Blasto vid. Directorate fears vid becoming 'too realistic.' Censure possible if Kirrahe persists. Rentola himself breaking protocol to provide warning. Therefore wanted to avoid usual channels. Asked me to convey heads up to major of possible repercussions."

Vass was puzzled by the information. "Why does the Directorate not want the script to be realistic?"

The former agent seemed baffled by Vass' response. "Realistic vids undermine whole purpose of 6th Dimension Vids project, of course. Hard for STG to create misinformation by having the studio it secretly runs release accurate documentaries. Not sure why Kirrahe is breaking protocol in this case. Certain he has his reasons though. Always does. Still, felt he should have fair warning that Directorate getting angry with him."

"The studio the STG 'secretly runs' ...?" Vass stammered in response.

The other salarian frowned like Vass was a student giving a teacher a ridiculously implausible excuse for not having done his homework. "Yes, of course. STG has used 6th Dimension vids for years to - Oh, right. You are only entry-level agent. Not yet cleared for this level of secrecy. Hmm, forget I said anything…"

"No, wait!" Vass exclaimed. "Is this really true? Why does the STG do it? What is going on?"

The other salarian got agitated. "Sorry, seems to be some intergalactic interference. Losing signal," he announced, then hit a communication line button on his end. Nothing happened. He impatiently hit the button three more times before the signal was finally severed.

Vass, deciding he had a few new questions for the major, headed to the hotel elevator. He was halfway through the lobby when he saw the news broadcast on a public viewscreen.


Illium Entertainment News Update – Gunfire has been reported at Nos Astra's Dantius Memorial Hospital, where hanar superstar Blasto is being treated for a near-fatal drug overdose. We'll have more details on this story as it develops.

[Author's Note: Special thanks again to my super-patient beta reader Magpie Corvidae for all her help and suggestions for this chapter.]