New Life, New Job, New Responsibilities, and Plenty of Recurring Headaches
We flew across the Ward for a good five to ten minutes – I don't know for sure because I was too busy admiring the scenery – when finally, we arrived.
"An apartment building? Seems a little run-down." I tell the batarian as he parks in front of it, him looking at something on his omni-tool.
"It used to be, yes; but we've made some renovations to the inside." He taps out a few more commands before turning the device off, and I raise a questioning brow-plate. "Just making sure no one was tracking us. Can't be too careful in this line of work."
"Ah. Right." I respond, suddenly remembering just what the 'work' in question detailed.
"Come now, it's not all that bad really: you just go about your daily life, hide the fact you haven't always been a turian (which should go without saying), keep an ear to the ground for anything important that we need to know, and generally play the part of an upstanding law enforcement officer while occasionally performing the odd job for us when we need you to, while getting paid for it to boot. Simple." he said nonchalantly after we both got out of the car.
"Oh is that all? *phew* And here I thought I was going to have to spy on the Councilors, or maybe infiltrate Cerberus or the STG, or hell, why not all three! If that's it, then I'm sure this will all be a breeze; what, with my years of experience as a professional spy." I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster, only to be completely ignored with an amused headshake as he kept walking. Grumbling several unkind things under my breath, I followed after him; catching up just as he reached the front door belonging to our destination.
The inside was, when compared to the outside, a complete opposite in appearances: obviously brand-new and highly advanced computers, complex holograms of unknown locations, people, or devices above nearly every otherwise empty table, constant chatter from dozens of people scattered throughout the floor, and enough of said people running around carrying what I assumed to be reports to make it look more like a futuristic office rather than an apartment building.
I whistled at everything going on, impressed by the organized chaos in front of me, and attracting the attention of a couple of them before they moved on with their work. "Color me impressed!" It was then I noticed something odd regarding everyone present. "How come there aren't any humans?"
Ok, is it just me, or does that sound weird coming from someone that up till a few hours ago happened to be one? Wait a second, who am I even talking to? Meh, guess it doesn't really matter.
Mentally shrugging, I managed to catch the latter half of the explanation given to me by Obram as we began walking towards the rear of the building. "-as such, seeing as they make up 70-75% of the Traveler population, any alien Traveler can't work directly for the Alliance due to various policies put in place. I hear there's talk of adjusting those policies, but any real changes are being slowed down by stereotypical pieces of varren shit – also known as career politicians."
I blinked at what little information I actually paid attention to, and decided to pretend I heard all of it. "Ah, that makes sense then. Wait, so only 25% of us came over as humans?"
"Indeed: of which less than half were in their original bodies, and the numbers are only that high when you don't take into account the difference in age compared to their old ones."
"Why would so many come over as aliens though? If we all started as human, wouldn't it make more sense for us to arrive like that?"
"Good question. Here's the prevailing theory from the people we have looking into it, and I'll try and dumb it down a little so it makes more sense: do you remember how many humans were alive at this point in time according to the games?"
I spent a moment to think, coming up with a rough estimate. "Anywhere between thirteen to fifteen billion if I had to guess."
"It's typically better to round up considering the spike in birth rates caused by there being so many colonies to expand to, but yes, somewhere in that area. Now, how many aliens do you think there are?"
"Well if you listen to the first game, supposedly trillions; but we only ever get shown enough planets to total maybe upwards of fifty to sixty billion overall."
He looked genuinely impressed at that answer, as if he didn't expect me to know, and continued on. "Huh, not a bad guess. But the first answer is the correct one: the games only gave us an extremely limited scope of precisely how massive the various populations and the territory they inhabit truly are. Salarians alone count for roughly half a trillion, perhaps more, and were it not for their strict regulating of how many females are birthed from each egg cluster combined with their short lifespans, that number would be even higher. Now, take that basic principle and apply it to every other race, bar perhaps the quarians, drell, and to a lesser extent, the krogan. Understand what I'm trying to tell you?"
I did indeed, and the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. "So in other words: while human travelers are far from a majority, they are for some unknown reason easily the largest minority in spite of the fact that compared to the other race's, we-er, they haven't had anywhere near as much time for the population to expand. Huh. Suppose that makes sense…I think."
"Well that's the theory at least. Whether it's true or not, I couldn't tell you. As with everything else relating to how we got here, there's been plenty of speculation but no hard evidence to prove any of it." He yawned for a moment, showing how tired he was, before shaking his head in an obvious attempt to stay awake. "Anyway, that can be covered in your 'initiation' if you want further details. Speaking of which…."
We came up to a large doorway near the end of the hall, and inside it the only thing I could see was a sterile white room with what appeared to be medical terminals scattered around. "This is where we part ways for now. The doctors can handle it from here. I look forward to working with you in the future, Mikaius."
"You too, Sir." He looked at me curiously, so I explained. "My dad taught me to always call my superiors sir, and when combined with my stint in the Force, it became a force-of-habit; pardon the pun."
"I see. I was just surprised you were already calling me that is all. Anyway, I do need to get back to work, so once more, I'll leave you to the docs to get you settled in and in touch with your contact."
As he started to walk away I decided to tell him something I figured just might be what he needed to hear at the moment. "Just be sure to get some sleep when you can; I didn't think a batarian could look so positively drained before now."
"HA! With my job here, the only time I can properly sleep is when I force my work onto an assistant for a solid week! Still though, thanks for the consideration, but don't worry; I know when to call it a day, and you're about to meet the people who keep track of my health, so I'll be fine." he said as he went back down the hallway, disappearing into one of the many rooms along the way.
Seeing as I was now alone in the corridor, I turned back to the apparent medbay and went inside. Among all the glaring white paint and lights, the first thing I noticed was a patch of blue skin flash behind a rather large terminal; with a pair of voices discussing something I couldn't quite make out.
"Uhhh, hello? You one of the doctors here?"
The voices stopped immediately, and an asari head stuck out from around the corner of the large machinery. "May I help you, sir?" she asked in a strong French accent, and I had to do a double take due to it sounding extremely similar to my favorite companion from Fallout 4.
"Uhh, I was, uhh…" I cleared my throat to try and jumpstart my brain. "Obram told me to come here for a checkup."
"Ah yes, the C-Sec officer. It is your first day here, no?" The way her words came out made her sound even more similar to the character I had in mind, but I shoved the thought aside for the moment.
"Yeah, I've been here for all of maybe four hours now; not counting however long I must've been asleep before that. I take it then you're one of the docs in question?"
"Indeed I am, Monsieur Falinian. A pleasure to meet someone else from home that found themselves in this fascinating and wondrous new universe."
"You seem to have me at a bit of a disadvantage, Miss…?"
"Oh? Ah yes, I have yet to tell you my name. I am Curiela Nuranis, formerly a practicing doctor just outside of Paris. Now I am here, studying the advancements made to medicine over the years since our time, and occasionally handling the health issues of any field operatives on the Citadel. It can be truly exciting at times to experience the wonders offered by modern scientific and medical procedures!" Some may not have appreciated it as much as me, but that accent….call me weird, but I loved every second of it.
Wait, so she's French, a doctor, has a fascination with medical science, and her name is actually Curie?...It's official; whatever brought us all to this place is a gamer at heart.
"That of course brings us to the reason you are here. Oh, where are my manners! I forgot to introduce you to my fellow doctor!"
She went behind the terminal again and had a short discussion with whoever it was, and then came back out with a brown and gray skinned salarian in tow. "This is my lab partner. Go ahead, my friend."
"Hello, nicetomeetyou, mynameisJorbanYemorandI-" he was cut off by an elbow to what I assumed was his ribcage, and the woman I now labeled as Curie sighed heavily.
"Perhaps you should drink less coffee before speaking to recent arrivals in the future, oui?" the asari asked him in a way that even I could tell wasn't a question; a tired look on her face. The salarian blinked his large eyes, then chuckled nervously, followed by clearing his throat.
"Yes, my apologies, will attempt to limit myself next time. As I was saying before being interrupted by Doctor Nuranis, I am Doctor Jorban Yemor. Always a pleasure to meet a new face."
"Er, likewise. Pardon the question, Doctor Nuranis: but would you mind if I called you Curie instead?"
She gave me a confused look but I didn't miss the smirk from Jorbon. Looks like he knows what I'm talking about, even if she doesn't.
"I suppose it would be alright, but I find it strange you are not the only one to call me this among the Travelers here."
"You simply remind me of someone I knew back in the US; they were relatively famous, to tell you the truth." Which isn't exactly a lie, depending on what version of the US we're talking about and taking into account how popular the game was.
"Oh? Strange I never heard of them if they were as famous as you say." The salarian's smirk grew in size when she told me that, but he hid it from her by examining what looked to be graphs of some kind on his omni-tool. She eventually shrugged, moving on with the conversation. "No matter; are you ready for the procedures?"
"As I'll ever be I suppose. You're not going to do…a FULL checkup, right?"
"What do you mean by 'full', Monsieur?" she asked obliviously.
"Well….as in every," I paused to find the right word "part, of my body."
She looked even more confused at the way I termed it, but thankfully the other doctor present understood my meaning and spoke for her. "No, no, nothing like that; this procedure is to ensure you have no concerning health problems that may cause issue in the future." I breathed a sigh of relief while Curie looked at him questioningly, and he answered the silent question in turn. "He was afraid that we might probe him. Old pop-culture stereotype related to aliens and all that."
It took her a few seconds to register the meaning, and when she did, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed a deep shade of purple. All in all, I had to force down a chortle threatening to escape, and ignored most of the unnecessarily detailed description of the process Jorban was giving her in favor of admiring the spotless room I was in. If what little I knew of salarian expressions from the games were true, then he was enjoying every second of this; her expression morphing from embarrassed, to horrified, to downright disgusted as he went into the nitty-gritty. After a good minute of this, I took pity on her and interrupted his 'deeply important medical information'.
"I…I think that's more than enough information for the poor woman, Doctor Yemor." I told him, still trying to smother a chuckle.
"Hmm? Oh, very well; it seems not everyone can handle discussing such a thing. Wouldn't you agree, Doctor Nuranis?" he asked her dryly, which came off as surprisingly natural from a salarian.
Curie, meanwhile, was busy trying to hold in the contents of her stomach if the way she leaned on a table and the unnatural green on her face was any indicator. She didn't respond to him at first, merely sending a weak glare his direction, before managing a verbal answer a few moments later. "I don't know what I would do without you, Jorban. In fact, in recognition of your immeasurable help with my research, I believe an appropriate reward would be for me to talk to Obram about cutting the monthly supply of caffeinated drinks sent here in half."
He waved her off, ignoring the threat entirely, and started pulling out numerous odd devices from a nearby cabinet of some sort. "Yes, yes, we'll see how long you are able to last. Benefit of being salarian means that I can run off of one hour of sleep every day, so really, the only reason I drink coffee is because it sharpens my mind even further; whereas you require it for basic personal energy needs." he told her smugly, and she finally stood back up to her full height, albeit shakily, with a frown on her face.
"Now then," he continued while holding one of said devices in front of my own face, "to use the old adage: say 'ah'."
And so I did, patiently going through the examination and getting a clean bill of health. It took them an hour or so, and when they finished, Curie gave me a fresh omni-tool and a crash course in how to use it. Jorban – proving that while he lacked the sheer charm and bedside manner of his female compatriot, he made up for it in helpfulness and ability to read a situation – then proceeded to give me the future equivalent of a tech manual/tutorial for the device in the form of an app I could access at any time. It proved to be actually useful when compared to the ones I was used to for stuff back on Earth, and I thanked them both for their trouble before getting sent to the final part of my 'initiation'.
I followed the instructions given to me, going through the winding hallways of the apartment-turned-office building, and within a minute arrived at a doorway with a hanar standing, or floating, or whatever it is they do, outside of it. "Greetings fellow Traveler! This one's face name is Zyrin. You are the disoriented one that just arrived in this formerly fictional universe, correct?"
I blinked at the oddly formal tone, but figured that being a hanar when he was...sent? I don't know the right word for it; but anyway, I figured he must've picked up their speech patterns in the process. "That's me. I hear you're going to be my contact in this 'GST' for the foreseeable future?"
"Indeed. This one is only mildly pleased to be introduced to a new lesser underling beneath it. It looks forward to a dubious relationship between the two of us, that will doubtfully result in the occasional piece of partially useful information." he said politely, or so I thought at first.
"Well I'm happy to be…here…." Wait a second, just what exactly are the words he's been using again? 'Disoriented', 'only mildly pleased', 'lesser underling', 'dubious relationship'…what the hell! I thought hanar were supposed to be nice!
My frown combined with my fairly obvious glaring most likely tipped the jellyfish off, as he glowed a sort of yellow that I could only describe as amused. "Ah, so this one's lesser underling has caught onto its preferred method of communication! This one begrudgingly congratulates you on noticing it so soon."
"I take it there's a reason for mixing in barbs like that when talking to a person you just met?" I asked with narrowed eyes and a slight subharmonic growl to my voice, the second part unintentional.
"This one apologizes insincerely if it has offended the would-be C-Sec officer. This one suggests an effective method of calming down would be for it's lesser underling to engage in the act of self-fornication."
It took a moment for me to register what he meant by it. Self-fornication? Wait…did he just tell me to go…oh that son of a….
Before I could vent my rapidly growing frustrations out on the damn jelly, he continued as if there was nothing unusual about what he just said; now glowing a sort of weird pulsating blue. "As an answer for the reason behind this one's perceived attitude, it is due to its previous life as a human. You see, lesser underling, this one suffered from a severe accident at the age of 9 that crippled its legs for life, and spent the next 15 years dealing with the insults exchanged behind its back. Then the game of Mass Effect came out, and this one discovered an interest in Joker, as it believed his attitude to be one that would be inspiring for those with untreatable physical ailments such as itself. Hence, this one decided from then on that rather than waiting for the inevitable jabs and harsh jokes at its expense, it will be the one to make them instead."
I was taken aback a little at his explanation, and rather than comment on it, Zyrin just floated there and watched for what I assumed was a reaction. Not wanting to disappoint the guy for sharing a brief summary of his life story with me, I decided not to disappoint. "Well then…I'm sorry for coming off as too harsh. Being crippled for most of your life sounds like it would be miserable, especially if you have years of experience where you could walk like anyone else. Guess that even though you were given a hanar body, you probably didn't complain much when you took that first step in over a decade-and-a-half."
The blue inside him died down and he just stared – at least it felt like a stare; hard to tell without any visible eyes – at me for several seconds. He eventually broke the silence, a rainbow of colors flashing from him. "This one appreciates the understanding provided by its lesser underling. This one will ensure it gives the would-be officer slightly less troublesome conversation in the future."
Somehow, I all of a sudden didn't take as much offence at the little remarks he threw in, and responded in a more friendly fashion than I had at first. "And I'll do my best to ignore your…unique way of talking to people."
"This one is somewhat glad we could arrive at a mostly mutual agreement. Now, this one has been ordained to lead the floundering Traveler in your attempt to adjust to changes in lifestyle, and magnanimously aid you in social advice regarding what is expected from a member of your new race. If the would-be officer could please follow this one so it can lead you to the specialized room set up for a new Traveler's education, it would be somewhat satisfied."
Not wanting to delay any longer, I did just that; at least a little glad that I'd avoided what could've been a serious misunderstanding with the person I'd have to deal with for who knows how long. Of course…it didn't exactly help that he continued to 'inject personality' into his 'comments' as the impromptu class went on; and by the end of it, I found that even with the promise of 'less troublesome conversation' from him, I was going to have to get used to the hanar not changing all that much anytime soon.
Surprisingly, it was rather easy to adjust to life as both a C-Sec officer and a Turian.
Turians as a whole were, aside from the military being the foundation of their entire society, incredibly diverse. They had hundreds of different cultures, each one vastly different in comparison to the last, and the reason for this was due to the surprising amount of personal freedom offered by the Hierarchy alongside the dozens of colony worlds they held; many of them with their own set of sub-cultures to add to the mix thanks to being well over a thousand years old or more. Nearly every drug imaginable was allowed as long as it didn't adversely affect your health to a serious extent, you were considered an adult when you graduated basic training at or around age 15 (which was another thing every turian went through) and could legally engage in all the activities that having such a label granted you, were allowed total religious freedom, and, while it wasn't a law in and of itself, every turian was expected to own at least a single firearm, and if possible, have it on them at all times. In short: aside from the authoritarian military government, it was a libertarian's wet dream. As such, I had no real issue adjusting to my 'new society' thanks to the near total freedom – as long as I didn't break any fundamental laws like murder, theft, etc. of course – said society provided.
As for the officer part, it was similar to when I had to act as an MP, military policemen for those that don't know, in the Air Force a couple times; at least at a basic level that is. The whole 'you are surrounded by video game aliens and are one yourself' thing still took me for a trip every now and then, but thankfully, I adjusted quickly enough.
Turns out that when both your life and sanity depend on being adaptable to a massively changed situation, you become pretty freaking adaptable whether you want to be or not; although that might've been because I had to live in four different homes and an apartment while growing up due to my dad changing jobs a lot. 'Home is where the heart is' was a saying I wound up taking to, er, well, heart, because of not living anywhere for longer than four years straight.
Today, however, was to be different from my usual routine: I was pegged by Bailey to get a new partner when I first started working at the Zakera Precinct, and he apparently found one for me not even a week later.
I…will admit to being a tad star-struck when I first met him in person.
Even if he was only a relatively minor character in the grand scheme of things back when this was all just a sci-fi third-person-shooter RPG, I always liked his mix of dry humor and gruff seriousness; a strange combination to be sure, but one I nonetheless appreciated among the countless 'unique' personalities from the games that I could've met for my first real 'Mass Effect experience' instead of him.
Looking at you, Aria, Jack, and Khalisa bint Sinan al-Jilani. *sigh* That I've apparently had her name permanently etched into my psyche annoys me even more. I can't remember the names of people I've known for years simply because I haven't seen them in a couple months, but I can go half a decade and still perfectly recall the name of an NPC ranked number three on my 'list of game characters I wish I could strangle'. Say, that's a tempting thought now that it's all real. Just a minute alone, no cameras, a nice and quiet back-alley behind some shifty business so there aren't too many questions, and I can release some pent-up rage while removing a headache for every person she meets in the future….aaahhh well, it was a nice fantasy while it lasted.
Thoughts of murder and/or senseless violence aside, I was more than glad to be in the situation I was when compared to some of the horror stories I'd heard regarding a few of the other Traveler's first couple days here; waking up in the middle of a slave raid, wrongful imprisonment on Ilium by their secret police, getting caught on a battlefield, simply BEING on Omega, just to name a few; and to know someone that plays, or at least, played, a role in things to come. Of course the fact I had yet to meet anyone else from the 'cast' was most likely a factor as well, but I wasn't complaining at this point. 'Lieutenant' Bailey proved to be a capable officer, if a little lax when it came to following the rulebook to the letter; yet it seemed to result in those working under him, otherwise known as me, to respect him all the more for it.
I walked into the building wherein I now worked; which, unlike in the game, was a fairly large structure that was multiple stories tall and occupied close to half a block in both length and width. You know, like an actual police precinct meant to handle millions of people? It never ceases to amaze me how different the real version of this universe, for lack of a better term, could be at times when compared to its fictional counterpart. Case in point: as I went into the locker room to get into my uniform, I took off the thick raincoat I was wearing and reveled in the warm air. I don't care if it was because of my new biology or not at this point; the temperatures 'outside' were still absolutely frigid even if 'winter' had ended long before I arrived here.
While I was smiling to myself due to the wonders of indoor heating, a small sigh of pleasure being let out involuntarily, I didn't notice the person that came up to my left until they spoke.
"Oh come on Mikai-san; it's not that cold out there, you big baby!" she said with an accent similar to a certain thief's. The shortening of my name I outright ignored, as I did every time she used it; and I likewise ignored the latter part of her sentence as well.
Instead of being startled (like the first couple times she did something like this), I snapped my head to the owner of the voice and glared, albeit playfully. "Oh really? Well pardon me for not being raised up in the frozen north like soooome people. I still don't understand how you can tolerate weather like this. Tell me: were your ancestors lunatics for actually wanting to live in an area where below freezing temperatures are a near nightly occurrence, or was there simply no other land available?" I said with a bit of sarcasm. Just a bit, mind you.
My fellow officer snorted and rolled her eyes, opening her own locker opposite of mine to put a few things inside. Sergeant Atanri Minzaka was the first and so far only friend on the force that I've made up to now. She was raised on one of the northern islands of Japan, I never bothered to ask which one, and liked to brag about how 'mild' the on-station weather was in comparison to her homeland.
I don't even really know how we became such fast friends, if I'm being honest. One day I was just out on patrol, as being part of the Enforcement Division of C-Sec meant this was half my job, and I happened to run into a salarian pickpocket. Naturally, I called it in, and was told to expect backup soon enough. After doing that, seeing as this was exactly the type of thing I was keeping an eye out for, I ran after him; and let me tell you, while it was never really shown in-game, a salarian can RUN! Fortunately, as I'm a turian myself now, and we're no slouches in the speed department either (something to do with evolving as a chasing and ambush predator; I haven't really put much effort into reading up on it), I was slowly gaining ground on the agile alien.
Unfortunately, he managed to shove a bystander into me during the chase and I stumbled; almost tripping over them. Just when the frog (racial slurs for the win!) was about to get away by turning down a heavily crowded street corner, no doubt to blend in with everyone else, a small woman tackled him from around the other side of it.
The funny thing about salarians is that while they're perfectly built, biologically that is, for speed both mental and physical, they tended to lack something (not counting their short lifespans) in exchange for it: muscle mass. In other words: even though the one that tackled him was more than a head shorter than he was, he was still being easily held down by the woman.
When I caught up to the pair a few seconds later I noticed the distinct black and blue C-Sec uniform. After a brief exchange of names and ranks, we struck up a conversation while walking to her aircar (as the chase meant my own was quite a distance away) where her asari partner – an older maiden in her late 200's by name of Raora Vonese - was waiting; all the while dragging the grumbling amphibian with a brand-new pair of omni-cuff bracelets between us. After that, as the old, although by this point in time I suppose it's more ancient than old, saying goes: the rest is history.
"So, heard Bailey-sama is giving you a new partner today. Know what they're gonna be like?" she asked good-naturedly.
"Not a clue; have yet to even be told their race. For all I know, I might be getting a volus, an elcor, or maybe even, Spirits forbid, a hanar."
A slight headache formed at the last possibility, and I had to resist rubbing my plated forehead in a soothing manner. Atanri must've picked up on my agitation, as she tilted her head in curiosity. "What's so bad about a hanar? I don't have any problems with them; they seem nice and polite most of the time."
I gave her a tired stare and eventually sighed, long and loud, deciding to elaborate. "The first one I ever had an actual conversation with was basically the opposite of the stereotype regarding their so-called 'politeness'," she snickered at my air-quotes; probably due to it coming from three-fingered hands, "and tended to find ways of insulting me without making it seem like it actually was at first glance; while the second one was preaching during one of my patrols through the Presidium sector our precinct was assigned after the EA attack. It wasn't that bad at first, I mean he was nice and polite just like you said, but the second I brought up him needing a permit for any public sermons, he went on and on about 'Needing to spread word of the Enkindlers to counter the hateful doctrine of the horrid human religion responsible for such violence'. After an hour of explaining the situation to him, and him still not accepting it, I came rather close to just slapping some cuffs on him and dragging the jelly off. Fortunately, one of the Consort's apprentices nearby came and helped me out, and we managed to convince the hanar to go and purchase a permit if he wanted to preach further." I finished with an angry huff, and she looked like she honestly pitied me at that point.
Whoever designed that side quest, all I want is five minutes alone with them to explain some things regarding how maddening it really is dealing with people like that! How come Shepard didn't deal with it before she left?! Wait…don't tell me there are other quests she didn't do on the Citadel! Oh Spirits….
To hide my sudden panic at possibly being forced into handling another one of those 'quests' – the word alone was synonymous with soul crushing pain thanks to my recent real-life experience with one – I turned back to my locker and grabbed the now familiar set of clothes inside, along with the standard set of gear including a pistol, basic first aid supplies (read: three applications of medi-gel and a roll of bandages), two pairs of prefabricated omni-cuffs in case I didn't have the time or opportunity to make them on the job, and a stun baton meant to subdue a suspect non-lethally. At first, it surprised me how similar it was to a normal police officer's equipment back on Earth, but I came to accept that some basic principles such as this tended to be true no matter the species.
Atanri patted me on the back reassuringly, and I took a deep breath to calm down before turning back around to send her an appreciative smile. Well, I'm fairly certain that's what it was. I tried smiling in front of the bathroom mirror in my apartment once, and to tell you the truth, I still don't know how anyone that's not a turian can figure out what it is. Somehow though, she understood, and smiled back at me…just in time for her partner to walk in.
"Hey Atanri, you ready…yet…." The maiden looked back-and-forth between us while blinking, and slowly, her lips curled into a devious and knowing smirk. "Well, well, you certainly work fast. So that's why you were asking me about turian facial expressions yesterday. Hey, I don't judge; I'm an asari after all. Had a turian boyfriend myself a decade or two back, and at least this one's considered a looker by his kind's standards, so don't let me interrupt a tender moment between such a lovely couple."
It took just over a second for both of us to register her words, during which Vonose's smirk turned into a full-blown grin, and our reactions were practically simultaneous even if they were vastly different: my mandibles dropped, leaving my mouth wide-open, and the Japanese woman blushed furiously with her eyes nearing the size of saucers, immediately followed by her chasing the now cackling asari out of the locker room with a furious "RAORRAAAA!"
When the door hissed shut I continued to gawk for a few seconds before finally closing my mouth to avoid looking like an idiot in case anyone else decided to come in. "What just happened?" I muttered under my breath.
"Women, that's what. Heh. Didn't know Officer Minzaka was interested in turians." a gruff, Canadian, and oh-so-familiar voice said behind me, causing me to spin around and salute on instinct due to my time in the Air Force.
"CAPTAIN BAILEY, SIR! I DIDN'T NOTICE YOU THERE, SIR!" I blurted out without really thinking, prompting a raised eyebrow from the man.
"You feeling alright there, son? Last I checked, I'm wearing lieutenant's stripes. Not that I don't appreciate it or anything, but unless you know something I don't, there's yet to be a human captain in C-Sec."
Oh for the love of...me and my big mouth! Welp, better think fast.
Deciding on the most believable – and closest to the truth without actually being it – thing I could come up with at the moment, I chuckled nervously; the echoing subharmonics still sounding foreign to my ears in spite of the several days I'd had to get used to them. "Sorry, Sir, I wasn't thinking straight. Spent too much time playing a game last night that had a human with your name in it and didn't get enough sleep as a result. It won't happen again, Sir!"
This resulted in another raised eyebrow; but thankfully, he shrugged, accepting it. "It's alright. Wouldn't mind being a captain to tell you the truth, but that's probably never going to happen in my lifetime with politics the way they are right now." he said bitterly, and I held back a kneejerk response.
Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the rank soon enough. I just hope it's because of your own ability rather than THAT happening…
Oblivious to my thoughts, the lieutenant continued. "And enough with the 'sir this' and 'sir that' crap! I know you turians are born and raised military, but I've been a cop most of my life, so a simple 'Lieutenant Bailey' will do."
"Right, sure thing Si-" he squinted ever-so-slightly and I corrected myself "Lieutenant."
"Better. Now then, I came to tell you your new partner is currently waiting in my office, so once you're in uniform, I'll introduce the two of you."
He turned around to leave, no doubt to let me get 'suited up', and I only just barely remembered what I wanted to ask him about earlier. "Lieutenant!" He paused his walking and looked back at me, gesturing for me to continue. "Who's my partner going to be? And for that matter: WHAT are they going to be? I still haven't been told."
He looked confused, and when he spoke, sounded like it too. "Didn't I tell you in the email?" I shook my head in what was apparently the universal gesture meaning no. "Huh, could've sworn…oh well, guess that sort of thing can happen sometimes. She's an asari maiden of 98 years, fresh out of the academy; name's Ialliis Vibirian. She got high marks in every training course and was in the top ten when it came to dealing with everyday citizens going about their lives. I seem to recall you had issues with that aspect of your new post, is that correct?"
I winced, knowing the 'issue' he had in mind, but nodded in the affirmative. "The hanar was…rather vocal, I'll admit. It would be nice having someone more suited to communication to deal with that aspect of the job."
"Which is exactly why she's going to you instead of one of the other officers that've been on Zakera for years. It'll allow both of you to get used to the new position, or in her case, the job itself. Just make sure to stick to your patrol routes and run her through the basics; alright?"
"Will do, Lieutenant."
"Good. You can go back to getting dressed, Falinian; I won't hold you up any longer." he said with some amusement, and I only realized why when I noticed my left hand was still holding my uniform and gear.
"Ah, er, um, right, that." I stammered out, making him chuckle before he left the room; leaving me alone once more. "Should probably get this on then; don't want to make a bad first impression because I made her wait. *sigh* Just another day in the now crazy life of me, Mikaius Falinian: Space Cop!" I finished with a ridiculous pose.
As no one was there to hear or see it, much to my silent relief, I got in uniform and went over to his office; an actual office rather than the tiny desk given to him in-game. Upon the door sliding open, I saw a young looking asari sitting in a chair in front of Bailey's ACTUAL desk, the man himself sitting behind it with a neutral look on his face; and when she noticed my arrival she shot up and gave me a parade ground salute. "Patrolman Ialliis Vibirian! It's an honor to meet you, Sergeant Falinian; I've heard a lot about you in the Academy! I look forward to serving with someone that has your record!"
I was stunned by her…eager introduction at first, but brushed it off as it being quite literally her first day on the job. I also made a mental note to dig up some more information on exactly what 'my' past was for the six years that I've apparently been working in C-Sec. "Please, I'm not that special really. So, do you prefer Ialliis or Vibirian?"
"I, uh, um," she seemed rather shocked by my casual attitude, although Bailey appeared to notice how I was taking a page from his book and nodded approvingly, "Ialliis, Sir."
"Relax, we're going to have plenty of time for proper introductions on the job; I've arrived at the conclusion that Zakera is a mostly quiet posting, aside from the occasional mugging or traffic accident. Anyway, I should probably clarify: while we're on patrol, I am either Officer or Sergeant Falinian, and you are either Officer or Patrolman Vibirian; but when we're off-duty, it's just Mikaius and Ialliis, alright?" she nodded in the affirmative.
"Wait a second, Vibirian…" I took a moment to think about her name. "Your father wouldn't happen to be a turian, would he?"
She brightened up and smiled fondly, her stiff posture relaxing for a moment. "Indeed he was, Sir! Best dad a girl could ever ask for!" I gave her a look, and she blinked repeatedly, before an embarrassed blush made itself known. "I mean: indeed he was, Sergeant."
A nod was my first response, but I tilted my head when I noticed her wording. "Wait: 'was'?"
"He died of natural causes just under a decade ago." She answered with a now melancholic smile, and I understood what she meant by 'natural causes' immediately. Old age: that which comes to claim the lives of all, no matter the race. Still, if she's 98 now, that means he was around for a good chunk of her life. Guess that's one of the downsides of living a full millennia though: you watch those around you wither and die more often than not. Rather sad, actually.
Invasive and unimportant thoughts aside, I tried finding something to say; only for the third person in the room to use this as his chance to speak. "Sorry to interrupt, but like you said, Falinian: you two can always pick this conversation up later. I had this big speech planned out before leaving her in your care, but it looks like it'd be a little pointless now." He said deadpan, and being used to it by now, I smirked a little; all the while Ialliis looked horrified at possibly ruining something her new boss intended to do. Bailey, proving he hadn't reached his rank for nothing, happened to pick up on this. "Calm down kid, it wasn't that big a deal. Tell you the truth, half of it would've been the standard bullshit: 'Welcome to C-Sec', 'We are responsible for protecting the most important people in the galaxy', 'recruitment line about being the finest law enforcement agency in existence', you get the picture."
I did, but Ialliis was apparently lost amidst all the 'alien' analogies. "Um, Lieutenant, Sir, what does bovine feces and being given a physical image have to do with this?" Bovine feces and physical image? Guess her translator had a hiccup when trying to put them into context.
Figuring I may as well explain for him, I answered her. "They're both human sayings; I'll explain them later. I suggest you read up on various sayings like that in your spare time, for humans especially as they have… well, let's just say you could dedicate a series of books cataloguing them all. Nevertheless, they aren't the only ones; krogan and batarians have dozens of untranslatable phrases that can mean anything from 'simpering coward' to 'the food is good, but not excellent', and don't even get me started on how many the quarians have. All that said, the Citadel is the galactic melting pot, so I suggest learning as many as possible to ensure you don't get confused when the translator is giving you problems."
Funnily enough, aside from the info I'd found by skimming the extranet, this was actually a practice I picked up in my old life due to constantly flying to and from different parts of the world; and it still held true here where there were thousands of different languages from close to a dozen different species to work with. Try as they might, they all still had numerous outlying members that refused to conform to the official language of their race, which is why the universal translation built into every omni-tool was updated practically every day to account for any new, and occasionally, the slang version of, words.
"I will…be sure to do that, Si-I mean, Sergeant."
Taking that as his chance to skip the 'drawn-out bureaucratic crap' (his words, not mine) that would normally clog up the acceptance of a new officer to the force, Bailey waved in the direction of his door. "Well, what are you waiting for? The Citadel won't patrol itself. I expect to hear nothing but good news regarding how your first day as partners goes, so go on." Ialliis looked like she was about to speak up, but he cut her off. "No. Really. Leave. I have work to do myself, and the sooner you go, the sooner I can start on it; so get out of here."
Used to his gruff mannerisms; when he wants to be gruff, that is; I gave him a salute and left; only to turn around when I noticed she wasn't following me. Tapping on the asari's shoulder after seeing she was still frozen in place, undoubtedly stunned at the way Bailey had dismissed us, she jumped in surprise. "Hey, you don't want to be late starting work on your first day, do you?" I half whispered.
"What? I…well, no, of course not!" she replied, a little flustered.
"Then come on!" I gestured to the door myself, and this time I waited for her to leave before I did.
Once we left his office behind, it took her around 30 seconds to work up the courage to ask me what I could clearly see was on her mind. "Is he always like that?"
"You mean the Lieutenant?" She nodded in the affirmative. "Yeah, pretty much." An aghast look told me what she thought of that.
"I mean they told us in training that humans held personalities that ranged everywhere from a skittish salarian to a bloodthirsty krogan, but I never imagined!"
Feeling slight irritation at the potential insult to both my mother race and current boss – who I happened to like, by the way – I bristled a little; though tried not to show it in my voice. "What do you mean by that?"
I apparently didn't do a good enough job, as she flinched at my words. "Well, he's just different from what I expected, is all. Back home, it was always expected for any superior to act stern and disciplined. 'A good ship needs a hard captain!' my dad used to tell me. Lieutenant Bailey just seems…" she trailed off.
"More relaxed? Less strict?" I offered.
"Yes, that! Well, at least that's my first impression of him anyway." she finished lamely.
I hummed for a couple seconds, the sound more akin to a loud vibration than actual humming, contemplating her words. "Well, you're not wrong, at least compared to most of the higher-ups I've met in C-Sec. Still, he can be tough when he wants to be; he just doesn't see the point in acting uptight all the time."
"Oh, ok then." was her simple response, causing me to chuckle.
We passed the next several minutes in friendly conversation, which mostly just consisted of her asking me questions and me answering them as best I could, if I could; and we kept at it until we arrived at the garage where the patrol cars were parked, having gone through a thankfully fast elevator (by this universes' standards anyway; still took far longer than I'd have liked) to get there.
As we walked up to the same car I'd been using for the past week, I realized a rather glaring issue I'd been having in relation to driving.
Put me in a regular car and I'm perfectly fine, tell me to perform advanced maneuvers in an F-15 or F-35 and I can do it in my sleep, but driving an aircar? I'm still learning how to do that. I mean it's like a weird cross between a plane and a car, except I can also go in reverse while in the air. If not for the autopilot, I don't doubt I'd have crashed it more than once by now. Maybe if I had experience with a helicopter this would be easier?
Mentally shrugging, I looked up just in time to notice Ialliis going for the passenger side, and spoke up before she could open the door. "I think it'd be best if you were the driver for today."
She looked at me curiously, tilting her head in a gesture I subconsciously recognized as being a turian expression of confusion. "Sergeant?"
"I'm… not the best driver, as it stands. Most of the time I just let the autopilot do the work for me." I told her, feeling a bit of blue form around my plated cheeks. Yes, around: turian biology is weird like that, and metal plates can't exactly change color like skin, or in this case, scales can, whether they're attached to my body or not.
She blinked incredulously before a slight 'cheep' for lack of a better word made its way out of her, and she slapped a hand over her mouth as her chest shook in held-in laughter.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up; 'the big, strong, turian C-Sec officer doesn't know how to do something a salarian toddler can figure out'." I grumbled indignantly, and she had the good grace to take a breath to calm herself.
"Sorry, Officer Falinian. I'm just surprised to learn that the man who took down an infamous salarian smuggling ring doesn't know how to drive." She let out another brief 'cheep' followed by chest shaking, and I raised a brow-plate at that piece of information, only to frown when I realized she might ask me about it later.
Guess I'll have to master the art of being a professional bullshitter; either that, or do my best to dodge the subject. Wish she would hold it in though; I mean I'm right here!
Deciding to show my agitation, I narrowed my eyes and cleared my throat; letting my now exaggerated subharmonics do most of the work of sounding intimidating for me. "Just get in the damn car, Patrolman!" I told her irritably, causing her to choke on her own supply of oxygen; and I then found myself struggling to keep a straight face rather than her.
When she finally managed to recover, she gave me a quiet "yessir" in lieu of an actual response and got in on the driver's side soon after. As such, I got in on the passenger's side and gestured for her to pull out. She did so without a word, the obvious nervousness shown on her face making her look like a kid afraid of getting rejected for their dream job; and considering I now had the email containing her resume thanks to Bailey re-sending the message, I understood that that was quite possibly the truth.
Huh; her old man was in C-Sec for over 40 years. Made captain before retiring back in the early 2150's, so just before the First Contact War. She probably grew up listening to stories of how he busted criminal gangs, was close friends with Councilors and Ambassadors, and who knows what else. Doesn't say much about her mother though. Suppose I can always ask her about her parents later to get a better idea of who I'm working with.
My brief reading session done with, I turned off my omni-tool and decided to just keep watch for any problems that might crop up; making sure to keep an eye on the fresh from the academy patrolman next to me to see how she was doing. Not that I was really someone that could judge her personal ability considering my own lack of experience at the job, but I didn't have much else to do at the moment and needed to keep up appearances as the scrutinizing senior coworker watching to see if she made any mistakes.
We kept going on my – or our now, I suppose – patrol route, with nothing happening for a solid hour aside from us engaging in off-and-on conversation to pass the time. I was about to tell her to head for a nearby fast-food restaurant that served both levo and dextro food – having found it on my second day here – as it was nearing lunch hour by local standards, when my 'tool lit up with a message alert.
Opening the device, I had to force myself not to frown at the heading for the message. Anyone that saw it would probably think it to be a scam, and for good reason; but I had the debatable advantage of knowing it wasn't. 'Mikaius, your Travelers vacation package is waiting to be claimed for a limited time only! Open for offer details.'
That's the code phrase Zyrin gave me for an emergency op with a limited time window. What would the GST need me for so soon? Hmm, as if today wasn't busy enough with Ialliis, now I have my… 'unofficial benefactor' giving me my first mission from the agency. Should probably open this up while we're having lunch; I just hope it isn't anything too complicated or troublesome to deal with.