Jane was elbow deep in a glob of dough. Pressing her palm in the center, forcing the pulpy mass into the flour-coated countertop until it was flat. Fold. Repeat. Knead. It was soothing. The base was relatively empty, as the guys were currently raining down hell on The Blood Pack. Garrus had acquired some information on weapons shipments being funneled through the Kenzo District. And of course, he refused to bring her, stating that she was freshly post-op and needed to recover. Little did he know that danger wasn't always something that could be seen or heard. Sometimes it prowled in the recesses of your mind, waiting to pounce at the worst possible moment.

Even her new violin, gifted to her by Garrus one morning as he shifted nervously from foot to foot apologizing again for his lack of vigilance, was sitting in the corner. After a three-hour practice session failed to distract more than momentarily, she belted out a few angry, fast-paced tunes and had simply given up on finding peace that night. She had to hand it to him, the man must've researched, viole da braccio – the origins of her favorite instrument, before selecting one that would suit her needs. The wood thickness and curved formation were in perfect alignment with her style. Honestly, when he informed her that he'd be replacing the one that was destroyed in the attack, she half expected him to purchase a viola or cello without noticing the difference.

At the very least, the base had become significantly more interesting. One couldn't throw a dead cat without tripping over odd, technological thingamajigs. After the attack, Garrus installed various upgrades including a cannon for the sniper's perch, electronic security monitors, and several other additions whose functions she had yet to discover. The guys could frequently be heard excitedly blasting apart any object they deemed 'trash' with their new howitzer. Cheering and bellowing as they turned various crap into confetti.

One of the new tech-toys was blaring on the coffee table. Jane paused, unsure how to react. Krul was the only other person around and he was asleep upstairs. The man had retired after he and Garrus spent days, locked in seclusion, combing over a plethora of 'risky data.' Whatever that meant. He was still recovering and the batarian looked beyond exhausted when she saw him last. She really didn't want to wake him for a glorified alarm clock.

"Huh." She nudged the circular device with her toe. Maybe the guys set it and forgot to..to.. Suddenly, blue pixels burst forth and a curvy woman in eclectic armor materialized. A purple scarf was loosely wrapped around her featureless helmet, with two brilliant moons piercing through the dense mask. At first she thought the woman was human until she spotted a three-fingered hand. With all the genetic mods on the black market, glowing eyes weren't necessarily an alien attribute - at least not on Omega.

"Garrus? Oh! Hello. Who am I speaking with?"

"Hi? I uh… didn't realize this was a com..."

"Actually, it's a FTL data drone that transmits encrypted… wait… You must be the squad member who was injured. He mentioned it, between the ranting…. And promised to give me some juicy details once he had this secure connection setup. Figures he'd forget. The bosh'tet."

Jane, suddenly aware of the bandage peeking out of her stocking cap, pulled it flush against her skull, leaving a powdery, white imprint behind. "Yeah.. I guess."

"I didn't wake you did I? I forgot to check the time-translation beforehand."

"No… I was up."

The pair stared at one another in awkward silence for a few seconds before her mouth ran away form her. "Are you a quarian?"

Stiffening slightly, the woman answered, somewhat guarded. "I suppose we're not that common a sight. But yes."

"Are all quarians geniuses? Because, seriously, I tried looking at some of that geth-programming crap and it was utter nonsense."

Evidently, the question eased whatever tension had built between them. The woman chuckled warmly, hand on a cocked hip. "We have a higher aptitude for math, science, and engineering. But I don't know if I'd call us geniuses. My name's Tali. Tali'Zorah Vas Neema."

"Wait." Her voice pitched. "The Tali? Who helped take down Saren and his robot army!?"

"I see Garrus has been telling stories."

"Holy crap."

"You still haven't told me your name."

Jane hesitated. Garrus had filled her in on the Rotund raid and Tali's role in it. But without confirmation… "Jane Doe. I'm the… resident biotic." She levitated a soda from the kitchen to her position in the living room as demonstration. "Gotta discharge that static buildup somehow."

Tali laughed at the display. Her voice was an odd sound through the helmet. Filtered. Almost mechanical. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be a Galaxy of Fantasy player would you? I've got some downtime and need to invade Greymore Tower for epics and pugging it has been a nightmare. The last time I tried resulted in losing all my XP and weapons. Ugh. Actually, I'll probably be a terrible team player right now but I don't know what else to do! Stupid useless bosh'tets disbanded while my corpse was still inside!" The quarian's arms flew in various, animated directions as if to demonstrate what she felt like inflicting on her incompetent group.

"I have a level 65 psionicist. Will that do? I'm bored out of my mind and could use a distraction. If it hasn't been 48 hours we could probably get your tomb back. Us psionicists have many tricks." She flicked her fingers in front of her, detailing the mind-ravaging spells she was capable of – before remembering that her hands were still coated in goo. Bits of white flecked the newly-minted device. "Ah crap. Well, let me get cleaned up first."

"What are you covered in?"

"Dough. I'm making Khubz."

"At this hour?"

"Couldn't sleep. It's too quiet here. I'm still not used to it."

"Spent a lot of time on ships I take it?"

Jane froze. "How..."

"I'm a quarian remember? We live on ships. The only time it's quiet is when something terrible is happening like the engine or life support died. Although, sometimes I miss it now…."

"The quiet? I thought you lived on ships where it's constantly noisy."

"There are… some advanced models that aren't so loud." Tali tilted a hip and hastily waved her hand. "Doesn't matter now. Anyhow, my username is PlantKiller99. Hit me up when you're on."

After hanging up, Jane practically dove towards the kitchen, scrubbing her hands clean. She quickly wiped up any renegade dough bits on the com-thingy and logged on.

Jane-Doe00: Hey character wave animation

PlantKiller99: You use your real name? My dad always told me not to.

JD00: Meh. I laugh in the face of danger.

PK99: I set up gameZpeak. Have a head set?

"Are you nuts?! This is a five man dungeon." Tali balked at her bold, possibly insane proposal.

"We only have ten more minutes to get your tomb back. No time to wait around for hopelessly lost, stupid pugs."

"It doesn't really matter to me – I have nothing left to lose. But you might as well kiss your weapons and XP goodbye."

"Meh. It'll give me something to do if so. Alright, I'm gonna cast simulacrum on the big guy. That should keep him occupied. Then I'll charm one of his minions to help confuse him further."

"If this works, I'll buy you a new tome on the auction khent'meky."

"Yeah that didn't translate."

"It basically means you're crazy."

Jane engaged the high priest, casting her nefarious spell, laughing as he uselessly fought his own projection. Once she had his flunky under control, Tali charged with her dread knight. The orc spun ferociously, slicing apart goblins and turning them into pixelated meat.

"Get in there fast! I can't keep him occupied forever!"

Three minutes later, the orc emerged dragging a marbled obelisk behind her. "I've got it! I've got it!"

"Good. He's about to break… Gods be damned."

Zudir Yaanu crashed through the projection and swiftly lopped off her toon's head clean off its shoulders. "Well I just bit the dust. Still alive?"

Half a second later, a ghost orc appeared next to her in the graveyard.

"I'll take that as a 'no.'"

"Doesn't really matter." Tali burst out excitedly. "I just absorbed my tomb so we have time to reclaim both of ours. That was… a lot of fun."

"Way better to low ball shit than rely on pugs. Ripper taught me that. We two manned Raf'Zemin last month."

"No way! Did you know that the designer for that fight is quarian? I heard he put in some crazy mechanics."

"Yeah… well we died more times than I could count. And it took all freaking night, but we managed. Alright? Ready to try again?"

"You don't have to ask me twice!"

Jane nodded off on the couch a few hours later, only to awaken to an eerily empty base. Impatience finally won out. She threw off the covers, marched into the barracks, and poked Krul in the shoulder.

"Sorry to wake you but it's almost evening."

"Your… point?!" Krul moaned into his pillow, creative curses muffled by the thick fabric.

"The guys aren't back. They've never been gone this long."

"Try their damn coms?"

"Of course!" She blurted, slightly indignant. "Look, maybe it's nothing but I'd like to check it out… sooo… Do you know where they were headed?"

"I let you run off half-cocked, Garrus'll have my head. Besides, they were on a stakeout. Those things take time."

"Well, he'd have to let me join before he can start telling me what I can and can't do. Gonna tell me where they went or do I have to go exploring?"

"You were nicer before they removed that inhibitor, maybe that surgery melted your brain."

"Whatever old man."

Jane turned to walk out the door only to be stopped by the batarian struggling out of bed.

"If we're gods-be-damned doing this, let's be quick. I'm supposed to be resting after all."

She helped him into the wheelchair and they set off for the lower Kenzo district.