I helped my best friend recover a long lost family heirloom. My family didn't have any special items, it seemed rather pointless to me. Wrex finding his armor changed him. It is like he recovered a piece of his soul. It is rare, this feeling of… it feels like a subtle pleasantness inside my head. If the universe ran off gears and cogs, I think I fixed the smallest part. sigh I guess it is worth missing out on the once in a lifetime chance to drive a giant meteor.
Shepard, Kaiden, Ashley, and yours truly have a special meeting with the council. Kaiden filled me in on the details of their emergency mission while I was away, Ashley was… cold. She was not being rude, distant for sure. Something is eating inside her.
I ask "You feeling ok?"
"Huh? Oh, sure I am feeling fine" Ashley desperately needs acting classes.
I ask "Did something happen while you were away?" Shepard and Kaiden freeze.
"Leave it alone" Ashley warned.
I reply "Ok if you are not ready to talk, I won't pry, promise me you will at least do something to help yourself."
Ashley barks. "I can take care of myself" I am backing off. Jeez you try to help a friend.
We take a flying cab to the council tower. Anderson is there waiting for us.
"The alliance can't thank you enough for saving Elysium" Anderson said.
Shepard smirks "It was a team effort"
Anderson asks "How did ********* do?"
Kaiden answers "He wasn't on the team."
"I am sure you had your reasons" Anderson said.
"I wanted to drive the meteor into the sun and watch it burn. It is always amazing to watch" I said. Anderson raises an eyebrow.
"You didn't even know about it until you came back with Wrex. He helped him with an important… family matter" Shepard explains. I must be silent.
Anderson asks "He jokes around alot doesn't he?"
"Yes. I forgot how irritating it could be" Shepard says sarcastically. I place my hand over my heart, clenching it. Feigning the inability to inhale due to the extreme amount of pain.
"We shouldn't keep the council waiting, let's go" Anderson leads the way.
We march up the stairs. I gaze around at the design of the xeno architecture. Some of the features you would find at any earth government building, some of the, how should I say… geometry looks skewed. The shapes of the archway, while symmetrical, look unlike anything you would find in modern day civilizations. It does bear some resemblance to something I have seen in a fantasy universe but with modern day materials. I see a dark green keeper working on an out of order fountain. Ashley sees it too.
Ashley chuckles "I can't tell the aliens from the animals." The guys glance back at us.
I am pissed off. I turned to her. The rage I feel shows in every square centimeter of my used to be kind face. My pupils shrink, my nostrils flare, and the sounds of my breath are audible.
"Do not say that again." I take a couple slow calming breaths. I have felt too much hate to keep this inside.
"Is something the matter?" Anderson says in a disapproving manner. I know he is irritated too. I can hear it in his voice.
I attempt to keep a professional tone. "I calmed down. Ashley, do you want to sit out of this session?"
"We are going to be in and out. Keep a level head both of you and we will be fine" Shepard said.
The elevator ride was tense. The air temperature had risen quite quickly. I think everyone was afraid to say something. What the heck made Ashely xenophobic all of a sudden? She wasn't like this at my dinners. She got along amazingly with Tali and was friendly with Garrus. She was neutral with Wrex. The doors open. Shepard, Anderson, and Kaiden step forward while Ashley and I stay back. I cross my arms.
"Hello Captain Anderson" the salarian councilor said.
"Thank you, councilor, but I no longer hold the position of captain" Anderson replies.
"Nonsense. You proved yourself time and time again and have earned the status of captain, as such I recognize that" He seems to admire him. I wonder why the salarians are so welcoming of humans. Except that one.
"We read the report on your latest stunt. You let a known terrorist loose who poses a danger to all galactic races" the turian councilor belittles Shepard's work.
"Balak had taken hostages and his men had killed several people. I was sent to prevent him from destroying our colony and save lives, I did exactly that" Shepard declares proudly. Oh that is what happened? I turn to Ashely. I stare at her with a concerned look. She talks to me quietly.
"We scouted the asteroid and found several SOS beacons. Everyone had a dead civilian. The aliens killed them like they were nothing" Ashley explained.
I do my best to console her. "Oh Ashley… I… that is a hard thing to see."
"It is just a reminder that humanity needs to stand on our own. This councilor wouldn't lift a finger to help us" Ashley said.
I'll steer Ashely's thoughts "What were they supposed to do? If they did know about the attack what could they have done?"
"They could have placed sanctions on the batarians or should have increased patrols around human space." Ashley said.
"Sanctions would only make the batarians mad and guess who would have been the target? Why would they patrol human space? Do we have any agreement or pay taxes for protection? I thought you said humanity was supposed to take care of themselves, if that is the case, isn't it our fault we let this attack occur?"
"... We can't trust them" Ashley tried to come up with a reason.
"Never trust anyone. Put incentives and punishments to select for positive behavior" I said. Ashley snaps her head. She is surprised.
"I was not expecting that from you. No forgive and forget? We should have each other's back?" Ashley asks.
"Nope. You want something, you earn it. You did it, I did it, and humanity can earn it too" I said.
Ashley said "I trust you. Do you trust me?"
I reply "I trust you with my life"
"But not fully?" Ashley rhetorically asks.
"I know you are struggling, but those comments you make do not get rid of the pain. It transfers them to someone else. Our job should be to purify that bad juju and release it back into the universe. You should take from my example…"
"*********?"
I continue "... you should be more calm, cool, collected…"
"*********?"
"... matured, a master of your emotions…"
"*********?" a feminine voice calls.
I continue "… stoic, with the right amount of sexiness"
"*********!?" the asari councilor yells for me.
"I
DID
NOT
DO
IT
and I am tired of being accused of something I know I did not leave enough evidence behind for the prosecutors to charge me with!" especially since it is in a different universe.
"Did you actually commit a crime?" the asari asks.
"Well… you may not consider it a crime, especially since they only made the law to jail me" I explain.
"They cannot pass laws to target specific individuals" the asari states.
"The local government did not care" neither did the national one. "What do you need me for?"
"The last time Shepard was here, he brought an asari named Liara. She inquired about what happened to your hand. There is a very rare, although not unheard of phenomenon. Each biotic can have a sort of charge and if two very different charges come into contact, a shock like you experienced can happen to one or both parties. This is the first I have heard of it happening with a human. It is theorized that it can happen with other races but due to the rarity of nonasari biotics it was unknown until you. I have a special blend of thessian herbs in an ointment that will help you heal" the asari hands me a glass bottle with white lotion and bits of green.
Yay a present. It is mine now. "Thank you, I will try it. Should I stay away from Liara?"
"No need. I taught her how to prevent this from happening again. You said earlier you are not a biotic. Are you sure? I read human cases where discovery of biotic potential did not occur until later in life. You may be one of them" the asari steps closer.
"Nah I'm pretty sure I am not a biotic. I'm special." Yeah, I am pretty special, and amazing I should have said amazing.
The councilor whispers into my ear "I hope to see it. My gift also doubles as an aphrodisiac"
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.
"I'll see you some other time" she turns around and seductively sways her hips. The professional blue and white dress did nothing to inhibit her movements. I mean… I never said I could not have casual hook ups, just that I was tired of the emptiness I felt afterwards. It has been a while. Maybe it will be different with an alien. I could… STOP! You convinced yourself of this before and it did not work, turn around and walk back to your group.
Kaiden asks "Why did she want to see you?"
I explain the very sensitive situation "She gave me this lotion to help my biotic wound or whatever Liara did. She also has the hots for me."
"Fat chance of that" Ashley yells. Shepard barely squints his eyes and hastily nods his head. Male to male body code for did she really? I reply in the top secret, mystic ritualistic, slight head nod back. The spectre looks away and slightly down. His mouth agape and eyes closed. My commander returns from his minute of disbelief.
"Ok to fill you in, Liara told the council everything she knew of her mother. Education, travels, investments, affiliated groups, etc. A trusted investigator discovered Benezia owned a large percentage of a remote biotech company stock, where Saren is the majority shareholder and some very questionable exchanges have occurred. We are heading to the planet where it's located. First we stock up, get some upgrades, and head out."
My response "cool"
"It will be."