Author's Note: If the premise of this chapter doesn't make scientific sense, please note that a wizard did it. (This is tagged as drama and humor, so...)

Also, apologies both for the update delay and the short length of this chapter. I'm hoping it'll be worth it regardless :D

Chapter 8: Purple Haze

Liveship Rayya, Mars

March 25, 1969

It was becoming increasingly rare for all five members of the Admiralty Board to meet in person. Their assignments were spread out: Nurn'Xen and Neel'Koris in America, Nezu'Gerrel in Britain, Mera'Kuun in the Soviet Union, and Yessi'Sheyn overseeing the Flotilla here on Mars. Communication was easy enough via their omni-tools, making their leadership just as effective as it was during the Migrant era. Three of the admirals were therefore confused as to why Nurn'Xen called this meeting, and incredibly confused when they saw her joining the older Nezu'Gerrel in suitless comfort.

Neel'Koris was not confused, and instead became considerably more irritated than he already was.

"Thank you all for agreeing to come to this meeting," he began, fixing his gaze directly on Nurn'Xen's eyes. "We have a...problem."

Spirit of Rannoch Festival, Bethel, New York

March 21, 1969

The Spirit of Rannoch.

When Nela'Shar vas Tonbay first heard about the festival she now found herself at, she was skeptical. While excited at the prospect of the humans peacefully embracing their culture, she was worried the image of their homeworld was being exploited for commercial gain. Her concerns were alleviated when festival organizers gave thousands of quarians free tickets, but only now did she realize everything was alright.

Humans with long hair and brightly colored clothes were gathered around, enjoying party favors and the company of one another. Quarians were being embraced as friends - and in a few rare cases, lovers. Human musicians had learned and covered famous quarian songs with their instruments, and the result was a beautiful homage to her people. Laughter and joy made it easy to forget about the unstable world that existed beyond the festival.

But most importantly, she was backstage. With Jim Morrison.

JIM FUCKING MORRISON!

"Mr. Morrison, thank you so much for inviting me back here," she said for the hundredth time as Jim enjoyed a toke. She was in her suit as a precaution, but that hadn't dampened her enthusiasm."

"Nela, I already told you, I'm Jim, not Mr. Morrison. And there's no need to thank me." His reply was gentle and kind in its correction of her - she was relieved to learn her favorite human artist was also a nice person.

"Sorry," she replied, still fidgeting in her seat.

"And stop apologizing too. Nela, don't worry too much. I love talking to quarians and I love your radio show." He flashed her a reassuring smile.

Nodding, she did her best to relax. "This festival is absolutely incredible," she said after a minute.

"I'm glad your people like it," he replied. "The main reason I agreed to come was to see if we could promote understanding. Right now there's so much chaos and violence in our country, and I'm happy we've got a brief oasis from it."

They continued chatting for about fifteen minutes until Nela inquired about about the strange colored paper on the table in front of them.

"Problem?" Yessi'Sheyn asked. "We have dozens of problems, and the humans create more for us everyday."

"Yes, but this an internal problem," Neel'Koris countered. "Quarians are beginning to use human drugs."

"Singular!" Nurn'Xen shouted. "Only a single drug. Most of them are toxic to us, as you all know. Alcohol has levo proteins. Toxic! Our lungs are too sensitive to handle cannabis or tobacco. Toxic! All of them!"

By now Neel'Koris could no longer hide his annoyance. "All toxic except one drug, which Admiral Xen is currently consuming!"

"Quiet, Neel!" She fired back. "I am not so stupid as to do my work under the influence of narcotics. I created an alternate compound, one which gives me the boosting effects of the drug while removing the-"

"ENOUGH!" Mera'Kuun shouted over both of them. "What is this drug, and why is a member of the Admiralty Board using it?!"

Nela was on Rannoch.

The beautiful desert landscape stretched out in front of her in all directions. Animals - ones she recognized from history vids - trotted by her feet, and she could hear the faint chirping of telyas, the birds of Rannoch, in the distance.

And beside her was Jim Morrison.

"We're right here if you're scared," he heard him say, his voice an echo despite him apparently being right there. "How is it going?"

"I'm...here. The homeworld." She picked a flower off of the ground, only for it to fly out of her hands when she grasped it. Combined with the familiar Earth smells, she was able to infer it was only an illusion.

But it was an amazing illusion.

"As I said, the vast majority of human drugs are toxic to us," Nurn'Xen explained. "However, one particular drug is not only consumable, but actively beneficial to our immune system. This drug, despite being illegal, is widely available and was first experimented with by civilians several months after our contact with the humans. It was then discovered that these civilians were able to remove their suits for a period of up to 30 Earth hours after using the drug. Following this discovery, I quarantined the users of the drug and ordered a suppression of information on the subject.

"However," she continued, "With the so-called 'Spirit of Rannoch' festival, the issue is threatening to attract mainstream attention. I have been researching this phenomenon for several months, and based on human social norms, I expect much of the world to discover our connection to the drug within a standard week if they have not already."

"You are avoiding the question!" Mera'Kuun had completely lost patience. "WHAT is this drug?!"

At that, Nurn'Xen brought up a picture of a chemical compound on her omni-tool.

"Lysergic acid diethylamide, colloquially known as 'LSD' or 'Acid."

Excerpt from The Spirit and the Return by Nela'Shar vas Tonbay (1972):

We all went to Rannoch.

Think about that for a moment, will you? Rannoch, our homeworld, the land that give birth to our suitless Ancestors. Rannoch, the memory carried only by a few of our very oldest. The dream and hope of our people, even after our Second Exile. And every single quarian at that festival who consumed the strange new drug called "LSD" saw it.

Pictures don't do the scene justice. Humans using acid recreationally often appear lost, confused, or terrified. As hundreds of quarians partook in the "illegal" substance which was now being handed out openly, they were serene. Smiling at what may not have been real, but was real enough to give them a true picture of what we lost all those centuries ago.

The psychologists want to claim it was conditioning. We were at a festival called The Spirit of Rannoch, so Rannoch was already on our minds and it was just a coincidence. If it had been five or ten of us, perhaps that would be true. But over three hundred quarians discovered the Return Trip. Everyone who partook saw. The drug recalled a deep subconscious desire embedded in every quarian.

The most amazing moment for me actually came a significant amount of time after my first Return Trip. As Jim had predicted, my first experience with acid was a bit overwhelming, and I briefly fell asleep. When I came to, I was shocked to discover I was not wearing my mask - and hadn't been for hours. But there was no coughing up blood or mucus. I felt fine.

As soon as the enormity of the fact hit me, I knew that we could never part with this wonder.

Motions before the Quarian Conclave, 1 Aug 1969

Although no longer possessing formal political power over quarians resident in Earth nations on paper, the Conclave nonetheless maintained an important role in the years after First Contact. Representatives were selected geographically, and votes were generally considered to be a good way to gauge the quarians' overall mood. Most historians agree that the 1960s and 1970s would have been significantly less tumultuous had the Conclave not endorsed several controversial measures. In particular, measures passed on 1 Aug 1969 were a source of great controversy.

MOTION I: Support For Ban On Consumption Of Tobacco In Indoor Public Places: This was the least controversial of the motions. Human scientists had already begun to deduce the link between lung cancer and smoking prior to First Contact and quarian physicians had almost immediately confirmed their findings. Quarians were eager to get this passed as, were it not for smoke (tolerable in tiny portions but lethal in large ones) many would be able to go suitless in public places. Although it did not immediately ban indoor smoking anywhere in the world, it set the stage for the human-authored prohibitions on the practice put in place throughout the 1970s.

MOTION II: Support For Immediate Ceasefire In Vietnam War: By now the quagmire created by American forces having access to galactic standard weaponry was impossible to ignore. In the first few months after the weapon transfer American forces made extremely rapid gains, undoing the strategic advantage enjoyed by North Vietnam after the Tet Offensive. However, through unknown means, the Soviet Union had been able to counter the advantage with a limited number of mass effect weapons of their own. The measure passed, mainly because kinetic strikes caused by the fighting had lead to massive environmental damage in Vietnam, but seemed to have little chance of affecting policy.

MOTION III: Directive to Remove Unauthorized Human Settlers From Paradise: The discovery of the wildcat colonies had done little to slow their growth. Indeed, as the Flotilla became more decentralized and the Admiralty Board remained occupied with uplifting humanity, it simply became impossible for the quarians to monitor all 50,000 of their ships, meaning that some inevitably slipped through the Relay. Although most agree in principle that humans shouldn't rush extrasolar colonization, there is little enthusiasm in the Conclave for removing the settlers by force - the general consensus mostly being "we have more important things to do." The motion is thus defeated. Wildcat colonies would continue to exist in a legal grey area even as they saw steady population growth.

MOTION IV: Support for General Legalization of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: By far the most controversial measure, its passage cemented the quarians' place in counterculture and earned them the permanent enmity of humanity's more conservative elements. The Spirit of Rannoch music festival that took place in the United States earlier that year had revealed the beneficial effects of "acid" on the quarian immune system, and "Return Trips" where the drug is used to conjure hallucinations of Rannoch are becoming very popular - it has been discovered that quarians, unlike humans, can consciously control the audio/visual input they receive while using the drug. Despite the widespread outcry from many human social groups, the measure passed overwhelmingly. Before long quarians would be synthesizing their own acid, with Return Trips fast becoming a staple of their culture.