…

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

(Desiderius Erasmus)

...

MFV Normandy, January 25th, 7:39 AM, 2185

…

Having downed two cups of coffee and some powdered eggs, I was ready for the rest of my day. We were now in orbit of Arvuna, quickly approaching our destination. Shepard, Miranda, and James would be handling the transfer of the children to the colony, and I was now under strict orders to seperate myself from the situation. Shepard must have noticed how deeply I had been affected, and wanted me to clear my head. I was still a little shaky after the events of the previous day, but I think I was getting better.

Arvuna was a world I hadn't heard about until yesterday. It was one of 44 moons that orbited the gas giant Dranen, and was mostly covered in water, with ice at the poles. Scant few islands dotted the surface hundreds of miles apart from one another, hosting their own unique ecologies. We'd be landing at the largest one, where the capital city of Asa had been established back in 2160.

While now considered a human colony, the moon had been previously occupied by the quarians a few years before the Morning War broke out. After things escalated back in their home system, the quarians were forced to abandon it. Supposedly, most of Asa was built around what was left of the original colony, including a massive hydroelectric dam constructed to wall off the ocean from part of the island. I was looking forward to seeing it.

"Entering atmosphere… our approach vector is good." Joker announced as I stood behind him, arms crossed over my chest. He turned to look at me, letting a smile creep onto his face as he lifted his hands into the air and said "Look ma, no hands!"

"Very funny." I deadpanned, trying but failing to suppress a smirk. "The ship is going to pilot itself one day. Then you'll be out of the job."

"Heh, yeah right." He scoffed, turning back to his controls. "I'd like to see a computer pull a real Crazy Ivan. Not one of those banking maneuvers, I'm talking inertial dampeners off, hard thrust port or starboard."

"Implying it takes skill to bank in a vacuum." I insinuated with a full grin, getting an immediate, annoyed glance from him.

"Yeah, and don't you dare say it doesn't." He said in a much graver tone, obviously taking my joke at face-value.

"Don't get all bent out of shape, I was just kidding." I replied, holding both my hands up.

The real joke here was that if Lydia really wanted to, she could take immediate control of the ship's controls at any time. It wasn't likely that she would, but then again, she was likely bored out of her mind. She actually had to stop running some of her usual maintenance tasks just so the rest of the crew would have something to do, further limiting her options.

The ship shuddered slightly as we passed the tropopause, entering the troposphere. I was a little bit put off by it for a moment before Joker looked back at me, immediately noticing my expression.

"Don't worry, just the excess humidity in the atmosphere." He reassured as I looked out the window, seeing nothing but ocean below me. "This place is mostly ocean, after all."

"Of course." I nodded, moving to recompose myself as quickly as possible.

As we broke the cloud cover and the sky opened up, I finally spotted Asa. It was surprisingly large, encompassing most of the rough, crescent-shaped island. It wasn't a prefab city like most of the others I had seen, this was a fully developed colony. Most of the structures were vaguely mushroom-shaped, with interconnecting buildings and walkways linking them together. Due to the radiation emitted by Dranen, the structures had to be shielded from the outside. While the levels weren't lethal, it wasn't healthy to be exposed to the outside without protection for more than a few hours.

As we flew in closer, I finally spotted the dam, immediately taken back by how large it was. It easily dwarfed the largest dam on Earth built in my time, the Three Gorges Dam in China. It was at least two miles long, starting from both tips of the island and meeting in the middle of the water, forming what appeared to be a massive 130 degree angle. I couldn't help but also notice how old it appeared compared to the surrounding, newer structures. The concrete used in its construction was nearly black, having been bombarded by storms and radiation for decades. The titanium support structures were also black, protected by an oxidation layer that had formed over time.

This thing had been built to last. Just another testament to quarian engineering.

"You having fun there?" Joker teased, tearing my gaze away from the window as he leaned to the side. "Asa Spaceport, this is MFV Normandy, requesting permission to land."

"Standby for clearance." The operator on the other end said leaving a noticeable pause before coming back. "Clearance granted, Alliance ID codes verified. You are clear to dock in Bay 2-9."

"Thank you, control." Joker finished, turning to face me again. "Let's see if they can fit us…"

"We'll fit, don't worry." I reassured, letting another smirk slip onto my face as we moved towards one of the mushroom-shaped structures. Massive doors slid open, revealing the rather large interior docking bay. "Steady as she goes."

"Alright, here we go..." He said, cranking up the mass effect core as high as possible.

We entered the inside of the structure as I watched the exterior cameras on the tips of the ship's wings, watching us come within two meters of the structure's edge on both side, barely clearing it.

"Whew… like a glove!" He smiled, pulling us completely in as the gravity clamps attached to the ship, locking us in place. "And that is why they pay me the big bucks."

"I'll be sure to relay your impeccable performance to the highest levels of Alliance Command." I said with a sneer, crossing my arms across my chest again. "After all, it's not often a pilot can fly a ship in a straight line."

"Heh, screw you." He snorted, both of us smiling as I walked back into the CIC, watching everyone relax now that we were in dock. I was surprised to see Kirva walk up out of seemingly nowhere, kitbag slung over her right shoulder.

"What's up?" I questioned, giving her a confused look as she stopped in front of me.

"I heard there were some old quarian structures here. I was wondering if you were planning on going out to see them too." She explained, adjusting her shoulder to the weight of the bag.

"I was, actually." I nodded, popping the muscles in my neck. "I had no idea you were interested in architecture too."

"I have hobbies other than shooting things, you know." She defended, gripping her kitbag strap tighter.

"Sorry, didn't mean to insinuate." I quickly apologized, looking off to the other ends of the CIC. "No one else coming?"

"Nope, I already asked Lenlo and Biss, but neither of them were very interested." She lamented, slacking her shoulders slightly.

"Right then, let's get out of here." I nodded, walking off to the port airlock with her in tow.

After going through the decon sequence and stepping out into the interior of the colony's docks, I immediately noticed and Alliance frigate docked across from us in Bay 2-8. It was an Alamo-class, like our old Explorer, painted in standard Alliance colors, blue and white. Looking closer at her hull, I saw her designation, SSV Midway.

Seeing the name, I couldn't help but smile.

We made our way down the long platform, watching several other people exiting the Normandy from the starboard side, notably the entirety of James' team, Garrus, and several other members of the crew. I waved at them as we walked, getting a quick wave back before we entered the decon area. It was built with full body scanner too, which screened us for foreign elements and illegal weapons. Luckily, my Carnifex and Kirva's Predator were legal here in Asa. We made it through with no problem.

Making our way out of the spaceport, the entire inside of the structure opened up, revealing a lush, indoor park that spanned several levels, with shops and other services dotted around its edges. The roof was a large, segmented skylight, giving the plants inside all the natural light they'd need.

"Keelah, that's actually really impressive." Kirva commented, crossing her arms as we looked over the area. "Is that natural?"

"Looks to be. There's even rocks." I replied, walking down towards it. "I imagine that miniature waterfall isn't a natural installation, but the rest looks pretty real."

"Seems a bit more… lavish than other places I've seen." She remarked, following as we moved into the marketplace. "How many people live here?"

"Nearly a million, spread out among Asa and the other settlements." I answered bluntly, eyeing up the kiosks. "It's still quite small by most standards."

We looked over the kiosks, making mental note of what they had as we made our way to the other side of the atrium. We'd come back later, our goal was to see the hydroelectric dam.

"Hello sir!" A voice called out from one of the kiosks, immediately cutting off my thought process as I flipped around. A younger man, likely in his early twenties, held up his hand. "Might I offer you a free demo of our simulstim headsets?"

Despite my previous focus, I had been caught off-guard by his offer. I had heard of these "simulstim" experiences before, though I hadn't given them much thought in the lieu of traditional film. Supposedly, those with neural implants could "feel" recorded sensory inputs, giving the illusion that you're there with the characters of whatever simulstim you're watching. While the thought of it was kind of odd, I couldn't help myself from walking over.

"What are you doing? I thought we were going to see the dam." Kirva questioned, stopping me for a moment.

"Go on ahead, I'll meet you there when I'm done." I reassured, getting a reluctant bit of body language from her.

"Fine." She grumbled, walking off looking incredibly annoyed. While I didn't understand why, I did feel mildly sorry.

I turned back to the man, curious as to what he had to offer me as another question entered my mind.

"I was under the impression that you needed a neural implant into order to experience a simulstim." I remarked to the man, watching him place what looked like a pair of VR goggles on the counter.

"While that used to be the case, advances in simulstim technology have produced special headsets that can "project" the recorded sensory data into your brain wirelessly." He explained, flipping up the front of the visor to show what looked like a webbing of artificial neural receptors lining the inside of the "headband". "To be fair, the sensations will never be as intense as a traditional neural connection, but it's still the best of both worlds."

"Hm…" I huffed, picking up the headset and looking over it myself. "Fine, I'll bite. What kinds of programs do you have?"

"That depends on what you're interested in." He remarked, turning towards his computer. "There's plenty of genres… adventure, romance, war, you name it."

"War, huh?" I nodded, rubbing the underside of my chin. "What do you have?"

"Well, there's a few newer ones such as March On Spearhead, Hellknight, and Tiberius Dawn, but there's also a series of remasters released by Pandemic Films that might pique your interest." He laid out, setting several OSDs on the counter for me to look at. "My personal favorite is Saving Private Ryan."

"Saving Private Ryan!?" I blurted out, shocked at hearing that movie's name outside of my own home. "How do you convert something from 1998 into a simulstim?"

"It's quite easy, actually." He explained, leaning against the counter. "What they do for the remasters is re-create the scenes from the movie, matching all the conditions shown, then sync the neural patterns up with the pacing of the footage, creating a mostly seamless conversion."

"What do you mean by mostly?" I prodded, wanting to hear everything he had to say before trying the thing on.

"Well, sometimes they use different races to do the remasters. With dissimilar neural patterns than what would have been present in the footage, it creates an odd experience at times." He went on, still managing to hold my interest. "Like the feeling of having nerve endings sticking out the back of your skull if they use an asari actor."

I stared at the headset, biting the skin on the inside of my tongue as I tried to come to a decision. I wasn't entirely trusting of anything that dealt with my brain, but I had heard nothing but good things about these stimulstims.

"Alright, I'll try out the Saving Private Ryan sim." I agreed, giving him a handshake.

"Great!" He smiled, sticking an OSD into the slot on the side of the helmet. "Here you go. You get fifteen minutes before the end of the demo program. Anything more, and you'll ether have to pay for more or buy a headset."

"Understood." I nodded, walking over to a small cubicle with a door he led me to.

I sat down, staring at the headset in my hands once more, feeling a small hint of reluctance before I slipped it on, carefully adjusting the straps before activating the program.

Suddenly, the world peeled away in front of me, as the movie began playing in my eyes. In the very first scene I couldn't feel much, except what I think was the wind, but when the next scene hit, the famous Omaha Beach landing, everything changed. Suddenly, I felt my face get sprayed with cold ocean water, my field jacket weighed down by all the water soaked into it. I even felt slightly seasick as I felt my hand shake, just like Tom Hanks.

The moment the ramp went down on the landing craft is when things really changed. I felt weight hit me as a dead body landed on me, knocking me back, followed shortly by the sensation of being submerged in water as they dove into the water to get away. It was… disturbing almost, how real it all felt.

If this wasn't as intense as a direct neural link, then I don't think I would have been able to handle it.

Soon, we were finally on the beach, where I felt my feet sink into the sand as it also got blasted up into my face. I could feel my heart racing, as I began to believe I was actually being shot at with MG-42s. Adrenaline surged through my body as everyone ran for the shingle, bullets impacting all around me. Just as they reached the shingle and started building the bangalores, the program ended. My fifteen minutes having run out.

I felt myself catching my own breath, hand on my chest as I forced myself to calm down. It was… surreal, having something artificial feel so real. It was hard to believe they could make something that felt this realistic, and that it had seemingly gone by so quickly.

I stepped out of the stall, having come to my decision.

"I'll buy it." I immediately said to the man, headset in hand as I paid him three-hundred and nineteen credits for the device and several of the programs.

I'd have to try more of this later. For now, I had to link back up with Kirva. I had already pissed her off enough.

…

Asa, January 25th, 8:40 AM, 2185

…

Making my way through the connecting skywalks that linked the major parts of the colony together, I was having a hard time finding Kirva. I couldn't imagine her making it too far in only fifteen minutes, but apparently she really wanted to see that dam. I was starting to regret my decision.

Walking past all the living areas into another skywalk, I finally spotted Kirva standing on one of the observation platforms. It made sense, she had a great view of the dam from here.

As I walked towards her, she flipped around on her heels, turning to face me.

"Nice of you to show up." She sneered, arms crossed. "Had fun, I see."

"Aw, don't be like that." I downplayed, adjusting the strap on the carry bag that came with the simulstim. "I promised I wouldn't be too long."

"True." She nodded, turning back to the window as I walked up next to her.

The dam from this angle was absolutely gargantuan in size. It was easily eight-hundred meters tall, managing to keep the entire ocean on the other side at bay. Now that we were closer, I could see parts of the structure had been retrofitted or modified from when it had been originally built, easily discernible from the rest of the original structure. Below the dam, the water from outside ran through a large pipe system, where it was funneled through a series of filtering stations utilizing reverse osmosis, ion exchanging, and activated carbon to remove any contaminants from the ocean water.

From there, the water was pumped to the hundreds of greenhouses that lined the bay below, having been cut off from the ocean long ago. About eighty percent of the food consumed here was from these greenhouses, with the rest being luxury items shipped to the colony. Even through Asa was politically insignificant in the Terminus, it had been mentioned many times on the Alliance News Network. The colony's prime minister, Dick Ackerman, was quoted several times in the past on his opinions on the Council and their activities in the Terminus.

"So, how's your face?" Kirva questioned, snapping me out of thoughts.

"Uh… getting better." I answered, leaning against the railing as I watched the clouds roll over in the distance. "That bitch got me pretty good, but Karin is a pretty good doctor. It'll clear up, hopefully before we get back home. If Mara sees me with this, she'll freak."

"Home… huh, I haven't even thought about that recently." She huffed, looking out the window at the other side of the island.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure we'll be able to get a prefab or something for the three of you." I reassured, turning to face her again.

"It's not that." She shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest again. "My birth ship, the Angreas. My parents. I haven't seen them since I left for my Pilgrimage."

That single factoid held enough weight to instantly change the tone of the conversation.

"Why? Did you not get along with your parents?" I asked, feeling a small sense of sadness wash over me.

"No, I get along fine with them. It's just…" She corrected, starting to say something else before cutting herself off.

Her sudden reluctance to talk wasn't usually normal for her. Normally, she was rather direct and outgoing about her thoughts and opinions. Something here wasn't right.

"You mentioned something back on Pragia, about blind anger. Did you get into a fight with them or someone you knew there?" I dug further, trying to get her to open up to me.

She continued to stare ahead, arms crossed as I watched her close her eyes, taking deep breaths.

"Remember when you asked me about my Pilgrimage, and how I refused to tell you about how I got those ships?" She started, letting her hands hang at her sides as she faced me fully. "Let's just say… there's a good reason why I don't talk about it."

"Come on, it's not good to keep your thoughts and feeling bottled up like that. It makes you sick." I urged, wanting her to let loose. "If you're worried I'll gossip, don't be. I'm your Captain, after all."

She turned her head to the side for a few seconds, looking down at the floor panels and making fists with her hands before looking back into my eyes.

"It's… a complicated story." She shuddered, her hands shaking as she dug into her memory. "For the first few weeks of my Pilgrimage, I was running salvage in the Nemean Abyss under this guy called Sade. He was this grimy salarian, a greedy credit pincher. After bringing him some suitable salvage, he gave me a lead on this old Asari mining vessel stranded in an asteroid belt. Very old, but supposedly brimming with tons of raw eezo."

"Ok, what happened next?" I inquired, careful not to push her too fast. "Did he scam you in some way?"

"No, the ship was there, right where he said it'd be." She said, putting both of her hands together to keep them from shaking. "Shortly after I got aboard and started exploring, this twelve-man pirate gang showed up, led by this… filthy turian called Gaul. Despite how remote the location was, they managed to find my exact coordinates."

"Sade sold you out to these pirates?" I deduced, feeling dread pour over the conversation.

"Yes." She nodded, her voice getting shaky. "They found me, beating me before bringing me before Gaul. He told me that Sade had guaranteed the ship, my shuttle, and myself in exchange for twenty-five percent of the profits from the raw eezo. Apparently, Gaul had a particular… taste, for quarian women."

I reflexively held my hand over my own mouth, now fully understanding the full scope of what she was explaining. I immediately regretted pushing her this far.

"He dragged me to his quarters, attempting to rip me out of my suit." She shuddered, barely able to keep her voice level as she clenched her fists as tightly as she could. "Before he could get my mask off, I stabbed him in the eyes with a metal pick I had hidden in my boot, blinding him."

She then tugged against one of the teeth on her necklace, rubbing it.

"I honestly don't remember what happened next… when I came to, I saw I had ripped all of that jo'der's teeth out, and had stabbed him in the chest several dozen times." She recalled, squeezing the tooth tightly between her fingers. "From that point forward, I spent the next three days stalking those bosh'tets one by one. By the time I had finished, I had killed them all, emassing these."

She then pulled the necklace over her head, offering it to me. I slowly, and carefully accepted it. It was my first time seeing it this close. On it was an assortment of bleached teeth, with the largests in the middle and the smallest on the ends. I counted twenty-seven teeth, several of which appeared to be human molars. My best guess was that the largest was from a varren.

"What happened to Sade? Did you return to confront him?" I asked, looking at her with a worried face.

"No, I never did go back." She grumbled, tapping the handgun on her side. "He's still out there somewhere… and the thought of it infuriates me. He could be doing to other people what he tried to do to me."

"You could have returned, but you didn't. Why?" I pushed further, not understanding why she had chosen to stop where she did.

"I was… scared. By the time I had secured both ships, I was half-starved and sleep deprived." She shook her head, seemingly ashamed of herself. "I figured I'd have a better chance of making it back to the Fleet with the ships the less time I spent in uncharted space."

Both of us grew quiet for a few moments before I looked down at the necklace again, a sense of revulsion finally taking hold on me.

"I still don't understand the purpose behind this." I questioned, holding the ends of the necklace between my fingers. "Why make something as… disturbing as a necklace of teeth?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure why I did it." She admitted, rubbing her elbow as she finally got full control of her voice again. "I've thought about it a lot over the years, and my best guess is that I… did it as some show of dominance. To prove I was better than them, and have physical proof that they were dead. I've read a lot about this kind of thing, but I still don't know."

I stared at her for a few moments, looking back at the necklace and letting out a sigh.

"Part of me understands the urge to collect these kinds of things, but this… I don't know what to think about it." I remarked, unable to think of the right thing to say. "I'm so sorry. If I had even the slightest idea of what you had gone through, I wouldn't have pushed you this far."

"No, it's fine. It feels… strangely good to talk about it." She nodded, looking back out the window. "Getting it off my chest, you know."

"Well, I'm happy to have helped you with something, at least." I finished, handing the necklace back to her. She slowly accepted it, putting it back around her neck without missing a beat.

I took in another breath, looking back down at the necklace on her neck. I had no idea how much pain it held for her, and knowing why she had this, it answered a lot of questions I've had since she's joined the crew. I wished there was something I could do for her, but i knew this was far out of my range of expertise. I believed she needed professional psychological help, but the other half of me didn't want to pressure her into talking about this again. I wasn't quite sure what to do.

Before I could even try and say anything else to her, my omni-tool began ringing on the priority channel. I checked the caller ID, seeing it was Miranda.

"Sean here." I answered quickly, knowing it must have been important if he was using that channel. "What's going on, Miri?"

"I've got a priority message from the Admiralty Board for you. They want us to relay it immediately." She stated in her usual no-nonsense tone, looking simultaneously worried, annoyed, and exhausted. "Should I send it?"

"Well, I knew this was bound to happen sooner or later." I shook my head, knowing what was coming. "Yeah, go ahead."

She nodded, cutting the transmission as I received the file. I scrolled to it, hovering over the play button and looking at Kirva with obvious reluctance. She nodded, giving me the push I needed to press the button.

"Doctor Michaels… your colleagues just returned, along with what's left of our plasma gun stock and the remains of our Dragoon prototype." Gerrel could instantly be heard saying, sounding more displeased than usual. "After telling you several times that we didn't want our resources involved in this conflict, not only did you blatantly disregarded said orders, but you also revealed our combat capabilities to outside forces, and lost your own ship in the process. We demand you return to the Klenot Nebula immediately to answer for your transgressions, Michaels. We'll be waiting for you when you return. Gerrel out."

The transmission cut off, leaving me to close my omni-tool with a sunken look on my face.

"You'd think with Rael gone they would have calmed down somewhat." She detested, crossing her arms.

"That's mostly Gerrel talking. He's always been hot air, and this is no different." I replied, shrugging my shoulders as I turned back to the view outside.

"So, does this mean you'll have to leave?" She asked, leaning against the railing as we both watched a flock of alien birds fly past. "The three of us will come with you if you want, you know."

"Of course I'm not leaving. I'm not abandoning our mission just because Gerrel is angry I broke a few of his toys." I immediately answered, not needing to think about it at all. "It's their fault for refusing to help in the first place. I utilized the resources we had to their fullest extent."

"You know, the longer you wait to go back, the worse the fallout is going to be." She reminded me, getting me to reflexively roll my eyes.

"With exception to the loss of the Explorer, I've dealt with much worse than this." I reassured, breathing against the glass and drawing a frowny face before it faded. "Besides, what we're doing out here is more important than a few missing plasma guns and a broken mech. I'll deal with it when the time comes."

"Whatever you say, sir. No matter what your final decision is, you know we're with you all the way." She nodded, both of us going quiet as we watched the clouds moving in through the distance.

Despite the confident demeanor I put up, inside I was actually terrified of what the Admiralty might try to do to me. While I believed that in the end with the support of my friends and crew I'd turn out fine, I had honestly never heard Gerrel speak with such… tranquil fury before. Part of me understood why, but at the same time he and the others left me with no alternative choices.

I'd ignore them for a while, hopefully giving them some time to cool off to an extent. No matter my opinions on other matters, I truly believed that right now I was needed here much more than back home. I was going to see this mission through to the end.

I don't leave things half-finished.

…

A/N: A little bit more world and character building this time around, with more of a backseat take on what's been a pretty non-stop ride for Sean as of late. I wanted to give him a bit of a break this time around, having realized the absolute hell he's been through. Hopefully it didn't come off as weird or ham-fisted at all, there was a lot here I had to build up myself. Let me know what you guys think.

Also, one of my readers here created a TV Tropes page for the story, much to my immense surprise! I suggest you check it out if you're into that website, and maybe contribute if you so desire. Personally, I can't contribute to it due to the site rules, but I'll give information if you so desire.

As always, I'd love to read any reviews, and I'm always up for suggestions and constructive criticism! Stay tuned!