*** Consorting ***

The five of them exited the clinic and turned right. After flexing the helmet open and closed a few more times, Shepard looked over his shoulder at Tali. "As part of the team, you're welcome to join us, but as I recall, you won't be removing your helmet. I must confess I'm not sure how you normally eat."

Tali stepped up alongside him and answered eagerly, "This is a Gorugo-B exosuit, named after its designer. It has a…relatively small chowlock, but it can disassemble food with sufficient resolution for neutralizing of individual pathogenic microbes. It's great when you can't find anything to eat from a trusted source, because you can just start putting things into it that might be edible. Only material of nutritional value gets through."

Shepard pondered this for a moment as they walked. "So…it'd require something to reassemble the food after processing, wouldn't it?"

"Only if you insist on having the same texture…and using one requires wearing it inside the 'clean line.' I could get it, but it would make my helmet even front-heavier. If I trust the source, I can bypass the disassembler. Otherwise, anything that gets past it is a paste. I'm being told it's about as thick as your peanut butter or ketchup, depending on what goes in."

"Hm." Shepard glanced at her helmet, tried not to stare. "So that's not like a volus suit; you breathe the same air and so on?"

"Right, it's usually only functioning like a filtration system, but it's very easy to switch to a biosuit mode. That's why quarians often get EVA work; we're usually in a state of readiness to go outside at a moment's notice. We drink water like you do, and other things like the liquors that don't have chirality. But for things that do, there's a small but significant chance that it could kill me that's even higher than the chance it could kill a turian."

Shepard knew about that, having worked with the turian Corps of Engineers. "Why is it higher for you?"

"Uh…it's complicated. Do you really want to know?"

He smiled to himself. "Sure…better to hear it straight from someone who lives it, I would think."

Shepard could only see that she had tilted her head and paused when she looked at him. "Our autoimmune systems are adapted to the flora and fauna of our homeworld, particularly the microbial life. Unlike you, they don't live inside us as well…so they must be constantly replenished. On the homeworld, Rannoch, this wasn't a problem. We were breathing them and eating them continuously. But when we lost our homeworld, we lost the ecosystem that produced them, and thereby supported us. So now we have to be very careful who and what we get exposed to, even among ourselves.

"One of the most important functions of the liveships isn't the food they produce as much as the microbes they churn out, which we take as supplements, and which end up in the food by design. The only reason the ships existed before the Geth Rebellion was because they used to circulate between the colony worlds, sort of bombing the colonies themselves from orbit with the 'rain of microbes.' In fact, if we hadn't already had them, we wouldn't have been able to evacuate. That's why we call them liveships instead of foodships, see?"

"I do indeed," Shepard nodded. "How interesting."

The food stand on their right spanned a curve in the wall; they group stopped when Shepard did. The clerk waited for Tali to finish. "Welcome back," she said. "Quite a team you've got there."

"Thanks," he took one step to the side, "Feed 'em whatever they want; I'm buyin'." He gestured at his omnitool, selected an icon and placed its holographic representation on the kiosk's icon target.

Richard had been looking through the glass partition. "Is that real meat?" he asked.

"Sure is." The clerk smiled proudly. Shepard's ARO finally added DisplaiD info about her: K.C. Newton

"Not folded or dehydrated?"

She shrugged. "Well, it is reconstituted, but it's not printed. A girl can only do so much."

"You should come to Eden Prime." Shepard noticed the Corporal stood a little straighter and puffed his chest out. "We grow food animals that have been extinct for thousands of years!"

"Really? Wow, that's amazing!"

Shepard reached out and touched Richard's shoulder. "Order first, then talk. We have to eat while walking."

"Oh. Sorry, sir." He looked up quickly at the kiosk display, touched a square with a graphic and stepped back.

K.C. looked at her side of the kiosk to see what he'd ordered and nodded to herself. "I thought someone might order the ol' burger and fries, so I started it as soon as I saw you coming. They're not as good for you as engineered food, but who can resist?" A dark brown patty flipped into the air in front her, and she swatted it down precisely onto the tiny cooking surface with a copper spatula. Without missing a beat, she began to arrange lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion on the bottom half of the bun.

She made passing eye contact with Richard. "The potatoes I get from some aeroponics in Tayseri Ward. There's an elcor who likes to watch them grow, so he lets me keep a few racks of them in his home."

"An elcor?" Shepard cast an amused glance at Kaidan. "Do you ever get mashed potatoes by mistake?"

"Oh, be nice. They're big and heavy but they're not clumsy. He really likes it here on the low-gravity Citadel because it makes him feel so young again."

Kaidan had been watching her work. "You're pretty handy with that stuff."

She laughed. "You only think that because I'm not trying to show off."

"What?"

"That's when I start dropping things." She tossed the spatula into the air and caught it easily. "Well, sometimes." Focusing on her workspace, she continued, "So, do you know what you want?"

Kaidan shrugged, and touched another square on the kiosk. "Yeah, how about a Roast Beef sandwich. On rye, please. Hot mustard if you've got it."

"I do." She flipped Richard's burger again. "Pickle or slaw?" She glanced up at Kaidan. "Slaw's fresh. Made it this morning."

"I'll take the slaw, then." He watched her working, nodded approvingly. "This is quite a show."

"Thanks." She smiled and looked back down, watching the color of the patty change. "It's easy, and I do it because it lets me talk to people. The slaw is my dad's recipie. I like it right before it goes bad; it gets tangy, and has more fermenting bacteria." Flapping the burger atop the bun bottom, she looked at Richard. "You want ketchup, mayo, mustard?"

"Sure!"

With a self-heating knife, she carved a few millimeters off the end of a block of soft material that looked like a neapolitan of red, white, and yellow, slathered it on the bun top, and impaled it atop the patty with a toothpick. Scooting the burger to the side with a tray of the potato sticks, she lifted the plastic plate to counter height, and pushed it toward Richard. "There you go." She made eye contact with Kaidan as she walked to the other end of the counter again. "And now for your sandwich. This will be a cold sandwich…unless you want it hotted up?"

"Not a chance," Kaidan shook his head. "Aren't you catering to just humans? There aren't very many here, at least not as many as there are of the Council races."

Looking up from the rye, she shook her head. "You would be amazed. I actually serve a lot more asari than humans. I suppose because it's exotic for them; they just love hamburgers for some reason, especially with sweet pickle relish. Fries, not so much." She laughed in recollection, "It gets absolutely crazy here when a big conference blows into town. Big tippers, too; I think they enjoy that I'm not using biotics, or if I am, they think the precision of control I have is simply unbelievable." She looked to Ash. "Know what you want yet, ma'am?"

Ash looked at her oddly, still not sure what to make of this girl who looked like she wasn't even out of University yet. "Oh…whatever." She looked quickly at the menu. "Grilled chicken salad." She looked at Shepard, "That's easy to eat on the go."

"Grilled chicken salad…" the girl repeated the order softly, glancing down at the other end of the counter. "Frank, carve up a chicken for a garden drag." From the counter came a whine of fast servos. Shepard, leaning against the wall, watched the two cooking mitts as they sprang from their garage, slid quickly around the curve to the end of the counter near him. With a flick of motion, the mitts were tossed into a translucent holder; articulated cybernetic hands that had been under them grabbed a cooking knife, and retrieved a piece of meat from a chilled dispenser; the first made short work of the second. The VI-controlled hands scattered the resulting cubes onto a cooktop.

"Hey, this is good," Richard lifted his hand with the burger in a sort of salute.

Shepard saw the clerk smile to herself as she continued to work her way along the preparation counter.

Ash raised an eyebrow at the young Corporal. "Waitin' for us like one pig waits for another?"

Richard – mouth full – stopped chewing, nodded impishly, and resumed chewing. "Mm-hmm. But…why are we in a hurry, ma'am?"

"That's what you get for sleeping through meetings," Ash teased. "Captain Anderson and the ambassador are taking…uh," her VI prompted her with the quarian's name again, "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya's evidence to the Council."

"And we don't know how long it will take the ambassador to get them to look at it, so we have to be Ready-5," Shepard added. "We don't want to start anything that can't be interrupted easily."

A plastic plate with a sandwich clattered atop the counter. "Here's the roast beef on rye, with slaw." She added a trayful of thinly sliced cabbage to the plate, and pushed it closer to Kaidan, looked at Shepard. "Know what you'd like, Captain?"

"Not yet, but I'm about to find out. And it's just Commander." He tapped his collar where his rank bars were displayed and turned to Richard, "So how is that? As good as a genuine bronto-burger?"

Even through his munching, Richard managed a smile, but shook his head. "Mm-mm. No, sir; they aren't selling those yet. I think they're trying to tweak it for the environment." He glanced at the young entrepreneur. "But it's as good as a home-grilled angus."

Angus: Species of bovine, favored for its texture, flavor, and quick growth, Shepard's VI clarified. He looked at the kiosk again. "I'll have a burger as well, but since I had the fries, I'll have apples. Can you put them right on the burger?"

"Sure thing," she said. "Thanks." She took the chicken from the Helping Hands, scattered it over the trayful of salad, and set it on the counter. "There you go, ma'am. Enjoy!"

"Can I have hashi with those?"

"You bet; they're to the left of the condiments." As she pointed, she turned her head and spoke quickly to the VI cybernetics, "Frank, start another burger." The hands simultaneously signaled an Okay with thumb and forefinger, and slid back down to the end of the counter with a servo whir. She looked to the Commander. "Burger with apples on, comin' up."

Shepard turned to Tali. "This is supposed to be in your honor," he shrugged, "But I suppose I should have picked a place that serves food you can actually eat."

"It's not a problem," Tali tried to reassure him, "I ate at Fist's. They have a dextro menu, and it was one of the best meals I've had in…weeks."

"Glad we got you out of there okay; it couldn't have been much closer."

"You can say that again." Tali tilted her head after reading the human idiom of agreement from her prompter VI. "But please, don't feel bad about my not eating now." She looked at the other two humans who were eating and chatting, then back at Shepard. "Humans socialize while eating, too?"

"It's one of our favourite excuses." He had been watched the VI hands preparing the hamburger, pointed through the glass partition. "Did you actually buy a VI for this task?"

K.C. looked up only briefly. "No, I taught them myself. The ML is really fast." She had arranged the bun and some of the extras on it by the time the Helping Hands presented her with a quick-grilled patty.

Kaidan teased, "No flourish with the spatula?"

"I didn't teach 'em to show off. That's my job."

Shepard nodded to himself, touched the kiosk and nudged it to apply a 30% tip.

Between bites, Richard asked, "Sir? If it's not too much trouble, can we go to Sha'ira's?"

Ash gave him a look. "What? Are you nuts?"

"Maybe we can just see what she looks like," he said, "I mean, she must be drop-dead gorgeous, right?"

"You could look her up if you really care." The Gunnery Chief looked across the plaza. "There might even be a PVR interaction with her if she's all that much of a wonk object."

"Yeah, but that's not the same as seeing her in person." He looked toward Shepard. "I just want to be able to say I actually saw her. Otherwise, it'd be like…like going to Earth and not visiting the British Museum."

"British Museum?" Kaidan snorted. "I'm from Earth, and if you're going to do only one thing, I don't know if that's it."

"Well, that's the one my dad said to do, and I've walked through the 2D PVR from his visit. I thought it looked pretty neat. My mom's family is from Shooter's Hill, so I'd have a place to stay."

Shepard had taken his burger to the end of the counter, added some barbecue sauce, and looked guiltily at Tali. He asked the clerk, "Do you have a dextro menu?"

She looked up and shook her head. "I'm really sorry, but I don't. It's just me and I'd have to purge my hands between food types to keep it safe. I've thought about using Frank for that, since he can have his garage converted into an autoclave, but it's a little beyond me right now."

Ash picked a piece of chicken out of the salad with her chopsticks and studied it for a moment, then spoke to Richard. "So about this Consort? The way that bartender was talking her up, it seems like she must have all the dirt on her clients. And you'd be one of 'em."

Richard's omnitool displayed some potentially helpful data for him. "That's just a rumor. Even if she knew something, the Consort would never reveal her secrets."

Kaidan dropped the small tray – now empty of slaw – into the wall-mounted recycler slot. "Of course she wouldn't. She'd be tossed out the nearest airlock if she did."

Richard shrugged. "I suppose. But even so, the Consort's nothing like the girls back on the colonies. She's…she's just…"

"You don't have to do it with her," Kaidan added, "That probably costs real big. You could just talk to her if you want. But it might still cost by the minute."

"Is that all you want to do?" Ash raised an eyebrow mischievously, "Talk to her?" Her smile grew as she waited for the Corporal to answer. "Ha! I'll bet you do!"

Richard looked like he was partly embarrassed, partly willing to play back. "Shut up, ma'am."

Ash took a step back as she belly laughed, still managing to keep her tray balanced.

Kaidan had an amused expression, and patted Richard – who was watching the Commander nervously – on the shoulder. "Relax, Jenkins. This isn't an inspection."

The Commander shrugged. "All I know is what I heard from the bartender. You must have done some digging on your own…so what can you tell me about this consort?"

"I, uh…well, she's an asari…who works here as…uh…who helps people with…things."

K.C. looked up from behind the counter and asked, "So you don't really want to go spend the money to see her, do you? You're just hoping to catch sight of her…to say you saw her. To go celebrity-spotting, right?"

Richard spoke to Shepard as if he had asked the question. "Uh…yeah. Sir. I couldn't possibly afford it. It costs half a year's pay just to go in and talk to her."

Shepard was doubtful. "I assume then that you know where to find her?"

Richard pointed back the way they had come, "Sure…she's across the bridge from the embassy."

Ash turned to the Commander and said, "It would put us close to the Council Tower."

"And we can break right off if we get the call from the skipper," Kaidan added.

Half-eaten burger in one hand, Shepard pointed to the two soldiers and said to Richard, "See this? Isn't it great having friends to back you up?"

The young man looked askance at them, and then back up at him, "Yeah…it is." He seemed sincere.

Shepard's ARO showed it had been about an hour since they left the embassy. "All right then…let's go."

Ash poked Richard in the back of the head with her index finger. "And remember to have fun…and keep those eyeballs tucked in, Corporal."

"Yes ma'am, I will. Remember to have fun. Ma'am."

# # #

Jack Harper smiled.

It didn't happen very often, but when a long-term project like "Yeti Hunter" paid off bigger than he'd expected, that was what he did.

Cord-Hislop Aerospace had secured the spaceframe and engines subcontract for a new type of small, fast frigate by buying controlling interest in the original contractor, Rocketdyne-BDS. Though his organization had already owned several voting fractions of the company through shell corporations, there had been what looked like a sudden rush on the stock by an array of investors and brokerages, but was in fact a carefully orchestrated hostile takeover.

The warship concept, which had been in co-development with the Turian Heirarchy since 2178, effectively shoehorned the very latest and most powerful drive core design into the tiniest spaceframe that could still accommodate a main gun capable of accelerating a 170g slug to 0.33c. A kiloton of supercooling and heat sinks would allow it to evade detection when needed. If it worked as well as the prototype refits and CCD data suggested, the result would be an unprecedented combination of speed, maneuverability, and stealth. One of his analysts had likened it to equipping a hummingbird with a cloaking device and a bazooka without slowing it down.

More importantly, it would give "his" people access to turian shipyard intelligence and technology.

As a bonus, the takeover had given him direct access to the plans, and after examining them, Jack found that he rather liked the ship; it was unusual. Even…artful.

It would take some time, but he decided to have one built as a personal yacht, perhaps to function as a mobile command centre. It had come as something of a disappointment to learn that the Alliance had redesigned the ship, trading displacement for more speed. It also meant the new design would be unable to accommodate the UT-47 Kodiak, though it would be easier for the ship to land.

The design overhaul was severe enough that – after months of government bureaucracy trying to wring more money out of the project – the original spaceframe had been stripped of any potentially revealing technology and put up for sale at cost.

At cost.

Jack nodded with satisfaction.

And then he smiled.

# # #

They ate as they walked back to the taxi stand near the markets.

Shepard gestured ahead, spoke to Kaidan. "Did you find anything at these shops?"

"Two Ex FMCs, but they were bundled with some crapware, and they didn't have an OEM kit for less."

"Hm. Too bad." He waved his hand through the Taxi Call holo; it turned green as a nondescript aircar rose into place from below the deck, and the protective wall lowered to let them board.

The air taxi had two seats in front and a bench seat in the rear. Shepard pointed to the rear section, "All right: Alliance team, pack 'em in there. Jenkins, I think you're the smallest in full armor, would you take the center seat?"

He nodded, "Right away, sir."

As the Alliance soldiers boarded, Shepard noticed that the quarian was still standing away from the aircar.

"You're not afraid to fly, are you?"

"No, I'm just…uh, no." She shook her head. "No, I'm not."

He pointed across to the right front seat. "Okay; hop in."

She seemed almost dazed as she stepped over the console and settled into place.

Shepard reached in and touched the navigation control. "Human embassy." As he lowered himself into the seat, the holo displayed several choices of route, selected the most economical, and highlighted it. He noticed that the quarian still seemed to be looking around at the interior of the taxi. "You all right there?"

She looked at him quickly. "Yes…uh, thank you."

He shrugged, "I figure if I can't get you something to eat at your own Welcome Aboard lunch, the least I can do is let you have the good seat for our little jaunt back to the embassy."

The doors closed and thunked with quiet confidence, the taxi lifted away from the station and accelerated. The quarian continued to look at him, but gave no other clue of what she was thinking. "Thank you," she said at last. "That's…thoughtful of you."

The view of the station was dazzling, even better than from the observation deck. Traffic patterns and starscrapers illuminated the sky, with the nebula as backdrop. It was cut short abruptly as the taxi plunged into a transit corridor, rotating and then decelerating as it descended through the traffic corridor and came to a stop in front of the glossy columns at the embassy entrance.

R. Jenkins: Could we have taken the taxi directly to the Consort's, sir? appeared on his ARO.

Shepard gestured for RTM and subvocalized his reply, I wasn't thinking about that when we left. But it's close.

The doors kachunked open; the four of them followed Shepard as he started across the nearest bridge. He gestured subtly for VI Query.

Get me walking directions to the Consort's, he subvocalized.

His ARO added an overhead view as a transparent overlay, directional arrows pointing to the destination, the immediate path forward, and a distance countdown.

With puppy-like energy, Jenkins followed Shepard closely as they went to their left around a short detour wall marked with the number 09; as he passed it, his ARO added a callout: Sector indicator.

Hm, he mused, I suppose you can see those from anywhere on either side of the water.

"Hey, look. More shops." Ash was pointing across the water and to the right. "You mind if the LT and I check 'em out?"

"That'd be fine, Chief. Whoever gets done first, meet where the others went." He looked for the quarian, who was lagging back a few paces. "You want to go shopping with them, or…'consorting' with us?"

The opaque helmet turned from Kaidan to face Shepard.

Kaidan pointed to the shops in response. "Lots of new tech," he said, "Might be something new to know."

Tali shrugged. "Maybe…" she said doubtfully. "Well, I suppose it might be fun." She spoke to the Commander, "Um…I suppose I'll go shopping…if you don't mind."

"Not a bit. We'll see you again shortly."

As the group neared the end of the bridge, Commander and Corporal and turned down a ramp to their left, everyone else continued a few more paces and then turned right. As they descended it, Shepard saw human and a salarian sitting on a bench, talking.

"I've had my office rearranged five times by those things," the woman said.

"Five times…why? What do they want?"

"How should I know? It's not like they offer an explanation of what they're doing."

Shepard's VI noticed his attention on the conversation and adjusted mics on the back of his suit to continue monitoring.

"And yet everyone just lets them go on doing whatever it is they do," the salarian continued.

"What choice do we have? If you try to stop them, they just shut down and another one replaces it."

"It's just strange that we know so little about them."

"Not to mention frustrating."

Just as Shepard realized they might be talking about the Keepers, Jenkins stepped ahead of him and toggled the manual door control, waving the Commander through ahead of himself.

Shepard smiled: The security door would log Richard's entrance. Now anyone could verify he'd gone to see Sha'ira.

# # #

Unable to find herself centered, Sha'ira had cancelled or delayed two appointments since first waking.

The General's bitter response was wholly out of character; perhaps her refusal had unhinged the turian. But did the General actually think that telling Xeltan that she had compromised the elcor's tribal integrity would somehow endear him to her? Both the elcor and the turian continued to refuse her calls. The turn of events had left her distressed to the point of distraction, and she was unwilling to give less than her full attention to her clients.

She had told an acolyte of her troubles in roundabout terms, not naming the two others involved, and – goddess treasure her – the dear novice had offered shatash; Sha'ira had accepted partly out of a wish to regain her balance, but partly to let the young asari feel like she was helping.

The Consort rose from her vanity table; it collapsed back into the wall as her omnitool chimed.

New/Unknown arrivals: Human Alliance: Commander S. Shepard, Corporal R. Jenkins

She touched their names and the device's VI performed a cursory search for records about them. She flicked the analysis from her omnitool to the large display and waited as it ran out lists of their vitals and a brief examination of their public records.

The lower-ranking human's name sounded like the Thesserit word for a great leap (usually one performed with the assistance of biotic Lift.) It was a good omen, but he was very young and while he might be interested, might also be unable to help. The other was an officer, still very young for an asari, but probably mature for a human. He had little public presence other than what the most basic suite of automated lifetracking software generated…

But what she saw lifted her heart.

# # #

"Welcome, I am Nelyna." The asari pronounced her name so the humans would be able to parse it into their own language as she looked down at her data pillar, and then back up at them. "I…don't…recognize you as one of our expected clients today. Would you like me to see when the Consort will be able to meet with you?"

Shepard noticed that Richard had a strangely blank look on his face; he seemed to be staring at the asari as if he hadn't actually watched every single episode of Updater. The Commander peered around the corner and into the large, elegantly-decorated lobby. "Can't we just go in?"

"M…I'm afraid not. You must understand that there are many who seek the Consort's services. But if you wish to leave your name, she'll make every effort to meet with you."

"What is the Consort? What does she do?"

"M…It's difficult to explain. She's many things to many people, and something different for each. Some seek her for advice, some for entertainment, others still for pleasure. Most of the time, our clients won't realize what they're seeking until after she has provided it for them."

Use of single short tone denotes highly respectful answer to direct query, typical of asari from Dassus. Shepard smiled at the factoid from his VI. It was beginning to proactively display the kind of information he would have wanted to know without having to ask. "You make her sound like some kind of oracle."

"No, not in the usual sense. She's merely asari. An asari with remarkable compassion, and a generous spirit. I suggest you make an appointment and see for yourself."

Jenkins' head turned quickly to look at the Commander.

Think you could be any more obvious? The thought made him smile. "I suppose I should have expected that. What do you do here, Nelyna?"

"I'm one of the Consort's acolytes. Many of the people here today will not see the Consort, but they expect to be attended to just the same. It is our job to ensure they leave…contented."

"What exactly do you attend to?" Though he hadn't meant it to, the question came out as innuendo.

The asari seemed not to have noticed. "Well, each acolyte has her unique abilities. Some soothe with song, others with conversation…" Her hands were clasped in front of her; she twisted and flexed her fingers as if nervous, or unsure what to say. "As much as possible, we seek to match the the needs of our clients to the skills of our acolytes. My specialty is touch. My fingertips can find every tension point in your body…and relieve it."

It was difficult for Shepard to tell how much of what she said was simply rehearsed and well-delivered sales pitch, and how much was sincere, but his VI was not giving him any indication that she was being manipulative or disingenuous.

"Sounds interesting," he said. "Unfortunately, we have a meeting we can't get out of, and we're in a holding pattern at the moment. But if I did want to actually meet the Consort, what would it take?"

"I will add you to our client list." The data pillar warbled as she manipulated the holographic interface, studied the results. "We should be able to see you in…mmm…three or four months."

He shook his head. "Then don't bother. I have no idea where we'll be in three or four months. We may never dock at the Citadel again. I'm not even sure we'll be here at the end of the day…" He thought briefly about the ship.

"Well, that's not for me to judge. I have your name, and you'll be contacted. Is there anything else?"

Shepard glanced at Jenkins, who looked back at him with an expression that pleaded, Do something! Shepard waved a hand casually to his left, "Would you...mind if we just sat in your lobby for a few minutes? If the Consort just happened to walk by, that might be nice."

"Aw...I doubt you'll see her without an appointment, even in that way. But it is charming of you to have asked."

Shepard watched Richard deflate visibly even as she said in that way, and start to turn back out the door without even another look back. "Too bad for me, then. Thank you for your time…I suppose we'll be going."

"Aw, I hope you'll return again in the future. We always enjoy seeing new clients..."

As Shepard turned to speak a final farewell, he saw the asari lift a hand to the side her head. "Yes, Mistress?"

Richard looked back with a mix of disappointment and hope.

"Yes of course, Mistress." Nelyna looked at the Commander as she lowered her hand. "Huh! It appears the Consort has taken notice of you. She'd like to meet with you now."

Shepard's ARO highlighted the locations of the two cameras he could see. "What for?" Shepard asked.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask her yourself. Just head up the stairs over there," she indicated the far end of the room. "She'll be waiting for you."

He turned to his left and started away, making a casual gesture to Richard to follow.

As they walked past a salarian sitting alone at a chat table for four, he heard, "Even the humans find the Consort irresistible."

Even with his helmet collapsed into the shoulderguard assembly, Shepard's VI utilized all the resources of the combat armor; at the moment, he was feeling so much like a "fish out of water" that he was actually glad the suit was eavesdropping for him; it gave him more information.

At the next table on the right, a volus was talking with another asari.

"Welcome. It is a pleasure to see you," said the asari.

"This is my first time," the volus gasped, "I can't believe I didn't come sooner."

"Please. Relax and enjoy yourself."

"I have to admit, I'm a little nervous."

The asari on the right was nodding just as they passed, "That's understandable. Many are a little unsure what to expect their first time."

"Don't get me wrong, I've only heard good things about the Consort, it's just…"

"The Unknown forces us out of our comfort zone. It forces us to be vulnerable."

"Exactly. That's just what I was thinking."

"Good. Then we are ready to begin…"

He was left with the impression that emotionally immature and vulnerable people were being fleeced here. He also noticed that the staff were all dressed in the same clothes; an open-front gown that ran from pink at the top to deep magenta, over a blood-red one-piece Swissari "under." Matching long gloves covered forearms and even above the elbows, but left the fingers exposed.

The human at the top of the stairs was wearing exactly the same outfit. Shepard smiled to see another human in what he'd at first thought was an exclusively asari-operated establishment.

She asked, "You're with the Alliance? My brother's a private back on Earth."

"Earth's a good post if you're from there," Shepard didn't stop walking as he pointed up the stairs to the right. "I'm supposed to go see the Consort. I assume she's up here?"

"Yes she is," the girl smiled as she nodded. "The Consort is a wonderful person; she has quite a gift. I hope she helps you find what you're looking for."

"That'd be nice. But I didn't ask for this meeting," Shepard said cryptically. He started up the stairs.

Richard caught her eye and smiled confidently.

# # #

As they descended from the bridge, Shepard turned to Tali and asked, "You want to go shopping with them, or…'consorting' with us?"

Kaidan gestured quickly for RTM: Tali, Come with us.

Tali looked quickly from Shepard to the biotic human and back.

Kaidan pointed to the shops in response. "Lots of new tech," he said, "Might be something new to know."

Tali shrugged. "Maybe…" she said doubtfully. "Well, I suppose it might be fun." She spoke to the Commander, "Um…I guess I'll go shopping…if you don't mind."

"Not a bit. We'll see you again shortly."

Tali activated RTM with a glance at her interactive HUD, and replied to Kaidan: Glad to. But why?

Alliance Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko: He's trying to do something nice for Jenkins. Might get him to stay in the Alliance. It'd be better if they flew this mission alone.

Tali's HUD informed her that Shepard had been shopping here already.

She messaged Kaidan: Very well. But I have a question.

Alliance Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko: Sure. What is it?

One of my VIs is telling me that the Commander Shepard has already been here. He bought something, but left no review. His VI only logged it. Does that mean it's safe but not endorsed?

Kaidan chuckled and looked over his shoulder at her. It doesn't mean anything. He grew up on Alliance ships and bases until he was 12, and then with his grandparents until he graduated University remotely. He never really had much chance to have a digital social life. He just lets his VI handle things like that for him, which means it basically doesn't.

Tali asked, Twelve? That's kind of young for a human, isn't it?

Alliance Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko: Yes it is.

# # #

The Consort was facing away from the door, just looking down from an enormous overhead display as Shepard entered. "That is close enough, Commander. I've heard a great many things about you since your arrival on our Citadel."

Having stepped down to the sunken floor, Shepard stopped. Even the asari know who I am? The thought was at once ego-boosting and worrisome. "If three hours of secondhand reports have led you to conclude that I'm hostile, perhaps you'll give me a chance to explain myself."

"I apologize, Commander." The asari looked quickly over her shoulder at him; her face a deep indigo, motions graceful and studied, complexion as smooth as porcelain. "I make it my business to know when notable people come aboard the station. Many of them become clients."

"If you think I'm notable, then you must know something I don't. Though everyone I've spoken to so far seems to just think the world of you. What exactly do you do?"

The deep blue asari turned and swayed toward him. "That depends on your needs. I offer advice to some. Comfort to others."

"And there's something I can do for you?"

"Possibly. But it is a private matter. Would you please have your bodyguard wait outside?"

Shepard looked over his shoulder; Richard was staring at the Consort, his mouth just slightly open.

"Corporal."

No response.

"Corporal Jenkins."

He seemed startled. "Sir?"

"Would you give us a few moments alone?"

"Sir!" He snapped to attention, rendered a crisp salute. Then he looked quickly toward the Consort and added, "Good day, ma'am," and almost ran out of the room. If it was possible to say someone screamed under their breath, that was what Richard did: "She said my name...she said my name!"

The door closed behind him; Shepard was smiling as he turned back to face the Consort. "Sorry about that. He really wanted to see you in person. I think you made his day. So what can I possibly do for you…ma'am?"

She paused to inhale thoughtfully. "I have a certain problem that could use your expertise." Her eyes were on the floor as she walked across the room in front of Shepard, and then walked back to stop in front of him. "I have a friend, Septimus, a retired turian general. I won't discuss the details, but…he wanted me to be more to him than I could be. We had a falling out, and now he spends his days in Chora's Den, drinking, and spreading lies about me. If you would speak to him as a fellow officer, I believe he will listen to you and let the matter be." As she spoke, she reached toward him, brushed the side of his face with a hand.

Asari gesture of beseeching welcome; do not respond, said his ARO.

"What happened between you?"

"I respect his privacy too much to go into the details. If he wishes to tell you what happened, that is his progative."

"I'm not sure what…uh…what do you want me to do about it?"

"Appeal to his sense of honor. Remind him of his position as a General." She leaned up close, turned her head as if to caress his face with hers, but still kept her distance. "If you could convince him to stop spreading lies about me, I would be very grateful."

Tiprozene (Pitocin-A) 12μg/cm3, noted his ARO. Pheromone analogue to airborne Pitocin, but capable of crossing blood-brain barrier. Behavior tracking enabled for 48 hours. If you wish to disable, contact your superior (CPT. Anderson, D.)

Shepard kept his expression neutral.

"Now I must ask you to take your leave. I have many clients waiting to see me." She turned away to the overhead holograph as if he had simply evaporated.

Shepard looked to his left and right, and then back at the Consort. He turned on his heel and exited the room.

Richard was waiting just outside the door. "Sir? What did she say?"

He replied with a tired expression. "If she'd wanted you to know…"

Richard deflated visibly.

"But considering what she didn't tell me, I don't know why she asked you to leave. She wants me to intercede with someone who's mad at her." He glanced around at the corridor, thought about how exclusive it must be, and what the location had to cost.

Then he looked at Jenkins again. After the fight in the bar, Jenkins had asked to "go home," a code phrase that the Alliance had arranged to allow people to change their minds about front-line combat. It kept the number of unhappy soldiers down, generally improved morale, and gave PTSD victims a way out before the memories had been processed by the hippocampus and made "permanent." It meant a soldier was self-discharging, with benefits prorated to their commitment length, less the investment in their training.

But Shepard had a plan for Jenkins, and it involved him not taking the 93(g) discharge. Maybe he could send him "home" without "sending him home." Captain Anderson could have him transferred to Eden Prime, and reassigned to one of the new units being assigned to replace the 212, maybe even with a new specialization.

"Aw, never mind. Maybe we'll take a crack at it. For now, let's go catch up with the rest of the team."

*** Glossary ***

aeroponics: Similar to hydroponics (wherein plants are grown in enriched chemical solutions,) aeroponics suspends them in structures with the roots exposed. The room in which they're grown has nutrients and water pumped into the air; no soil is required. Obtains even higher output efficiencies (both CapEx and OpEx) than hydroponics.

ARO: Augmented Reality Overlay

CapEx: Capital Expense - the cost to secure a resource. (Example: buying a car) Compare "OpEx"

crapware: just what it sounds like

CCD: Computational CosmoDynamics: like CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics used in airframe design for atmospheric craft) but also accounting for relativistic spacetime curvature and mass relay stresses encountered by inter-atmospheric/interstellar vehicles; the acronym was chosen over that of Computation AstroDynamics because even in an age of VIAD (VI-Assisted Design,) CAD still means "Computer-Aided Design")

Dassus: One of the asari republics, per cdn. wikia. com

DisplaiD: A social networking app that identifies people to make social interaction easier. Also facilitates exchanges of information and currency.

FMC: Fast Memory Cluster; similar to PIRADs, but at the "faster execution times" end of the spectrum.

HUD: Heads-Up Display

ML: Machine Learning

OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer

OpEx: Operating Expense - ongoing cost to maintain and use a resource (Example: the maintenance and fuel costs of a car) Compare "CapEx"

PIRAD: Parallel Isolinear Redactive Array Device; removable storage that can also function as secondary system memory.

PVR: Polyphase Virtual Reality - high-bandwidth, immersive VR with two to five sensory feeds.

RTM: Realtime Text Messaging

shatash: asari means of exchanging and equalizing biotic energy. Most widely understood to be used under combat conditions to keep a whole unit at a common energy level, but can be used at any time when one asari finds it appropriate to help another who is tired or deeply depressed (not canon)

VI query: the 2180s version of Siri or Google Voice