Chapter 30
Veteran Memorial - Eden Prime
As was usual for the garden world, the weather was beautiful. The sun rose without a cloud in the sky to block its path to zenith before it began descending again. The funeral was as bad as she feared. Family, friends, comrades, fellow Alliance, they all showed up to the wake of the fallen corporal. Though it made her happy to know that he was so beloved, it still only drove the knife of her own self-loathing deeper.
Days ago, she had sent in a request to the Alliance to wear her former uniform for the funeral. She was given clearance and prepared for the oncoming depression that such events caused. This time, however, she wasn't visiting the funeral of someone who had passed naturally. She could typically make it through those without hating herself. Instead, this was someone under her direct command, a detail that didn't go unnoticed judging from the looks she received from the immediate family.
Typical of the military honor, she saluted as the funeral detail fired rounds into the air for their fallen brother. Her eyes stung more and more with each shot. But after her salute dropped, she remained tearless. Sighing heavily as the procession ended, she marched out with the others.
After the ceremony had ended, the casket of Corporal Richard Leroy Jenkins was lowered into the ground as his sobbing mother was handed a Systems Alliance flag by Captain Anderson. With the hard part over, she turned and faced the hardest part as the group of people gathered together to have a drink in honor of his name. The looks of hostility she had been given told her loud and clear that she wasn't likely to be welcomed with a glass of whatever alcohol they chose. But she also felt that walking away now would be heartless. So, she stood and watched with Kaidan and Ashley in their own uniforms behind her.
Luckily, she didn't have to wait long for company as the captain made his way over to her with a small, meek man following him. When they finally arrived, Anderson stepped out of the way as the man held up a cup for each of them. "Commander," he said as she stared at him curiously.
She knew as soon as she saw his full face that it was Jenkins's father. He was dressed in a three-piece suit and had neatly combed brown hair sitting on top of a face of mourning. Letting out a heavy sigh, she reached forward and took the cup. "Thank you."
He also handed Kaidan and Ashley one as well, before looking between them curiously with his tired eyes. "Were you two with him as well?"
"I was," said Kaidan softly as he took the cup of alcohol. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Lloyd."
"Yeah…" he said as he raised the cup up for them. They all bumped the cups together before slamming down the fiery liquid. As they all stacked the cups on a nearby table, the man turned to Shepard again. "Commander, I want you to know that while my sentiments may not be shared among my family, I do not blame you for his death. I know what my son was like, and I knew he was eager to impress." Staring at him curiously, Shepard began to wonder if he actually knew what happened. He answered her unasked question almost immediately. "I requested to see the ground footage of what happened from the Ambassador. I... had to know."
Letting out a long sigh, Shepard reached out for his hand as she spied an approaching woman with rage on her face. Likely his wife coming to drag him away for fraternizing with her, the neglectful CO of their now deceased son. "Even if you don't blame me, it's not going to stop me from blaming myself. But thank you."
He smiled sadly and shook her hand. "I know. I blame myself as well for not trying harder to keep him out of the Alliance. But we can't control the energy of youth."
"Shepard!" shouted Ash, but as soon as the commander turned to look at the gunnery chief, she immediately recoiled as her face began to sting. Nearly stumbling back, her fire lit within her and began blazing as her combat instincts flared up. But she fought herself and suppressed them. She knew that the surprise attack wasn't an assassin or hitman. She knew what it was.
Standing straight again, she reached up and touched the tender skin where the woman had full on slapped her. "What the hell are you doing here!?" shrieked the woman. Ash moved to react, but Shepard held up a hand to stop her. Instead of saying anything, Shepard just placed her hands behind her back and stared into the distance, leaving the stinging handprint on her cheek to be caressed by the wind.
"Martha! What the hell are you doing!?" asked the man in bewilderment as he tried to hold his blonde wife back.
"It's your fault!" she shouted, ignoring him and staring dead at Shepard with a hate-filled glare. "You caused this! And what the fuck did they do!? They promoted you!" she shouted as her husband pulled her away. Finally, he managed to lead her down the hill, but it didn't stop her shouting. "It should have been you! You should be dead, and my son should still be with us! With his family!"
Finally, she was turned away as her husband pulled her away from the small group. "You gonna be alright?" asked Anderson as he turned to her.
She tried her hardest but couldn't help as tears finally began to pour down her face. Even with her cheeks wet, she nodded. "I'll be fine with time, Captain," she replied as she turned to the others. "Let's go. We've worn out our welcome here."
Citadel Tower - Presidium - Citadel
"Well, that went about as smoothly as expected," said Garrus as he and Kaidan followed Shepard out of the immaculate tower.
"I'm not great at reading turian body language, but I'm pretty sure he was trying to light you on fire with that glare of his," said the lieutenant with a smirk.
Shepard chuckled at the pair and shrugged. "Sparatus is being forced to play by the rules. He doesn't have people checking up on his turian Spectres, so why should he get to single me out?"
"Well, at least you found the fly on the wall," said Kaidan as Tali approached from the side. "Hey Tali, everything go okay?"
"Uhh... yeah," she said, almost in a stupor.
"Everything alright?" asked the lieutenant as everyone stopped and looked at her odd behavior.
"Well, I got in contact with the Fleet. And not only did they approve of my working with you, but they also seem to be encouraging it," she said as she looked at Shepard. "On top of that, I think they think I'm some kind of a celebrity now."
"They probably think you can get something far more valuable by working with a spectre than you could on your own," said Garrus from the side.
"Or they're proud that you're working to save the galaxy," responded Kaidan, who got a nod from the quarian.
"Honestly, it's a bit jarring to see them so enthusiastic about it. I thought for sure they would caution me or something, but they are eager for me to continue," she said as she crossed her arms.
Shepard's brows furrowed as she read the fine print of the Migrant Fleet's enthusiasm. More than likely, they were using her. If a quarian assisted in saving the galaxy from the impending threat of Saren and the Reapers, the Fleet would get a massive spike in public relations good karma. How they would use this, she had no idea, but she wasn't about to kill Tali's high over an assumption.
"So, Shepard, what's on the schedule?" asked Garrus curiously as he turned to her.
Thinking about it for a moment, she shrugged. "I don't really have anything on my plate at the moment. If you guys want to split up and meet again tomorrow morning, that's fine with-"
"We're going to a pet shop!" cheered Tali as she reached forward and grabbed Shepard's hand.
The spectre stared at her stupidly for a moment. "A pet shop?"
"Yes!" said the quarian as she smiled up at the spectre. "I heard you've been down after Eden Prime, so we're going to a pet shop to cheer you up!"
Shepard stared at her a moment, wondering where in the world she got the idea for a pet shop. The only person who knew about her history with animals was her mother and father. Suddenly, she turned her eyes up to Kaidan. "Lieutenant Alenko?" she asked, her eyes narrowing as he tried to hide a smile.
"Something I can do for you, Commander?" he asked as his face split into a grin.
"Have you received any personal calls lately?" she asked in a stern tone.
"In fact, I did! See, I got this weird call from someone named Hannah, who gave me explicit instructions that I was to... oh, what did she say…" he asked, snapping his fingers as if trying to remember. "Oh, right! Punish her hellspawn of a kid by taking her to a pet store on the Citadel and filming their reaction."
"I'm going to break Udina's balls for giving her your number," growled Shepard as she looked down at Tali again. The girl was so excited, and Shepard had no idea how long it had been since Tali had seen an animal that didn't immediately try to kill her. "Alright, fine."
Tali cheered again as the spectre groaned and began pulling her along. However, they all stopped as someone called out to her. "Excuse me, Spectre Shepard?"
Shepard turned around curiously, and her eyes narrowed again. "Can I help you?" she asked the obvious reporter. The woman had dark hair parted down the center that allowed it to flow down to almost chin level and wore robes worthy of the Presidium.
"Greetings, Spectre. My name is-" started the woman, but Shepard cut her off.
"Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani with Westerlund News. I'm well aware that you're a huge fan of mine," said the spectre sarcastically as she planted her hands on her hips.
Caught slightly off guard, the reporter nodded. "I'm honored that you've heard of me, Shepard. I was wondering if I could get a quick word from you regarding your more recent work."
Snorting, Shepard knew what it was. She was going to take the footage of Shepard back to her tabloid talk show and use it to somehow try to paint her as some kind of traitor to humanity, as she tried to do with Elysium. Finally, she shrugged. "Fine." Shepard stepped away from the group and pointed at the camera. "If that thing even thinks about turning towards my squad, I'm destroying it."
Khalisah nodded, wide-eyed as she reached down for her omni-tool and activated the camera drone, it's eye well away from her team and aimed directly at Shepard. "Alright Spectre…" she started before finally looking up. "You've been given a unique position to represent our race. People want to get a sense of how you'll do that. After all, humans have been trying to get the respect of the galactic community for twenty-six years. With that in mind, what are your feelings on being the first human Spectre?"
She should have known the questions would start off easy. The commander knew she had to keep her answers longer than average to keep the woman from taking things out of context, so she answered as thoroughly as she could. "Spectres represent the best of every species in the galaxy. I was asked not just by the Council, but by the Alliance as well to take this role, and it's an honor to do so."
Nodding with a smile, Khalisah continued. "Some have said that this is just the Citadel throwing the humans a bone. Have you encountered any situations where the Citadel Council has asked you to place its needs before the needs of Earth?"
As the question left the woman's mouth, Shepard internally sighed. She hated being right. "While I'm afraid I can't get into the specifics of my work, the Council is concerned with the needs of the whole galactic community. We're part of that community now," said Shepard as she eyed the woman firmly, her face placid as her she made her next point clearly. "And honestly, I wouldn't consider asking for a human Spectre as the Alliance being thrown a bone. Getting an embassy earlier than most races? Maybe. But they don't hand out Spectre candidacies like some kind of treat for good little girls and boys. It's a process that shows that the Council has faith in the species and the person they're selecting to do important work."
"I see…" said the woman as she cleared her throat. "I won't take much more of your time, Spectre. But I do wish to ask, you've been given command of an advanced warship to use on your missions. Is there anything you'd like to say about it?"
"The Normandy is a prototype co-developed between the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy. Its design is magnificent and incorporates many innovations. All of which are classified, I'm afraid," said Shepard with a cheeky grin.
"So, the turians have knowledge of the Normandy that is being kept secret from the Alliance public?" asked the woman curiously as she returned Shepard's smile. Thoughts of straight up clocking the woman passed briefly through the spectre's head, but she kept any indication of her inner thoughts to herself. "Do you think it was appropriate to hand Earth's most advanced warship to date over to the Citadel?"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken on anything being handed to anyone. The Normandy was co-developed and owned by both the Systems Alliance and the Hierarchy. And it was chosen by both governments to be tested under my command. Even if you somehow thought that it belonged only to the Systems Alliance alone, you should be thrilled that a human runs the ship."
"Human, yes. But you do work for the Council now, Spectre," said Khalisah as she flashed Shepard a toothy grin. Once again, Shepard had to restrain herself from punching the woman square in her perfect teeth. "One last question, Spectre. Rumors back home say that you're tracking a rogue Spectre by the name of Saren. Do you have any comment on that?"
Shepard's eyes narrowed again. "I'm afraid I can't comment on what my current assignment may or may not be. I would recommend getting better sources, however."
Smiling wider, the reporter nodded. "Don't worry, we'll find out," said the woman as she opened her omni-tool again. "The eyes of Earth are on you, Spectre. Don't let us down." Finally, the light from the drone dimmed. "Thanks again for the interview, Shepard. I really appreciate you finally sparing a moment for those back home."
Shepard eyed the camera drone before opening her own omni-tool. Hijacking the device, she deactivated its still running camera herself. "As much as I'm sure your viewers would love to be outraged over the new human Spectre dressing you down, Khalisah, I'm afraid that filming someone in secret is against Citadel Law," she said, getting a surprised look from the reporter. "And with the camera off, I would recommend being more careful with your loaded questions from now on. You've had ten years experiencing people who don't know how to play your game and years of being able to talk about me behind my back without me there to defend myself. If you want to go toe to toe with me, you'll have to get bigger heels," said the spectre as she stared down the shorter woman.
Khalisah stared up at the commander wide-eyed before nodding and turning to walk away, her drone following in her wake. "That'll probably make you some fans," said Garrus with a chuckle.
"Opposition as well, but definitely more fans," said Kaidan as he stepped up to Shepard.
"Fans or not, I'm not about to get bullied by some tabloid journalist with a chip on their shoulder," said Shepard as she snorted.
"Well, now it's pet store time!" cheered Tali as she grabbed Shepard's arm and dragged her away from the entrance of the tower.
Furry Forest - Kithoi Ward - Citadel
Shepard eyed Garrus as they walked towards the shop that Tali had selected. Easily noticing her staring, the turian eyed her back through his visor. "Something wrong, Shepard?"
"I feel like every time I come to the Citadel, one of my crew is going to try and make me relax by taking me out somewhere. I'm wondering if I should expect any surprises from you next time we're here," she said with a smile.
"If it were a surprise, why would I tell you about it?" he asked jokingly, causing her to shrug. "Nah, if I were going to take you somewhere, I'd probably schedule it out with you. Also, not a fan of surprises."
"Me neither, but I suppose some surprises aren't all that bad," she said as she held the door open.
"Besides, I don't get the whole pet thing. Why would you want a creature that can't take care of itself?" he asked as he circulated his talons in confusion.
"I don't know, why do people want kids?" she asked back with a shrug as he stepped inside the door.
"Point taken," he said with a chuckle as he entered. Almost as soon as they were in the door, they were beset upon by an excited asari who looked to be even younger than Liara.
"Welcome to the Furry Forest! Our haven of hypoallergenic fuzzy friends!" she said in an overly chipper tone.
"Hello! We're here to look around a bit!" said Tali as she grabbed Kaidan's arm and pulled him unceremoniously towards the ferret section.
The asari then looked towards Shepard and Garrus with a glowing smile. "Is there anything I can help you find?" she asked, the sounds of pets echoing behind her.
"I'm more curious how any of this is legal. I thought specific kinds of pets weren't allowed on the Citadel," said Garrus as he looked inside a few of the glass cages.
"Last month, it was signed into law with the assistance of the Paws for Pets Foundation that pets would be allowed on the Citadel as long as they were properly neutered and vaccinated. Oh, and also, there was another law put in that pets cannot be purchased with the intent to invasively study or experiment on them! We don't want some batarian bully buying a cute fuzzy little kitten just to cut them open after all!" said the asari as she practically melted at mentioning the word kitten.
Shepard chuckled as she shook her head at the girl's enthusiasm. "Well, at least you love your work," she said as she headed over to the cages with the turian.
"What is this thing?" he asked as he tapped on the glass of one of the cages.
Shepard peeked over into the domicile and smiled. "That's a cat. Or, kitten, rather. It's a baby…" she started, but the asari spoke up for her.
"Ragdoll! It's a breed that hails from the mid-1960s, in the country of California! When they're babies, they are like little fluffy pieces of cloud, but when they get older, the hair grows a bit longer and smoother! It's like silk…" she said, closing her eyes as she daydreamed it.
Garrus stared at her a second, then looked back at the animal curiously. "Wait... I thought the cats on Earth were bigger. Don't some weigh four-hundred and fifty kilograms?"
"Oh yeah. But we also have smaller, more domestic versions. Different breeds entirely, but the same family," said Shepard as she put her finger against the glass of another cage. The slate grey kitten inside put its paw up where her finger was.
"You're telling me that humans took one of the most lethal killing machines on the planet, shrunk it down, and turned it into a pet?" he asked as he stared at the ragdoll again. Suddenly, it hissed at him and he stumbled backward. Shepard reached over and caught him, and the turian quickly pulled her in front of him. "What the spirits was that!?"
"He hissed. Sometimes they do that if agitated," she said as she looked over her shoulder in amusement. "Don't worry, Garrus. They're harmless, especially to turians. Their teeth and claws wouldn't even be able to scratch your carapace," said the spectre as she pushed the turian towards the asari. "Can you watch him for a bit? I'm gonna go look around some more. Make sure the kittens aren't too hard on him," she said as the asari grinned happily and nodded.
Stepping away from the pair, she passed all sorts of puppies, kittens, and rabbits. She eyed the adorable collection of creatures before stopping dead as she saw a tiny figure peeping at her from a small cage filled with wood shavings. Kneeling down, she smiled at its large, black eyes, chubby rodent body, and pillowy cheeks that were stuffed with some kind of seeds.
Her mind dipped back to when her mother and father had gotten her her first pet. When they were stationed on Arcturus, pets were only allowed when kept in cages. That limited the range of pets for most people, but her parents compromised. Instead of getting her the dog she wanted at the time, they got her a pet hamster very similar to the one who was staring at her. She smiled as she recalled naming the little guy the most hardcore thing she could think of to make up for his meek nature. So, he became known as Fenrir, the Destroyer.
Giggling to herself, she gently reached inside the cage and doted on the little one, stroking his ears, his head, and his back as she recalled all the adventures she had as a youngster with Fenrir. Her father and mother would often have to scold her for staying up too late to play with him. As she remembered the old days, she lost track of time. She only realized that she had been kneeling for a while when Garrus finally approached her from the cat section.
As she stood up and faced him, her eyes widened at what she saw. "So... Shepard. What's the policy for pets on the Normandy?" asked the turian as he held three kittens, all purring and sleeping inside the cowl of his neck.
Jade Empire - Kithoi Ward - Citadel
Shepard nearly died laughing as she watched a disappointed Garrus put the kittens back into their cages in the pet shop. Not so much because of his disappointment, but more because of how pitiful he looked giving them up. Afterward, Shepard invited the three of them to dinner but found herself alone as Kaidan and Tali decided to go their own way, and Garrus mentioned something about having to meet someone else for dinner.
Slightly affronted, she sent a message to the other crew members to see if they wanted to have dinner with her. Most of the crew, she expected to be seeing family while on the Citadel. But she held out hope for a few. Soon, she smiled as Liara, Ash, and Joker all agreed to come and meet her.
Stepping inside the restaurant, she asked for a large table and went to sit. It wasn't long before both Ash and Liara waltzed through the door and met her with smiles. Surprisingly, B'Nalia was behind Liara with a look on her face as if she had been sentenced to death. As all three sat at the table, Shepard eyed the professor curiously. "What's the matter with her?"
Liara smirked slightly as she turned to look at her partner. "She begged Councilor Tevos for forgiveness for some past transgression, and the Councilor gave her a Class 4 security clearance. I just finished filling her in on the ultimate fate of the protheans."
"Let me guess, she had many questions?" asked Shepard with a smile as she accepted her drink from the waitress.
"The same questions, in the same order I asked them in," said Liara as she took some water that was offered to her. "She's been silent for almost an hour."
"So, no karaoke from her?" asked the familiar voice of Joker as he limped his way to the table with the aid of a cane.
"Joker, if you even think about doing karaoke, I'm leaving," said Shepard with a playful grin. Despite the good cheer around the table, Shepard did notice that Ash seemed to be fairly deep in thought. When everyone else was settling in and putting in their orders, she leaned over and nudged the woman. "Everything alright, Ash?"
"Huh?" asked the chief as she sat up and stared at the commander. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, Shepard. I was just thinking about something."
"Need any extra processing power?" asked Shepard, curious about what had the gunnery chief's mind tied up.
"Oh no, its…" started Ash as she began to dismiss it. But then her eyebrow cocked, and she leaned over conspicuously. "Actually, Shepard, maybe you could help me find something."
Smiling, the redhead nodded. "Go for it. I'm pretty good at finding things."
Looking to make sure nobody overheard, Ash leaned closer and whispered to the spectre. "I recently learned that Wrex's grandfather left him a suit of battle armor as a gift. A kind of family heirloom. But after the Krogan Rebellions, it was taken from him by one of the turian enforcers. I was wondering if you could track down its current location."
"Well, if I can get the name of the turian who took it, I might be able to find it. But it's not likely that Wrex spray painted the armor with his name either. So, I'd have to see what it looked like," said the spectre as she scratched her chin. "I'm assuming you want to track it down without him knowing?"
"Y-Yeah. While I'm sure he'd be grateful if we found it, I doubt he'd be thrilled that we went out of our way," said the chief as she just randomly pointed to something on the menu for the waiter.
"I can see that. Well, let me see what I can do. I'll update you if I make any progress," said Shepard as she looked up and saw another newcomer. Both eyebrows rose as she grinned slightly. "Zannia!"
The turian looked up at her name and waved away the waitress as she made her way over to the table. Looking at all the others, who were now looking up at her, she hesitated. "Hello, Spectre. Do you have room for one more?"
Smiling widely, the commander reached over and grabbed a turian style chair. "Always."
Captain's Quarters - SSV Normandy SR1
After a fun dinner with some of the crew, Shepard immediately headed back for the Normandy. While the others still had a few hours to burn, she wanted to get some work done before bed. As she settled into her familiar swivel chair, she turned the terminal on and went through the necessary security measures to unlock it.
And as soon as it was unlocked, she went to work. Quickly, she began searching the extranet for vids of battles from the Krogan Rebellions. She smacked her head as the search returned hundreds of thousands of videos. Narrowing her search down, she specified by clan name. This returned less, but even still, there were thousands of videos. "Apparently, Wrex's clan was one of the more prolific clans back in the day," she said as she scrolled through the videos.
Pulling up her terminal's multi-tool, she spent a few minutes attempting creating a new program. Suddenly, the omni-tool on her left wrist lit up. Looking down, she saw a message on the hard-light surface. [Do you need assistance, Spectre?]
"I'm trying to piece together a program that will scan faces of krogan in active footage," responded the commander as she eyed the omni-tool. She knew that the AI could do it in seconds, but even as understanding as Val'eda was, she couldn't allow them onto any device that could reach the extranet.
[I can coach you on an easy method to create such a program.] responded the AI. Shepard smirked slightly, thankful that it hadn't even suggested connecting itself.
"You're smarter than I am. If you know a better way, then I'm in," said the woman as she took the omni-tool off and set it in front of the keyboard.
[Please type the following into your multi-tool.] said the intelligence as a long list of code began projecting onto the screen. Shepard sighed but did as she was told. It took another hour, even with Shepard's fast fingers to fill in all the required programming for the tool. But when she finally finished, the projection disappeared. [Now, take a piece of footage of the krogan you wish to find, and upload it into the tool. Once you've done this, all you have to do is link the program into a search engine, and the macro should do the work for you.]
"Thank you Val'eda. You've made my work a lot easier," said the commander as she uploaded a vid of Wrex from their Feros incursion. Once entered, she selected the search engine that she used previously, and automatically it began filtering through videos on the fly. Shepard took the omni-tool from the desk and slid it back onto her wrist as her terminal worked rapidly.
It was then that her eyes fell onto the small object sitting next to the computer. Small, chrome, and by all appearances, solid. However, as she picked the small sphere up again, she knew it was anything but solid. At her touch, its surface rippled as if she held a simple globe of water. Exhaling slowly, she closed her eyes again. Like before, she saw mountains. Not older mountains like the Appalachians back on Earth that she had seen back in her Alliance training days. These mountains were jagged and sharp. They weren't nearly as tall as Earth's mountains, but they stuck up like spears, ready to impale anything that tried to land.
She marveled at the natural defense that the mountains could provide, then continued to focus on the vision itself. The earth was green with life. No grass, just moss-like growths everywhere. The feet of the mountain were covered in it as well, and it appeared to be so thick that even the air itself was filled with small, floating residue that resembled pollen. Suddenly, the vision zoomed out and she could see the planet itself. Like Earth, it was a contrast of green and blue. Oceans covered the planet, and anywhere there was land, the green of life, and white of ice filled its surface. Given the cloud cover, she couldn't recognize much of the landmasses below, however.
Then, at last, the vision zoomed out again. She could see the star system. At its center was what appeared to be a yellow dwarf star like Sol. But unlike the Sol system, she could only see four planets within its gravitation as if the object were pointing them out to her. Two small, rocky planets, one gas giant at the very edge of the Kuiper belt, and the third planet. It had beautiful rings like Saturn but was a habitable garden world. Creatures lived there, and she knew it. She didn't know how she knew, but she did.
Finally, after she was done examining it once more, she opened her eyes and stared down at the curious object. Given its nature, she was almost certain that it was prothean. But she had no clue what it was trying to tell her. Maybe she'd know more if she visited the planet it was showing her. But it gave few clues as to what system it was located in. "Shouldn't be hard to figure out if I search the database for habitable planets. Narrowing it down by planet count, the type of star, and the types of planets should give me something," she said as she stared at the immaculate surface of the trinket. Furrowing her brows, she sighed. "But what are you trying to show me?" Suddenly, she was alerted as someone knocked on her door. Looking up, she called out, "Come in!"
As the door opened, she was almost relieved to see Liara. Though, why she was relieved she couldn't say. She wouldn't have been disappointed had it been anyone else. The asari stepped inside the room with a pleasant smile. "Shepard! I came by to see if you needed any assistance tonight."
"Oh, right. I actually don't know for sure, but I guess it couldn't hurt," said the spectre as she gently rolled the trinket in her hand. Liara's eyes locked onto the object and immediately went wide.
"Sh-Shepard! What is that you're holding!?" she asked frantically, her body now rigid as if she were afraid to move.
Looking down at the device, Shepard shrugged. "I... really don't know. The Consort gave it to me as a reward for helping her out. But even she didn't seem to know what it is," said the woman as she held it up for the asari.
Liara slumped onto the bed as she stared at the flawless surface. "Shepard, what you are holding is prothean!" said the doctor as she gently held her hands up and cupped them under the orb.
"I figured it was. Any time I touch it, it shows me some kind of vision of a specific planet. But I can't figure out what it's trying to tell me, or where the place is. All it shows me is the planet itself and the star system that it's located in. Here, try it," ordered the spectre as she dropped the orb into the doctor's hands.
Liara almost gasped as the smooth surface rippled on contact with her blue palms. But she forced herself to slow her breathing. Nodding to the commander, she gripped the orb gently, and her biotics began to shimmer over her skin. Closing her eyes, she sat for a long moment as Shepard stared at her. Suddenly, one of her eyes opened and peeked at the trinket. "It... it's not showing me anything!" she said, her voice full of disappointment.
Reaching up, Shepard scratched her head of red hair gently. "Well, why the hell would it show me?" she asked, recalling something Liara said in a previous conversation. "I thought non-biotics couldn't interact with prothean technology without some kind of intermediary device. How is it that I can see the vision, but you can't?"
"I... I'm afraid I don't know. I've seen devices similar to this and they're typically used for wide-ranging purposes. Sometimes they're used as memory storage, and sometimes they're used for mundane things such as door keys," said the doctor as she gazed into its chrome surface. "We wouldn't know what it's used for unless we opened it, but we can't do that without damaging it. And I'd rather tie a tow cable to myself and be dragged from the rear of the Normandy as it made a relay jump than disassemble actual, working, prothean technology."
"So, how do we solve this problem?"
"Well…" said the asari as she casually looked over at Shepard. "There is one way that I can witness it."
Shepard couldn't have hidden her laugh if she had tried. Liara glared at Shepard sternly as the commander covered her face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh, but your eagerness is adorable."
Liara looked away, almost pouting. "My eagerness for what?"
Shepard grinned, then stood up to her full height. Grabbing the asari's wrists, she pulled her up to her feet until they were nose to nose. "See, that's what I'm curious about. Doctor T'Soni, are you interested in me, or my encounter with the beacon, and my frequent run-ins with prothean technology?" she asked with a stern stare into the doctor's blue eyes.
Shepard could see that already the doctor was rigid at being this close to her. But she needed to know why. She needed to know whether the asari was interested in her, or the protheans. She'd had too many relationships with people who were interested in the idea of her but couldn't hold up under the pressure. And she wasn't about to jump off another cliff for someone who was merely using her.
"I... I... I... wh-what I... mean…" stuttered Liara nervously as she stared wide-eyed into Shepard's own blue eyes. Suddenly, she went silent, and almost limp as the redhead leaned down and planted her lips on the asari's. Liara inhaled sharply through her nose as she released the trinket and wrapped her arms around Shepard, embracing her fully as she returned the kiss with surprising ferocity.
Shepard reached up and gripped the side of the asari's head as she leaned into it, kissing her deeper until she felt the doctor's knees practically give out. Finally, she pulled away and held her in her arms. Both of them panted heavily despite the lack of exertion, and Liara was flushed more now than the commander had ever seen her before.
Leaning forward, Liara placed her head against Shepard's chest. It was a few minutes before she finally gathered herself enough to speak. "I hope the fact that I dropped an artifact that is potentially older than both of our entire civilizations proves where my true interests lie, Jane."
Smiling at the answer, Shepard placed her chin on top of the woman's ridged head and held her close. "That it does," she said, her own cheeks burning as well. "That said, you might want to pick that up."
Moving like lightning, the doctor reached down and snatched the device from the ground and held it up for inspection. "It doesn't appear to be damaged. So, perhaps you can show me through melding what you're seeing," responded the asari as she looked up at Shepard hopefully.
Shepard smiled larger than she had in a long time as she nodded. "Alright then."
Author's Note: Thank you to both Orion Galahad on DeviantArt and Coyote-Carnage on Tumblr for their art that inspired one of the scenes with Garrus in the pet shop. If you haven't seen their art, you're missing out.