Liara was sitting in the mess hall of the Normandy for the first time. On her plate was human food she had never seen or heard of. Chops of some yellow fruit or vegetable served with what was fairly obviously fried eggs, but what kind of animal they might have come from, she could not tell. It tasted unusual, but not at all bad. And so, starved as she was due to her near thirty hour captivity in the prothean energy field, the Asari dug in fervently as she reminisced about the last couple of hours. She was on a human warship, among a race she had barely interacted with so far. They seemed friendly enough, though, or at least most of them. That Williams woman appeared rather hostile. Frankly, Liara felt intimidated by her. She was not sure what could have caused the soldier's stance towards her. Perhaps suspicion because of her mother's actions? I suppose it is not entirely unreasonable... Mother. What had she done? Or gotten herself into? Her mother and her might not have spoken in some years, but Liara knew her. She was a good person. All of this was so unlike her. Liara was thankful the Commander had allowed her to remain on his ship, and not as a prisoner. She had to find out what had happened to her mother. Perhaps...it was not too late yet. This had to be some form of misunderstanding, it had to. The commander seemed like a reasonable man, he would surely see this too, if they could only find her and talk to her.

The commander. Certainly one of the most fascinating of this day's developments. A man who had interacted directly with a prothean beacon and retained his sanity. His mind must be remarkable. And not only because of the secrets stored within now. This of course would make what Liara was planning to propose to him even more complicated. But she just had to see it for herself. Especially after he had revealed his 'theory' ...if it even was a theory, and not a direct warning from the protheans. To have the solution for fifty years of study to barge in, save her from death or captivity and drag her off to their ship seemed hardly believable, but...it fit. As the leading scientist on the subject of the prothean's extinction, Liara knew that the galaxy was built on a cycle of extinction, and she had already begun to suspect that someone was deliberately destroying evidence. That the culprits should be hyper advanced machines certainly seemed hard to believe – but what better explanation did she have? What else could exist for so long , work so methodically, and leave no trace at all? She just had to see it for herself.

Liara's thoughts were interrupted when someone sat down across from her. She looked up. It was the man himself. "Feel better yet, Liara?"

"Much better, Commander. Thank you."

"Good. Look, we're on our way to the Sparta system, so, not that far. We'll investigate a missing platoon of marines there. That will be tomorrow. You feel up to being on the ground team? There is enough equipment around to outfit and arm you. You are a powerful biotic so even now, without proper weapons training, you could be useful, and you would be able to experience a Mako drop for yourself. It will happen anyway, might as well get it over with."

Before Liara could answer, chuckling cut in as Tali'Zorah sat down beside her. "You are terrible, Shepard." He just grinned. The Asari was confused.

"I am confused. Is it not safe? From how far up does the Mako get dropped?"

Shepard swallowed his bite and began gesticulating with his fork and knife. "Depends on the planet's atmosphere and gravity, but basically as high as the tactical situation demands, as long as it is indeed within the atmosphere proper."

"Well I am sure if this vehicle is designed with such manner of deployment in mind, doing so should be perfectly safe. I...fail to see what Mrs. Zorah is insinuating."

The young Quarian next to her interrupted her slurping and looked at her."Just Tali."

"Forgive me."

"Oh no, it's fine."

Shepard's grin just got wider, while Tali tilted her head looking at him. Unfortunately, Liara's knowledge of quarian body language was practically nonexistent.

The commander finally explained, "Well, she had her own first time earlier today. And I might have neglected telling her any of that, so the first thing she noticed of it was me boosting out of the cargo bay...eleven kilometers above ground."

Liara gasped at the mans audacity. "Commander! That is...devious!" Shepard snickered, and she failed to suppress a chuckle of her own. "I am afraid I have to agree with Tali. You are indeed terrible."

They returned to their meals. Starved and hungry as she was, Liara practically wolfed it down and was done with her dinner sooner than Shepard. Tali was still eating, by Liara could not tell if that was because her portion would be considered a large one for her people, or if the process of eating out of a tube was simply slower than normal food consumption. So she brought up her request. "Commander..."

"Please, it's Shepard." he answered between bites.

"Shepard, I have a...proposal. Or perhaps it's more of a request."

He swallowed some more egg. "Shoot."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry. I mean, go ahead."

"Yes. I would like to perform a mindmeld with you." He had been drinking from his glass of water. At her words, he chocked and ended up spluttering a good amount of it, not all of it making it back into the glass. Liara sat in shock as Tali wiped her visor clean and he recovered from his coughing fit.

"I- uh...I am sorry, I am not sure what you just heard, Shepard? Perhaps there was a translation error?"

"We-" - he cleared his throat once more- "Well, to me it sounded like you suggested a mindmeld...?"

"Well, yes. Was that the reason for your...reaction? I...do not understand..."

"Well...maybe this is an cultural difference...I mean, I've heard that many Asari were quite...casual about these things, but I've always just figured that was exaggerated..." Liara was getting increasingly confused as to what the commander was talking about. Meanwhile Tali was following the exchange with a her head tilted to the other direction than before, and her eyes had changed. Even the inexperienced Liara was getting the impression that the Quarian was looking at them very skeptically underneath her mask. Shepard finally got his coughing under control and awkwardly continued.

"I suppose it is understandable that a species that has conscious control over their reproduction would be more...liberal about this...but Liara, I am sorry, I don't mean to say you're not...uhm..."

He was cut off by the deep rumble of a Krogan's laughter, accompanied by the melodic chuckle of a Turian, of all people. Liara was shocked. And embarassed. He thought she was suggesting they...! But how could he possibly...? Tali seemed as shocked as she was, but for some reason she was looking at her, not him!

Oh goddess, I must have ignorantly broadcasted certain social cues and now they all believe...

"Don't they teach you the basics about the council races in your fancy N7 training, Shepard? Mindmelds aren't just for sex. In fact, most are not. It's some sort of friendship thing, but can also just be direct transfer of experiences.", Wrex explained. "Most Asari don't go around humping every first thing they see. So you pretty much just called her a whore." He returned to his bellowing laughter. Now it was Shepard's turn to look embarassed; Garrus was fighting hard to keep himself under control.

Shepard cleared his throat for the umpteenth time in the last two minutes. "I am sorry, Liara. It seems I need to do some ...research about Asari..."

A smaller human man on one of the other tables - the pilot...Joker? - started laughing hysterically, and many of the other humans in the room tried, with varying success, to suppress smirks. The commander rolled his eyes. "Oh for Christ's sake..." He groaned. "I would tell you to get on the floor and give me twenty Joker, but given the fact you can't do that, I'll just threaten to lightly poke your ribcage if you won't shut the hell up right about now."

'Joker' mockingly brought up his arms to shield himself. "Low blow Commander, looow blow."

Shepard looked back at her. "Anyway, Liara, so, what exactly did you have on your mind?"

"Well, as Urdnot Wrex explained, mindmelds can be used to directly transfer information without any losses or misunderstandings in the transfer. I am very interested in your vision from the beacon."

He scratched his chin pensively. "Hmm. You think having a look at it and cross – referencing it with your research might give us a lead on the conduit?"

Liara shrank a little, having expected this question and being fully aware her answer wouldn't be what the man would want to hear. "It is of course possible commander, but...highly unlikely. I am, frankly, asking out of professional curiosity."

His expression grew wary. "I see. Well...how does the mindmeld work? What I mean is..can you promise me that you will access the vision and nothing else?"

"Even a matriarch could not truthfully promise that. It is possible to concentrate on specific memories or feelings, but I am not very experienced with mindmelds, and even if I were, it is not an exact science. There is always at least some exchange of...personal elements."

He looked down on his plate in silence for a while. "Please don't think that means that I don't trust you as a part of my team, but...I'm not comfortable with that. "

She had to have looked a bit disappointed. Shepard shrugged apologetically.

"Maybe when we know each other a bit better? You know, for longer then, what has it been, seven hours?"

The way he said it, Liara almost had to laugh at her own haste. "That...seems reasonable, Commander."

"Thank you. Now, if you ever believe that there's an actual chance this mindmeld might give us new information, I want you to bring it up immediately and we'll do it, my comfort be damned. Understood?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Please, Liara. It's just Shepard. Now. Why don't you tell me something about Asari culture? Evidently, my understanding is sorely lacking..."

"Unlike his confidence!" , the Williams woman shouted from the other end of the table. "Uh, Sir."

Shepard opened his mouth as if to say something, but he was cut off once more, this time by Dr. Chakwas who was walking by with a tray of her own, the shadow of a smirk on her face. "And rightly so. The commander is a very attractive young man. I have had ample opportunity to observe his impact on women. Though amusingly, he rarely seems to notice in time. If at all."

Shepard actually blushed. The Krogan and Turian roared, Liara failed to control a smirk of her own, and everyone else who had heard this last bit seemed to struggle with similar problems. Tali's reaction was difficult to ascertain, as she remained completely still, seemingly very focused on the table in front of her.

Humans seem...quite blunt. I should probably save the commander from further embarassment.

"Well, we Asari live in a number of democratic republics, which date back to..."

…..

„First evaluation of previously unknown Geth combat platform, designated 'Gecko' by Commander Shepard, after it's namesake earth reptile for its ability to cling to walls. Encountered during a Spectre operation on the planet Therum. Utilizes it's climbing and powerful jumping capabilities to achieve extreme mobility. Shoots high-powered laser guided plasma projectiles. Very difficult to line up a shot on, recommended course of action, in our limited experience, is tech attacks, or if available, biotics. They are the ideal way of dealing with them." Zali paused the recording for now, having completed her rehearsed introduction. She was in the small workshop next to engineering, the Geth unit they had been able to take with them from Therum before the lava had forced them off lying on the table in front of her An alliance marine was in the room as well, his hand on the pistol at his hip. Shepard isn't taking any chances. Good. The team had all gotten a couple of hours of rest after the mission and were now doing some wrap-up. Garrus was working on the Mako's guns, Ashley was cleaning rifles, and Tali was doing this. At least for a couple of hours, trying to tire herself out properly as the ship's night – cycle approached. Might actually be able to get some sleep tonight, even in this quiet.

She stepped closer and inspected the platforms torso, then it's limbs. Tali resumed the recording. "Unlike regular Geth platforms, who have solidly encased torsos, this one's is made up from the same synthetic muscle – equivalent as the arms and legs. Testing it between my fingers... it seems to be quite similar to the material I am used to from regular Geth platforms." Searching for and finding an access to its insides, she checked the memory core. "Memory core is fried, as expected. However, I will still disconnect the generator...hmm...already is disconnected due to combat damage." Tali glanced to the marine. "Uh, Sir? You can tell Shepard you're no longer needed here, this thing is going to stay dead, period." He nodded and left the room. Resuming the recording, she took stock of the damage that had ended this platforms mockery of life. " The platform was hit by several rifle rounds. All seem to have gone clean through the entire torso. Obviously, this platform pays a price for its mobility. It's very lightweight for such a large body, and it is effectively unarmored. Shields didn't seem like anything special in combat...checking now." She rummaged through the thing, finding the shield generators just were she expected them. "The inner workings seem near identical to those of regular troopers...the torso simply lacks the outer casing and armor plates and has additional muscle instead, allowing for greater flexibility, agility and reduced weight...I will inspect the internal components one after the other now..."

Tali inspected the shield generator, finding that it was indeed the exact same one would find in a regular trooper. As she moved on to the generator, she heard the door open, and looked up to see Shepard entering the room. As usual when Tali saw him, she beamed at him before I realized it. Not that he could see it under the mask...

"Shepard! What can I do for you?"

He pointed towards the Geth on the table. "Find anything interesting yet?"

"Well. It's in many ways a normal Geth trooper, just that the torso's hull has been replaced with synthetic muscle. And the arms and legs look a little thicker...I also get the feel the 'muscle' might be an improved version of the baseline Geth muscle equivalent. Denser, probably. And then there's the weapon system of course. Haven't gotten to that yet."

He nodded along, taking it all in. "We'll be handing it over to the alliance next time we're at either the Citadel or Arcturus. Not quite sure when that will be yet, have some errands for Admirals Kahoku and Hackett to run first, and who knows what else comes up along the way." He seemed to think something through for a second. "As far as I'm concerned, you can spend all your time off-mission working on this until then. Adams will make do without you for a while." He said that last bit with a slight smirk. Perhaps Pressly wasn't the only one Adams had sung her praises to. Somehow, it made Tali at least a little proud, not embarassed, when Shepard mentioned it. Or at least less embarassed than usual.

"Alright, Shepard. My means here are limited, obviously, but I'll do what I can."

"Thanks. You've been recording your findings?"

"Yes..."

"Please get it all together in a report. Whoever ends up looking at this for the alliance probably doesn't have half as much experience with Geth as you have."

She nodded eagerly happy to eb trusted with this responsibility – and a bit wary about what she needed to ask of him. "No problem, Shepard. I've been wondering...my people could use this information. As far as I know we have so far not met this type, if our marines know about it beforehand, it could save lives. So...would it be okay if I sent a copy of this to the fleet as well?"

He furrowed his brow, looking puzzled."Of course! Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, we salvaged this as part of an alliance operation, so it's technically alliance intel..."

Shepard waved it off. "Pah. This was a Spectre operation against an enemy of both you're and my people, and of the council as well. Anyone has a problem with it, they can take it up with me."

Again, Tali beamed. She should've gotten used to it by now, but this man really was something special. "Thank you, Shepard! I'll sent a preliminary report to auntie Raan before I go to sleep today."

His face took on a thoughtful expression. "Your aunt? She's a scientist? Could this be a pilgrimage gift for you?"

Oh fre'eg, you spilled it.

"My auntie Raan is on the admiralty board. As for your second question...maybe if I would bring back the entire body, not just a report of a superficial inspection made without the proper tools and diagnostics. Should definitively be enough, in fact. For anyone else. Not for me. My people expect more than adequacy from me. More than excellence, even. Everyone is waiting for me to bring back something that will impact our lives in a big way."

He had listened intently, especially to that last sentence. "That's quite a tall order. Why would they expect that of you? Because your aunt is an admiral?"

"No, but because of my father. He is an admiral, too. He's the senior member, in fact..."

He raised both his eyebrows. "What, both your father and your aunt are on the board? Are you some sort of royalty, Tali?"

"No, it doesn't work this way. I won't inherit his position. And Shala'Raan is not actually my aunt, she's just been a close friend of the family for a very long time. And I was, for the most part, raised like any other Quarian's child. I won't deny being an admiral's daughter brought with it some privileges, like the additional training I received for my pilgrimage, and just connections in general. But there are downsides as well, like the big expectations I told you about. My father has brought me up for greatness, and that is what I must deliver. I cannot fail him, or my people." Shepard thought about that for a while before asking his next question.

"So what is he like, your father? What kind of father is he?"

"Well, he is and was busy. Even when he was there, he was somewhat... distant. The fleet was always on his mind. He's not the kind of person you bond with. But I don't blame him. All Quarians must do their duty to our people, and that was his. Actually, I...I've never even seen his face in person, only on pictures mom made in their clean room time. Didn't want to take the sick leave."

He flinched at that, but did not comment. Tali was thankful for it.

"He did make sure I received the best education though, and that I always gave it my all. Sometimes I felt that he was too strict, but now...I understand he was preparing me for things like this. I don't think I would have survived until I met you, or could serve you like this now, without all the things he made sure I learned. "

Shepard nodded, looking thoughtful. "What about your mother then?"

"Oh, she was wonderful...she was a little bit in the background, my father is the kind of personality that does that to people. But I loved her very much. She...passed on about five years ago. Some airborne virus swept trough the fleet, it happens sometimes when the filters fail. Mom hated her suit, she spent as much time out of it as possible. Worked well enough most of the time, as an admiral's family, we had a room to ourselves. In there, she never wore it. She had built up quite the strong immune system over time, almost never got sick from this even though the rest of us would obviously have contaminants on our suits. But the virus...no chance. Dad took it pretty hard I think...he got even more focused on his work after that. It's his way of dealing with the grief, I think."

Shepard rubbed his forehead. "Tali...I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. And I've...moved on, I think. I can now remember and feel the good times we had stronger than the loss. She really was the most lovely person, and she had such beautiful hair...most Quarian use chemicals to stay hairless or at least keep it very short, it's just more practical that way with the suits. I don't. I keep my hair long, I like to remember her that way."

Shepard gave her a long look, probably wondering what she looked like. I wonder if he would find my hair pretty...ugh, stop it, silly girl. Still, Tali looked straight into his brilliant blue eyes and said nothing, she just couldn't tear herself away from them.

His omnitool pinged, and the moment was gone. He cleared his throat. "Right, Pressly needs me. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't keep at it too long, you hear me? You ought to get some sleep, it's been quite the day."

"I'll try not to, Shepard. No promises though."

"Hah! That's my favorite Quarian." Tali resumed her work, but now she kept catching herself bouncing on her toes and humming as she took the Geth apart.

Wood splinters flying around. I close my eyes and pray to God I won't get one in them as I crouch away from that position. I drag myself behind a concrete pillar. Too much fire. Can't risk to pop up. So instead, I quickly reach into my pocket and retrieve two single rounds. Load them into the rifle. I'm full again. Should get me a proper weapon if I get the chance. There's a lull in the fire as most Batarians seem to be reloading. We pop up. The militiamen around me with their Avengers, me with my hilariously outdated K98. Doesn't matter too much, most slaver scum don't have shields. Most of us fire wildly and hit nothing, they're afraid. I'm not. Not anymore. I'm a good shot, so I don't take long to line up a shot and see one of the squints' brains blow away. Duck back into cover as shots begin to pepper the pillar I'm behind, reload. Stay down for now. Take the time to make another scratch in the butt.

Firefight has been going on for fifteen minutes or so. Have somehow not lost a man yet. Well, we're in a building and the squints are stuck in some crappy bushes on the other side of the open field. They're not being reinforced either, most of them have already taken off. These ones are greedy. Have seen us bring the children in here. They seem to prize children. Fucking degenerates. Crouch low along the wall, to another window on the right corner of the house. Mister Lang is already shooting out from it. "John, come here, they're making a- "

I flinch as several rounds shut him up, splattering blood and brains over the floor and wall. Lang's avenger drops to the floor. Never held one of these before, but a gun is a gun. I pick it up and lean against the wall, peeking out in an angle so I won't be seen from the batarian's position. Sure enough, three of them are flanking us in a low ditch, the others can't see them it seems. I bring the gun up and fire a couple of rounds semi auto, one of the assholes goes down. Damn, this is easy. Kicks way less than the K98. They turn to return fire, but I've already corrected my aim and they have to actually search the schools many windows for my muzzle first. No chance.

With this low recoil, I go for full auto and simply mow them both down with a long burst, still mostly on target. I get down and jump away as rounds start impacting the wall around where I was. Don't trust these walls too much. I look at the old rifle on the floor and pick it up, hanging it on my back. It might be completely inadequate compared to the beast I'm holding in my hands now, but it has killed far too many of these bastards for me to just let it lie there.

We fight on. One more of us dies, this time it's Jane Delaway. Knew her, funny woman. Mechanic. One more death the Batarians will pay for. Suddenly, a lot more gunfire from outside. We get down, but then we notice nothing is hitting the house any more. I get up and look outside. The Batarians are all dead or dying, Alliance soldiers standing over them, some finishing the scum off with knives or sidearms, others making their way over to the primary school we're in, a dark skinned man taking point. We did it. I collapse to the wall behind me and slide down to the floor. No more of them to kill. Mom, Brad, Elly and Bernd still dead, just like Jenny. The hell will I do with my life now?

John shot up in his bed and blinked furiously, blinded by the light the rapid movement had triggered, as he found his way back to reality, the image of Lang's brains splattered across the wall of the very primary school he had visited himself still vivid in his mind. With a groan, Shepard heaved his legs out of the bed and rested his head in his hands. That damn beacon. Nightmares were nothing special for him, everyone had them, and he knew most soldiers who had seen action tended to geta little more of them than most people. Or a lot. So John never thought of himself as particularly plagued with them; before Eden Prime, it had been weeks since the last really bad one. But since that bloody beacon had gone ham on his brain, John was having them pretty much every night. Sometimes it would be the vision again, other nights events from his life, often Mindoir, sometimes Elysium or Akuze. He looked at the time; he had only slept for a little over an hour. Experience had taught him that there would be no going back to sleep for at least an hour, so he put on some pants and a shirt – Shepard had some civilian clothes in his cabin, it wouldn't do for the captain to be seen hobbling about in half a uniform every time he went to get a bottle of water in the middle of his sleep cycle - and left his cabin to do just that. He found the mess empty safe for Tali, who was sitting at one of the tables, reading something on her omnitool. When he exited his cabin, she collapsed the holo display and looked over to him. "Hello Shepard."

"Hey. Why are you up at this hour?"

"Can't sleep."

"Hmm."

John got himself a bottle of water and sat down across from her. "Me neither. What are you reading?"

"Just going over some of my notes from the Gecko. Already did so once while sitting here, but I don't really have anything else to do."

"Well, you could go to back to your pod and try again. Why aren't you?"

"I'm not tired enough yet."

"Sounds like you've got experience with not being able to sleep."

Tali shrugged. "Not a lot, but yes. It's because of the Normandy...she's too silent."

"How so?"

"Well, Quarian ships are old, especially the birthship I grew up on. The Rayya actually predates our exodus."

Shepard whistled, he had not known that. "Wait, wait. You have ships that are over three hundred years old!? That's impressive."

He could've sworn he saw her proud grin through the mask. I wish she'd react like that to praise directed at herself, too...

"We work tirelessly to keep them running. And it works, by and large. But it does not run nearly as smooth as a new ship, of course. Especially not as smooth as such an advanced vessel like the Normandy. So there's pretty much constant background noise. Crew on shift, or the humming of the drive core. The ventilation systems. Things like that. Silence means something has stopped working. It means danger. You get used to it from birth, so now that it's suddenly gone...It'll just take some time to take used to, I think."

John nodded along.

"So what about you, Shepard? " The question startled him a bit, he had been thinking about what she had said, and how different it had to be living in a place that was constantly being repaired. And he was not too keen on talking about the contents of his dreams.

"That prothean beacon on Eden Prime...ever since I interacted with it, I've been having nightmares. This...vision, mostly. Of the Reapers. And sometimes other things, too."

Tali looked at him for a long moment before talking again. "So...you have a gun that was designed two hundred fifty years ago?"

John snorted. Quite the segway, but he was thankful. She could obviously tell he wasn't in the mood to talk about certain things. Wasn't her fault that she unintentionally stumbled into the exact same topic she had been trying to get away from.

"Yes. It belonged to my stepfather. He was from a place on earth called Germany. Never been there myself. They designed that gun and used it in both of our world wars, and afterwards it was still used as a hunting rifle. Hell, still is. It's a good gun, very precise. Obviously can't compare to mass accelerators in any way, and it is a repeater rifle, so for combat, its hilariously outdated in more than one way. But that doesn't really matter when you're gunning for game, and it is one of the reasons guns like these are so easy to get a license for, and because of that they're relatively common in the more rural colonies."

"You grew up on a colony?"

He suppressed a sigh. "Yes. Mindoir. Farming colony, small communities. Lived there with my mother, stepfather and my half brethren, their two children. Beautiful place. The main continent, where most of the colonists live, is nothing but fields and the occasional forest as far as the eye can see."

"Why did you leave?"

John groaned inwardly, but it wasn't her fault. She couldn't know.

"Batarians raided it in '70. Killed a lot of people, dragged even more away to slavery. My family...didn't make it. The survivors rebuilt it, but...there was nothing left for me there."

Tali was obviously shocked by this revelation, sitting up straighter, eyes wide. "Keelah, Shepard...thats terrible...I'm sorry I made you talk about that, I-I didn't know..."

He waved it off. "Forget it. You could not have known, and it's been thirteen years. I can handle talking about it."

There was a bit of an awkward silence as he tried to think of another topic but was beaten to it by Tali. "So you joined the alliance?"

"Yes. I have an aunt left, Hannah. She's been with the alliance since before I was born. She and Captain Anderson pulled some strings and so I spent the last two years to adulthood on alliance ships, finishing school among the children of alliance personnel. That's where I first met Chakwas, by the way."

She laughed. Quite the infectious laugh, enough to lift his spirits a little. "I did get the impression today that she might have known you for a little longer."

Shepard cringed at the memory of that dinner. God, he had made a complete fool of himself. "She's been friends with Hannah since school. And she also new Anderson from some assignment early in their respective careers. So that's why I ended up on that ship. She was only there for one year though. She always preferred postings on frontline warships, and those don't have any minors, obviously."

Tali's next question came immediately, the Quarian sitting there at rapt attention, her large fingers folded together on the table in front of her. "How long have you known the Captain?"

"Since Mindoir. We met there first."

He decided to go on the offensive a little, before they could accidentally stumble over Elysium, too. "You got any more family than you mentioned earlier?"

"Well, yes. My little brother, Han. He's sixteen. Every family is encouraged to have two children. One is frowned upon, three or more are forbidden. Most people just get sterilized after their second kid. That way, the population stays stable, which is of course crucial for the flotilla."

John raised both eyebrows, barely suppressing a surprised curse. "It's been like this since the exodus?"

"Pretty much. Sometimes, when the population is shrinking, people are being allowed to have more children, and other times there were surpluses, so a one-child policy had to be implemented. Overall, the population of the migrant fleet has been at roughly seventeen million for the last three hundred years. We cannot afford to grow our numbers. Our resources are barely enough to maintain what we have..." She trailed off.

"That...is pretty rough. Your people have to live with quite some limitations. Have you ever tried to find a new planet?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Yes, but it hasn't been going well. Most planets with life aren't even potential candidates, because they are levo biospheres. And among the dextro planets, there are still all manners of problems. Like a location within the Terminus systems, which is obviously dangerous, or aggressive microbial life. The problem is our immune system. It has evolved on Rannoch, and Rannoch is rather unique because it does not have insect life. The details of that are a whole other story, and I'm probably not the best person to ask about it, but basically Quarians, and most other large life forms on Rannoch, have a symbiotic relationship with the plant life, and that is the reason our immune systems evolved to be weak. So it would be very difficult for us to adapt to a new world. We did find one where it could have worked, though. "

"Why did it not work out?"

She folded her arms across her chest and reclined in her chair. "The council threatened to bomb us off the planet, so we left it."

"What?", he asked incredulous. "Why?"

"We did not ask for permission first. We were not a council race anymore, and we found it first, but they considered the planet council space anyway. So they set the Turians on us." She sounded bitter now. John could understand why.

"Huh...I knew how the council tends to treat the 'lesser races' when they interfere with their own interests, but that is just ruthless."

Tali scoffed. "We didn't even interfere with their interests, not really. The Elcor wanted the planet too, but we could have just shared. There's only seventeen million of us, after all. But the Turians were hellbent on driving us away. They hate us. We are to be punished for 'our mistake' forever. As an example for the rest of the galaxy."

Shepard sat silent, recalling some of the things he had heard members of the various races say about the Quarians. It was sad that such attitudes would be this prevalent in a galactic community; all this time humanity had imagined hat if they ever met whoever was out there in space, they would have advanced far beyond such things. Turns out they were indeed far advanced, but only in some things, not in others. Some were even a good bit behind humans, at least as far as Shepard was concerned. Goddamn squints...well, Hegemony. There have to be decent Batarians...somewhere. In the end, it seemed aliens were only human, too.

"Well, maybe this aggression on part of the Geth will prompt the council to take action against them."

"Yes, maybe.", Tali answered half heartedly. John didn't actually believe that, and from the look of it, neither did she; at least that was what he took from her downcast look towards the tabletop and her slumped shoulders. Noticing that he had been staring, Shepard decided to try and get her to talk about something happier. "What's your brother like?"

She perked up immediately. "Oh, he's a bit of a rebel. Father and him are constantly butting heads. He is not lazy or anything, he always does all his duties and has performed well in school."

"He's like you? Smart and into machines?"

She lowered her head for a second, which John had come to believe usually meant she was blushing. She just couldn't take a compliment. "He is very smart. But not into machines at all. He knows the basics of course, all Quarians do. But he wants to be a doctor."

"What is your brother's problem with your father?"

"Well I told you father is strict. And not around very much. Han...doesn't understand it. Maybe he doesn't want to, I'm not sure. We fight sometimes because I don't share his position. Sometimes I think...maybe he was just too young when our mother died."

Jesus Christ, now you made her sad again. Commander Shepard, conversationalist par excellence.

In a bit of a recurring theme of this conversation that somehow just kept finding its way into unpleasant matters, there was another rather abrupt change of topics, this time initiated by Tali who was probably trying to get away from the topic of her dead mother just as Shepard had tried to get away from his past earlier. "I've been researching about humans since I got on board. Not a lot, and just basic stuff about culture and history. I've seen these world wars mentioned a couple of times now, and this morning again. They seem like they were quite the big deal. They certainly sound...serious. World Wars."

"You could say that...well, the world wars were a period of thirty years in the early twentieth century. The first one happened because several nationalist empires clashed over their interests. Eventually, the tensions boiled over and so they fought, for four years. It was the first war where automatic firearms saw widespread use, same for planes. And more artillery than ever before. Millions dead. Eventually one side lost. That side was led by Germany. The land my stepfather was from, remember? The victors neither completely destroyed them nor treated them fairly, and so they had motive and ability to start another war twenty years later. This one was even worse. The whole world was fighting. The Germans had gone completely insane in those twenty years and committed some of the worst atrocities in human history in that war, and so did their allies. The other side did some shady things too, but it doesn't even come close. At all. A hundred million people died. Those years are generally seen as the darkest in all of human history. That's why they're still seen as relevant today, over two hundred years later."

Tali had listened to the whole thing wide eyed. "That's...unsettling. Quarians, like most races, were united before we had any kind of advanced weapons. A war fought with such firepower must have been devastating."

"It was. I've only seen pictures, never been to any of the sites, but even pictures are quite impressive. There are lots of good documentaries about it, and movies too." She yawned, and apparently those are contagious even when you only hear them and cant see them. "Speaking of documentaries...those are a good way to fall asleep. You should try it..."

She nodded. "Yes...I'll try that...but what about you?"

"Hmm...got some paperwork to do. That should get me sleepy soon enough." He grinned. "I'll have to introduce you to some human movies and shows. There's a lot of good ones about the world wars."

She seemed surprised, but he could tell it was a pleasant surprise. "That would be nice. Good night, Shepard."

"Hmm. Good night." John shuffled back into his cabin, grabbed a datapad from the desk and went back to bed. Typing in the darkness, fatigue set in quickly and he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep not long after.