"Yes, I'd like to order a taxi for 2:30 to the "Grand-Feynman" Hotel. Yes, in cash. Yeah, I know my voice sound weird, so what? Is that basis to deny service!? I didn't think so. Goodbye." Good, so the vocoder that Tali installed onto my phone works. She said she'd make a few… modifications to it if I didn't mind, and when she handed it back to me when I returned from lunch, it looked like it had been tampered with; a few pieces the case had been removed, and I could see small, sleek shiny pieces of new circuitry placed over the original. "You should get some sleep in before we leave, we have a big night ahead. In any case, I'm not done "pimping out" your phone, as you put it earlier, so please let me finish. Once this upgrade is complete, you will be able to assist me a lot when we are at the research facility." I nod, taking out the earpiece from my ear and laying it on the table. I then turn off my phone, placing it into her outstretched palm. She takes it, and walks over to the table where she had tinkered with it earlier. I, on the other hand, plop onto the sofa to get some shut-eye before showtime. Cool, so I'll have a neat phone, hand – crafted by the fictional world's best machinist!

Ringringring.

Ringringring.

I roll over on the couch to see the hotel room phone ringing… who could it be?

Ringringring.

"Ok, Ok, I'm coming" – I mutter, as I climb off the couch and stumble over to the table where the phone is.

"Hello?" I ask, bringing the receiver up to my ear. "Alex *******? This is the reception. We have a taxi here that says he can't reach your phone." I look over to where Tali is: she's sitting at the table she had set up shop at, right where I left her. She hold up my phone; it looks even more extensively modified than I had seen it a few hours ago. There were small bundles of wires sticking out of various places, and something that looked an awful lot like a projector of some sort. It also had a couple elastic band attached to the casing. Interesting…

"Sir? The driver is waiting downstairs." – The reception lady interrupts my thoughts. "Yes, yes, tell him I'll be there soon." – I hang up.

I walk over to Tali, who turns to me and silently hands me the phone. I look it over; the main parts seem to still be intact. I start it, and it takes a while longer than usual to launch. Must be more of a load on the processor. Finally, it starts, and it looks like the user interface hasn't changed much: there are a few more unmarked icons, but all in all it looks alright. I start TaliTalk, and insert he earpiece. "So, Tali, what were you up to while I was out?" She takes my phone, and shows me it's new features. "It can now function as a basic omni-tool: I installed a backup holographic projector onto it, and a few more things, such as a scanner and a hacking unit. I also upped the original hardware to be able to handle the extra load." I point to the elastic bands – "And those are for…?" she takes my forearm and pulls the bands over it, so the screen is facing upwards. She then presses the topmost button, and the screen faded to black. Before I can inquire, though, my arm is enveloped in a shimmering orange hologram, which then lights up a new graphical user interface.

"I also installed another operating system in the extra memory I made. It's a copy of mine, only translated and simplified. This should enable you to help me a great deal more than you could on your own." Her eyes light up with what a can safely assume to be a smile: "I also thought you might want a souvenir from the future once all this is done."

The whole time she spoke, I just kind of stood there, my mouth ajar at the awesome thing on my arm.

OH.

FREAKING.

WOW.

"Wow, Tali, I… I don't even know what to say… thank you, I guess…"- I mumble. This is so cool! I mean, yeah, its weak compared to any usual Omni-tool, but this isn't exactly the twenty second century either. I look through the menu. Let's see here… Ok, options, hacking, scanner, calibration (ooh, Garrus would love this), extra-net access (no need for that – it doesn't exist on Earth yet), and communication. While I explore the new tool, Tali kind of just stands beside me with her head tilted to one side. I can only guess, but I think she's smiling. The holographic interface is kind of weird to use, but I think I'll get used to it soon. I press the "exit" button and beam at Tali. I think… yeah, she deserves one. I give her a big hug. She is a little surprised, but soon returns it. "Thank you." – I say, as I let her go.

Ringringring.

Ah, crap, I forgot about the taxi. I pick up the phone and before the receptionist can say anything, I tell her: "I'll be right there, darn it!" and put down the receiver. Ok, that might have been a little too rude, but I don't care. Ok, let's see... I won't be here again, since the driver will take me straight to the airport. In that case, I should take everything…

Ok good. I've checked over everything; it's all in the bag now. I place the crowbar on the very top of stuff for ease of access. I just hope I won't have to use it for anything –or anyone – apart from a door and a window that need opening. I switch off the lights, and Tali and I proceed downstairs.

Next to the reception we see the taxi driver, and greet him. "Sorry for the delay – had to pack." He simply nods – probably gets slow clients all the time. I throw my bag in the trunk and we get into the cab. "Where to?" – he asks, turning back to us. I look over at Tali, and back to him. "CERN." – I respond. He furrows his brow: "At this time of night? What do you need there?" I give him a knowing look (or at least what I think a "knowing look" looks like): "Just drive us there. I'll pay you once we get there, extra if you keep quiet, savvy?" He relaxes and nods, turns back to the steering wheel and starts the car. Well, that worked better than I expected. I check the straps on my… omni-phone, I guess. Yeah, these should hold even if I run and stuff.

Soon, we arrive at the gate, which is closed. "Park over there, off the main road. Stay there until I return, and then take me straight to the airport. I'll be alone." He starts to object, but I interrupt: "Did I mention that I'll pay you tenfold? Half now, half when I exit at the airport." – He immediately shuts up. Ah, the power of money – stronger than magic and morality. I hand him half of the large wad of banknotes from my pocket. He checks them against the light – and raises his eyebrows when he realizes they are all real. The cabbie stuffs them into his front pocket. Tali and I get out of the car, and I grab my bag. The taxi drives over to the place I specified, and switches off the lights. Now, apart from the stars in the clear night sky, Tali's eyes and mask, and the few lights still on around the territory of the labs, we are left in total darkness. I wait a bit until my eyes are adjusted, and then Tali and I proceed with the plan we worked on earlier. Begin operation "Homecoming".

Tali walks up to the fence, and brings her omni-tool up to it. I see a few sparks escape it, and then she removes the cut bars from the hole she made. We climb through. Now we're in. I bring up the location of the control center in my mind. It should be… that way? Yeah. "Showtime – I'll head over to the control station, and you get to ATLAS." – I whisper. Tali nods. "Stay in contact, I'll radio you the instructions once you get there." I nod in return, swing my bag over my shoulder, and get on my way. I run in a half crouch, heading the opposite way from where Tali is going. Ok, Alex, what did stealth game teach you? Avoid the light, be swift…

I arrive at the wall of the control station, and make sure no one is near me before I radio Tali; "Ok, I'm at the spot. I've also got an idea how to get in though… I hope it works…" her voice crackles a little as it comes in through the earpiece: "Got it. Still on my way to the entrance. Will tell you when I get there." I cut the link. Ok, this better work, or I'm screwed… I look around… aha! I pick up one of the larger rocks from the footpath, making sure to hold it through my sleeve – I don't need anyone to find my fingerprints. I press up to the wall near the door, right next to where the door opens to, and take aim at the building across the street, targeting one of the large glass windows. I toss the stone…

CRASH.

Ok, that was loud and should attract some attention – just what I need. And sure enough, I soon hear someone fumbling with keys behind the door, followed by a click, and the night guard rushes out of the door. He looks around, quickly locates the source of the noise, and runs toward the building across. He He He, fool. Once I'm sure he can't hear me, I enter through the door he forgot to lock in his hurry. I lock it from the inside, since he forgot his key in the lock. Wow, he made it even easier for me! Nice. So, if memory serves me well, the control panel for the LHC should be over here… got it! I radio Tali once more: "I'm in position. What's your status?" She opens the link, and replies: "Just got past the night guard, he's no longer a problem... Yours and mine omni-tools are fitted with jammers, so the cameras shouldn't detect you." Ah crap, I completely forgot about those! She continues: "now you have to activate the collider. There should be a main control panel on that station." Uh huh, found it. "Here it is." I hit the power button, and the large table-top touchscreen lights up. Ok, a custom operating system… and it requires a password. "Ugh, Tali? This thing wants an access code. I guess I'll have to hack it, right?" "Right", comes the reply over the comm channel, - "Open up the omni-tool, you should have one in your menu. Tell me if you need help with it, but it really is simpler than it seems." Right, well, maybe for you techno-geniuses… Ok, here we are, Hacking. I fire up the utility, and find the computer in front of me on the scanner, and after a few moments of analyzing it, I'm greeted with a three-by-four panel of blocks of barely legible pieces of code… is that Python I see there? Interesting… ok, there's a start button here. Boop. The text starts scrolling up and a small block of code appears separately at the top. Great, so this is just like in the game! Just find the corresponding code blocks, and voila!

After a short hacking session, I'm in. Surprisingly, it only took a few wrong tiles before I got it down. "Piece of cake." A response comes through with minor delay: "That system was nothing because it's obsolete compared to the hacking software, so don't let it get to your head." "Well, they don't get any more complex than this in 2014, but that's irrelevant. I'm in, and I'll try to fire up the thing." Let's see here… There's a bunch of buttons here that I have no clue about, but there's also a section called "NEW", so I'll check it out. Perfect! This has all the stuff I need. I press the buttons "D.E." (Which I presume means Dark Energy), "Electron and positron collision", and, finally, "Launch". I immediately hear a sort of siren go off, and the countdown clock on the wall lights up bright blue, displaying 00:15:00, and does its job, that is, counting down. I head over to the security station on the other side of the room, and try to find Tali on any of the numerous screens, but then I remember, Tali and I are practically invisible to them, so that's to no avail.

My omni-tool, which I haven't closed yet, beeps. I open the link to Tali:

"Alex? I need your help down here…"

A'/N: I'm sorry I couldn't finish this in one go, so I released what I had at the moment, because you guys have probably forgotten all about me). Here you go, next one coming up soon!

P.S. I hope.