Jeff 'Joker' Moreau sat on his bunk in the newly assigned quarters and flopped back, allowing his head to hit the pillow. He plunked his ever present cap on the table next to him and closed his eyes. He'd just finished unpacking what little gear he ever bothered to keep. A chime from his omni-tool brought him out of his doze long enough to check his messages. His dress uniform was being delivered from the cleaners, the faculty at the Academy sent their thanks for his time and efforts during his stay there, and Dr. Chakwas wanted to do a quick check-up to see how he'd fared from the trip.

He started to doze off again when John Shepard came in with a swish of the door and proceeded to drop a precariously balanced stack of datapads on his own table. Both men regarded the swaying stack for a moment until it settled and didn't move. Joker snorted and shook his head, "They're breeding again, Commander. What would Williams say?"

John smiled and shrugged, "Last time she commented that she wasn't ready for children yet. I merely informed her that if we needed a datapad to have children then apparently both of us need another appointment with Dr. Chakwas."

Joker barked a short laugh and then groaned, "Right… I'm supposed to go see the good doctor tomorrow morning. She's gonna gripe about my eating habits. It's not my fault the food at the Academy is either junk food or mysteriously acquired from strange and probably uninhabitable sources."

John shook his head, "Oh don't remind me. I lost enough weight at the Academy that my mother got half of her crew to chip in to send me and my roommate a crate of vegetables for mid-term exams."

Joker grinned, "Wow… you got food? Real food? My grandmother never sent food. She sent underwear. And socks. Said I'd need as much quality wool clothing as she could afford while living in the cold of space. After the sixth box I started giving them to my roommate who was ecstatic. His family sent him to the Academy to get rid of him. He ended up resigning early and going into wool product sales. To this day, I buy all my socks from him. They're much nicer than the ones Nana sent me."

John chuckled and rearranged the pillows on his bunk and plopped down while grabbing the top datapad. "I have to admit, I wish you could've been here when we were introducing modern day clothing to the new crew. It was on one hand funny and on the other unnerving. I really can't grasp living in an age without toilet paper."

Joker blinked and then laughed, "Oh man, I bet that lesson was hilarious! They'd never seen toilet paper?"

John smiled, "Lucky me, I didn't have to give them that one. C-Sec did. Garrus commented that one of his old buddies was one of their guards. He sent him a message after the Council dumped them on me to let him know the level of their 'modern education.' You should ask Garrus to show it to you. It's great."

Joker snorted and nodded, "I'll have to do that. I gotta admit, they seem like good people. They're as odd and eccentric as everyone else you've picked up, but hey, that seems to be your standard."

John shook his head with a rueful smile, "It's not my fault that all the people with the skills I want in the galaxy happen to be a little… unusual."

Joker grinned, "No, but I can imagine the look on Pressley's face when he found out about that dog! He was pissed enough about bringing a Krogan on board."

John shrugged and then sighed, "Pressley seems to be coping okay with this. He commented that I'd managed to keep everyone alive so far, and if that meant dealing with aliens and animals then so be it. You know… I have no idea what we're going to do with a war dog. Tali commented about making a dog shaped enviro-suit for non-oxygen atmospheres. Wrex pointed out that Snuggles' teeth and claws would be useless then. It seems we're going to have to be careful about the environments when we take him down with us."

Joker rolled his eyes, "Snuggles? Snuggles. What a name. You know what though? I'll bet he's really good at tracking things and people. And he'll be a faster runner. He'll be great for chases and searches."

John nodded, "That's what Dana said. Her only concern was guns. He's going to be vulnerable to gunfire. I rethought Tali's suit idea at that point and tasked her and the engineering team to come up with doggie armor with it's own set of kinetic barriers. She snagged Adams to help her the minute he finished reporting in from dry-dock yesterday."

Joker looked up then, "Adams is back? And with the current status of the Normandy?"

John smiled, "Yes.. yes he is. Go on, you. He and Tali will be in one of the sparring rooms that they co-opted for their lab. Go check on your baby."

Joker laughed, "Yes Sir!" He then heaved himself out of his bunk and out the door. He limped down the corridor and through the central quarters lounge. He saw the Normandy's Requisitions Officer sitting at a table with a calculator and several datapads, obviously deep in his work.

Joker grinned mischievously and poked a couple of numbers on the calculator prompting an annoyed, "Hey!" from the man who swatted Joker's hands away. Joker moved out of range with a laugh, and the other guy raised his hand in a rude gesture. Joker laughed again and waved, "Right back at ya, Ted! Right back at ya."

Finally after a small bit of searching, Joker found the right room and went in, joining Tali'zorah and Engineer Adams at the table that was covered in parts and a holographic display of Snuggles in armor.

Tali and Adams looked up and greeted him before turning back to their work. Tali pointed at the hologram and spoke softly, "Okay, so we've switched to a different polymer material here so as to protect the joints while leaving the necessary mobility. If we switch out the rear power pack for the next size up, we can extend the range on the kinetic emitters to produce a wider barrier field to cover for the loss of the emitters in the joint."

Adams nodded and absently passed a stack of datapads containing the reports on the Normandy to Joker and then frowned at the hologram, "That would work, but aren't we worried about the extra weight from the larger power source?"

Tali hummed in dismay and continued to study the display. Joker looked through the pads really quick and then peered at the holographic dog himself, before asking the first question that came to mind, "Are you already reaching a point of weight limitations?"

Tali shook her head, "Not yet no, but we could get there really quick if we wanted. It's just a matter of prioritizing the weight of the armor versus mobility versus the strength of the kinetic barriers. Armor that is inherently mobile leaves very little leeway for the installation of kinetic barriers. What materials that are typically used in lighter battle armors are designed with the thought in mind that the wearer will be a tech or a biotic capable of using their own abilities to strengthen their own defense."

Joker frowned a bit, "Then why don't you go for the lighter emitters and armor and set up a miniaturized omni-tool on Snuggles' collar with remote commands for triggering tech shields and other abilities like that?"

Adams and Tali then blinked at Joker and then looked back the diagram. They quickly began discussing the possibility and began changing up the diagram, delving into terminology far more complicated than the pilot was used to. He smiled and then took his reports to the chair on the other side of the room to read up on the Normandy's status.

Tali'zorah nodded and then stretched her arms above her head. She and Adams had finally worked out the last of the kinks regarding Snuggle's new armor. Adams sighed and leaned on the table, "I must admit, as fun as challenges like these are, I'm glad we only have to design one of these. Retrofitting Krogan armor for Sten will be much easier."

Tali nodded, "And we should get those Volus battle suits in tomorrow so we can retrofit a set of that for Oghren as well. Everyone else will fit normal suits. I have to admit, I didn't expect to be putting my skills as a technician to use this way. But then… who expected for a band of unusual heros to just jump through the Citadel relay like that?"

Adams snorted and arched and eyebrow, "The first time or the second time?"

Tali laughed and shook her head, "Either I suppose. But the second time is what I was referring to."

Adams nodded, "The Commander seems assured of them, but I'm a little nervous. They know so little of our world, we can't possibly expect them to understand or agree with our politics."

Tali shrugged, "I know Commander Shepard and Warden Cousland spent a good deal of time going over such things during dinner last night. It's my understanding that she was raised to be an influential political figure in her own right. The Commander seemed pretty pleased with that idea.

I'm less worried about the political fallout and more about the potential social issues. The shorter man, Zevran, has already propositioned half of the CIC crew. The only reason he's not sporting a broken nose is he's rather good at dodging."

Adams laughed, "I'd heard. I suspect things like that will calm down eventually. If it doesn't the Commander will deal with it."

Tali nodded in agreement, "At the very least, I have faith that Commander Shepard knows what he's doing. If he says it'll work… it'll work."

Reaching for a few of the spare parts and a datapad with the new plans imported to it, Tali started gathering the materials she need, "I'm going to go find Garrus and ask if he knows a place here on the Citadel that can get me the couplers we need in the size for the smaller omni-tool as well as the transmitters for the remote connectivity."

Adams nodded, "Alright then. I'll work on the design schematics for altering the Volus battle suits for Ogrhen. I'll run them by you later."

Tali nodded and then turned out the door with her armful of supplies.

She turned down the hallway and nodded at a few crew members as she passed them, until she found Garrus sitting at a table one of the lounge rooms with Wrex. It appeared they were playing an Asari game that was rather analogous to the human's chess. She sat down the seat next to Garrus and dumped her materials on the table. She examined the game and then asked, "So.. who's winning?"

Garrus huffed grumpily, "Wrex."

Wrex merely grinned in his particularly scary way. "I told you before. I'm a battlemaster."

Garrus huffed again, "Yeah yeah.. battlemaster's have to have tactical know how. Rub it in why don't you?"

Wrex grinned wider and reached over as though he were going to grab Garrus' face. Garrus scowled and sat back out of reach, his eyes never leaving the board. Finally he smiled and moved and piece. He crossed his arms and looked up at Wrex as if to say 'There! Beat that!'.

Wrex looked at the board and then mused for all of two seconds before reaching out and moving one piece. He then nodded, "I win. Again."

Garrus frowned at the board and then knocked over his central piece, "So you did. Good game."

Wrex nodded and then eyed Tali's pile of stuff, "What's all that?"

Tali smiled inside her mask, "It's parts for Snuggles armor."

Wrex shook his head, "Who names a war-dog Snuggles? No Krogan in their right mind would do that to their varren."

Garrus snorted, "A fiendishly minded, aristocratic and mischievous woman with soldier's training. That's who. I swear that woman has a talent for political machinations. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that she named him Snuggles so as to make her opponents either underestimate him or that much more wary of him. I know I don't want to tangle with that dog."

Tali shrugged, "I've not really talked with her about the name. Though I do agree with your assessment about her being fiendishly minded. She questioned me thoroughly about how battle armor works and what I had in mind for her dog. Her expectations were surprisingly exacting yet reasonable. I was surprised to find myself looking forward to the challenge instead of feeling put upon by this project. She's going to be an excellent officer."

Wrex snorted, "We'll see. We've yet to test them in real battle. That skirmish at the relay was nothing."

Garrus shook his head, "We can't count that as meaning anything. They were transported across what we believe to be thousands of light years to a world they've never known. The disorientation they were experiencing is only to be expected. That they recovered enough to fight at all is a good sign tactically."

Tali nodded, "I'm looking forward to getting back out there. I fully expect to see our enemies running in fright when they realize how we've more than doubled our fire team's numbers this way."

Wrex snorted, "Or to stand there and drool when they see that Morrigan woman."

Garrus chuckled, "Now there's a tactic… distraction via female anatomy."

Tali huffed and then said annoyedly, "She does know how to fight you know. Her magic may not be gone either. Dr. Chakwas and Liara think that something about their planet affected how they perceived the dark energy used in biotic capabilities. they're theorizing that their home world, Thedas, must be very rich in Element Zero. Being pulled away from the large sources of that would limit their ability substantially."

Garrus frowned, "But if they're biotics then why didn't the medical scans just show that?"

Tali shrugged, "Honestly? I don't know. Liara said that the scans were odd and showed a great deal of application to biotics. It's almost as if they'd been exposed to some strange contaminant. I didn't fully understand it. But they've got tests planned to figure out the biotic capability of both Morrigan and Wynne."

Garrus nodded slowly, "Now that would be a powerful gain, if they were biotics capable of what they said their magic could do."

Wrex nodded with a wicked smile, "Now that could be fun."

Garrus and Tali exchanged a look and then shook their heads. Wrex ignored them and packed up his board and it's pieces. He stood then and waved to Tali and Garrus before leaving the room, their conversation turning back to the dog's armor.

Wrex stowed his game back in his quarters and then headed for the armory. He found Ashley Williams inside going over inventory with Executive Officer Pressly. They were both hunched over a datapad, arguing over the cost of upgrades for various weapons.

Ashley didn't even greet Wrex, but merely grabbed a very large rifle from the shelf and held it out to him. Wrex nodded his thanks and left. Pressly frowned after him and then looked back to the datapad. "One of these days, the Commander's going to pick up someone just dangerous enough and we're all going to suffer for it."

Ashley rolled her eyes, "I disagree, sir. The Commander knows what he's doing. Besides, as um…. alien… as our new allies are, they seem to be a good thing."

Pressly snorted, "I thought you didn't like aliens, Williams."

Ashley shrugged noncommittally, "Not in general, no. Some of them are okay… I guess."

Pressly frowned, "What do you make of the fact that there's humans from a planet that's not earth? There's no way we planted that group."

Ashley echoed Pressly's frown, "I'm trying not to think about that. I don't want to consider what it means if we were transplanted on several planets by another species. What do you think of the non-human ones… the elf, dwarf and giant?"

Pressly pursed his lips in a sour expression, "It makes me wonder about some of our own legends from history as far as species go. Though, personally… I think the lot of them, humans too, are trouble. The elf's already had five sexual harassment claims filed against him. The dwarf's refusing psychological help for his issues with open spaces. And the giant… I'm not sure we can expect him to follow orders or stop him if he becomes an issue."

Ashley shook her head, "Then you've not seen him sparring with Dana Cousland. She regularly beats him in spar and it's clear he's not letting her win. The Commander will handle Zevran as far as the complaints go. Doubt I can help you with the dwarf though."

Pressly shrugs and then gestures with the datapad, "I intend to discuss that with Dr. Chakwas when we're done here. I hear she's got quite a bit of experience handling him already."

Ashley snorted and then turned her attention back to the inventory and budget, "Well, whether we like them or not, it's my job to make sure they're armed. So… about those upgrades…"

Pressly held back a groan and then proceeded to continue in their previous argument over the armory budget.

Some hours and a satisfactory compromise later, Pressly left the armory and made his way to the makeshift clinic where he found Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Liara T'Soni going over the data from the medical scans again. They murmured to each other in a rapid exchange of biotic-related jargon and medical terminology. It seemed they'd made a breakthrough of some variety.

Pressly cleared his throat politely and then handed Dr. Chakwas one of his datapads when he had her attention. "It's just a recommendation to determine if Ogrhen's phobia is going to be a detrimental factor and what means of treatment should be considered. It's my professional opinion that using him for boarding parties on other ships may be a bad idea until all this is dealt with."

Dr. Chakwas looked over the recommendation form and then nodded at Pressly, "Very well. I'll chase him down after Joker's check-up tomorrow. If we need to, I'll have the Commander put out a request for a psychologist to be assigned to the ship's crew."

Pressly nodded and then left, leaving the two women to go back to their discussion. Liara smiled softly at the datapad that Dr. Chakwas placed on the stack on her desk, "I imagine that it'd be a good idea to have one regardless of the treatment of Oghren's phobia. Our new teammates have so much to learn. And a lot of it is social and cultural no less."

Chakwas nodded, "I agree. The more I think about the various needs of the team as a whole, the more I realize that I'm rather out of my depth. I'm already planning to request that Wynne be taught as much first aid skills as we can possibly teach her before it crosses into the territory of 'practicing medicine'. I think Dana, Alistair and Sten would make good trainees for that as well."

Liara nodded, "I can see how that would help a great deal. Engineer Adams also thinks that Sten and Oghren would be really useful for heavy duty ship repairs in an emergency. And Garrus was talking about working with Leliana and Zevran in regards to their capabilities as saboteurs and potentially as snipers. He also thinks he can train their respective abilities in performance and stealth towards intel gathering as well."

Chakwas nodded, "The potential here for the greater good is amazing to me. More so if we can get Wynne's and Morrigan's connection to dark energy sorted out."

Liara hummed her agreement, "I honestly think that the symbiotic process we found in the wardens' bloodstreams is strongly connected to our theorized contamination. The the element zero on their world was developed by the original source of the contaminants then that could explain not only their ability to wield biotic abilities without an amp but also in the particular displays they managed."

Chakwas nodded, "I agree on that front. It makes the most sense. Though it doesn't explain, Morrigan's ability to shapeshift."

Liara frowned, "You're right. I wish she could show us how she does it. Perhaps after we have their capability tested and get them outfitted with amps she'll be able to manage it again. We should also have a series of experiments conducted testing the variables of biotic strength in proximity to large amounts of contaminated eezo. If we can find a way to simulate the ore that they spoke of… Lyrium."

Chakwas mused thoughtfully and then nodded, "I think that's a good idea. First we try and simulate lyrium. And then test how it effects biotics. And go from there. Hopefully that'll not only give us insight on Morrigan's shapeshifting abilities but also on the subject of the Fade."

Liara leaned back in her seat, "The Fade… their description of it reminds me of a paper I once read on the study of out of phase dimensions. I seem to recall that eezo was used in that study. I'll see if I can't find it again for reference."

Chakwas, "Excellent. Well, let's start getting this put together. I'd like to get start Morrigan's testing tomorrow afternoon."

Liara nodded, "Very well then.