A/N: All right! Last chapter we got Art to get better. So this chapter would be the one where he apologizes, right?
WRONG! This chapter has a surprise that I'm not expecting many people to have expected.
This chapter... is written entirely in Tali's POV. So yeah. We'll take the attention off of our author avatar for the moment and leave it with someone on the crew of the Normandy. And it's got a nice surprise there, too.
Including more music! Yay! This corresponds to when the author avatar does stuff. You'll see. Anyway, you can hear the piece he's playing here: http :/www .youtube. com /watch ?v=yYl1u15W6AA
And yes, that is me playing that movement. Might give some of you a better insight into who's interacting with the rest of the crew.
So yeah. With that... I bring you the chapter from Tali's POV!
Chapter 17: A Day In The Limelight
I can't stop thinking about Art. Ever since we had that talk yesterday…
The poor man. He's only… nineteen? And he has to shoulder such a heavy burden. I still can't believe that what he said is true. And yet… he knew about why linking suit environments is so important to quarians. That right there shows he knows everything, exactly as he says he does. I can see why he kept that to himself.
I can't imagine what it would be like to live without connection to the fleet. I guess I am experiencing that now, but I know I will be able to return someday. I have that assurance, at least. Art doesn't have that. He only has his memories and maybe a few choice items on his part. I know either aren't enough to help him.
For that… I suddenly find new admiration in him. He knew exactly the kinds of things that would occur when the Normandy took on a mission, and yet he still willfully went with us. He's certainly much braver than he thinks he is. I admire that; even though he had been separated from his family and his friends for eternity, he was still able to move on. That takes a certain strength of character.
But he can't hold himself up forever. He already proved that when Ashley died. The poor man must have realized a lot when she died and he lived… He took Ashley's death hard enough, but combine it with being separated from everyone he ever knew for all eternity…
I will help him carry this burden, no matter what. Part of my Pilgrimage is that I have to help people any way I can. And if being his confidante is a way of helping him, I'll do it, to the end of my Pilgrimage and beyond. Besides… I've grown to like him. It hurts me just as much as it hurts him to be in the mood that he is in right now. I just wish he would show his old self again. He always used to say such fascinating things when he was in a better mood… I would really like to see it again…
I… don't really know all that much about human instruments. But I'm looking for a viola… preferably a red one. What is a viola? He hasn't really told me, except that it's some kind of string instrument. Oh, well.
I hear that there's a human instrument shop that recently set up in the Citadel. I'm sure they'll help me when I tell them I have a human friend who is looking for solace. A musician friend, washed up on the Citadel. He said it was a stimulant trip, and that he had left everything that he had on Earth… Yes, I think that could work. Just use his cover story. They'll understand.
Maybe I could find a viola and some notation software for Art to use. I don't think our little discussion will be enough to help him. Maybe if I got him something with which to make the music that he obviously loves so much… it might cheer him up. Maybe even get him in a light enough mood to start moving around the Normandy the way he normally does. They might also help me with trying to identify what exactly a viola is.
I step off the Normandy alone. I hope I can surprise Art with a musical starting kit; I think it would make him extremely happy.
My suit feels a little stiff today. Nothing a little walking around can't fix, though. And I will be doing plenty of that, as this music shop is quite a distance away from the docking bays. It will take me a very long while to get there.
And so, I enter the Citadel, looking around as I quickly moved over to the Zakera wards.
Keelah, things are extremely hard to find around here… Especially for a race that is relatively new to the Citadel. Even if Art already knew about the Citadel thanks to that… Mass Effect, whatever it was called… it still must have been quite a shock for him to arrive here. I imagine it must be a shock when he has to add words like 'mass relay' and 'FTL drive' and 'element zero' into his vocabulary.
I guess I should have seen it coming from his tastes. He always likes things from before that year, and rarely anything after. His tastes in music are very embedded in the past, as are his clothes and some of the things he says. I always thought his tastes were a little archaic when I first met him. Now that I know the truth of the matter, I'm not surprised.
I also remember the description of the Citadel he gave me. It is very exact, except that he also told me some areas were blocked off in-game that he found he could suddenly access in real life. This must be very strange for him to visit areas he could not visit previously. No, not just that; the entire Citadel is a place he could not visit before. I wonder how surreal he must find walking around a place he never could think of as a real place. I know that if I was suddenly transported to a fictional place, I would be very disturbed, but also find something wondrous about it.
Something tells me it won't last, though. He told me the layout of the Citadel was much less… damaged than he remembered it. I am not taking it as a good sign of the fate of this place. Even more so since he told me that his presence changed a couple of things around, including drastically changing what happened when he went with Wrex to get that armor that one time.
This must be very strange to him. He is in a place at once familiar and new. He has seen everything, and yet not at the same time. I can't begin to imagine what that feeling is like. It must be… surreal was the term he used, I think. It works pretty well to explain it. It is only in a dream that one is supposed to see things like this, and yet Art is living in this universe. He must be seeing every day as a dream.
I suppose that's one reason why he was able to avoid the angst for so long. For him, I think the novelty will never wear off.
At any rate, here I am at Paul Shar's Music Shoppe. Hm. That is certainly a strange way of saying 'shop'. Is it a strange Earth custom? Hm. This is… very intriguing. I look inside the shop before walking in tentatively.
When I step inside, I see that there is not much activity occurring around here. I see various instruments hanging on the walls of the shop, along with several shelves of electronic pads and paper. A race that still uses paper? This is certainly new. The last I knew many races had stopped making such an ancient material.
Keelah… the instruments in this shop look nothing like what I have seen on the flotilla. I rarely knew any musicians there myself, but… when I was there, I knew that most of us just hit things against something else and they would make sounds. I see some things that look like they were made for that purpose, but everything else… Keelah… It all looks amazing.
As I step in, I see a rather old man tending shop. Seeing me wander in, he turns, a soft smile on his face as a rather young man steps out.
"Hey, whaddya know?" says the younger man as he arranges something in shop. "We don't get too many aliens in here."
I look over to him as the older man gives him a shifty look. "Antoine, you know we don't bother the guests," he says simply.
The younger one shrugs. "I know," he says. "I'm just sayin'; it's always interestin' when they come around. Keeps some variety around here, ya know?" With this, he leaves the counter. "I keep tellin' ya we should start supplyin' non-human instruments. That would really help business!"
I strut over to where the old man stands as he shifts in place. "I would if the suppliers would actually acknowledge me," he replies. "I'm working on it."
I glance over to the younger man as he says something about that before tending to some instruments there. As soon as the conversation ends and the younger one is visibly distracted, I turn to the older man.
"Are you two always like this?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "Not really, no," he says. "Young ones are always fascinating. I think he's got great ideas myself; only thing is, I can't do anything about it with the way galactic politics are."
Trust me, sir, my entire race knows how you feel. My people were exiled, and then turned away… It's a horrible fate for any species to endure, but on top of it all we have these suits…
"Anyway, what can I do for you?" he asks.
Oh, Keelah… "Well…" I begin, just a little nervously. "I have… a friend. He's a musician from Earth. Originally, anyway; he wound up on the Citadel after he took too many stimulants, and he's been separated from his instruments. He's been going through something of a personal crisis… so I was thinking, maybe if I got him something it would cheer him up."
But the old man had already caught on to what I was asking. "I see," he says, looking over the shop as the younger one returns to the counter.
"Earth, huh?" asks the younger one. "From what I hear, not many musicians get out o' there too often. Looks like your friend got hit with insane luck."
If only you knew how he looks at his 'luck'… "Why?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "It's tough to get a job in music down there," he says. "But it's even harder for 'em to get off that bloody rock. All the good jobs for human musicians these days are at the colonies, and there are a few very nice openin's here as well."
"Oh," I reply. "I see…"
"He should consider himself lucky that he's also got a friend willing to spend a lot of money on instruments," adds the older man. "Being a musician is expensive."
Oh? "Why is that?" I ask.
The two men look at each other briefly before turning to me. "It depends on what your friend has," he says. "Sometimes instruments can be worth amounts in the double-digit thousands. The best quality instruments are rarely sold below two thousand credits."
Oh! Wow, that is very expensive. Well, he did warn me about it, I guess. "I see…" she said. "He did tell me it would be tough to replace them…"
The younger man shrugs. "Some people get attached ta their stuff," he says. "I'll bet 'e was as attached to his instrument back home as 'e was to 'is best friend. It happens, ya know?"
I nod, looking at them. "I see," I say.
"Anyway, we're getting off track," says the older man. "What does your friend do?"
"Well…" I say. "My friend plays the viola. He also writes music. Seeing as how I don't really know what a viola is or what you're supposed to write music on…"
The younger smiles and leaves the counter. "You're in luck, then, ma'am," he says with a broad smile on his face. "We just got the latest version of the best there is in notation software shipped over to us yesterday."
Oh? Notation software? "If you'll come right this way, I can show you the notation software, downloadable onto either an omnitool or a terminal."
Hm. I don't think he'll be using his terminal anytime soon, so… omnitool it is then. I follow him to a corner of the store where I see some things with a light orange glow. He looks in there before going through the OSD's.
"Now… your friend does what kind of composition?" he asks.
Wait, there's more than one way of writing music? "I'm… not sure I get your meaning," I reply.
"What style does 'e write in?" the younger says. "Twelve tone serialism? Atonal? Neo-Romantic? Neo-Baroque? Neo-Classical? Spacialism?"
Keelah, what do any of those terms mean? "I… wouldn't know," he says. "But he is a major fan of a man named Varèse, or something like that."
His finger wags as he thinks about this. "Probably atonal, edging into twelve tone serialism then," he says, pulling out one particular OSD in the bunch. "And if my predictions are right, he might plan on doin' somethin' crazy like spatial notation."
What? "Spatial notation?" I ask.
He looks over to me as he holds the OSD in his hand. "You're not a musician, are ya?" he asks.
Has a more redundant question ever been asked? "Even if I was, I would only know how the quarians play music," I reply. "I wouldn't be able to understand how humans do it."
He is silent. I can see his eyes go over to the old man behind the counter before he walks over to me. He hands me the OSD, tilting his head to the side with a shrug. "I see," he says. "I guess a demonstration is in order. Grampa! The keys to the piano, please!"
Piano? What's a piano?
I see the old man reach under the piano and get some kind of wireless key. He throws it over to the younger, who catches it. I see him pull some paper out from the shelves—maybe that's what the music is written on— and I watch as the younger walks over to a giant black thing in the center of the room. I follow him tentatively, and watch as he presses a button on the key. He lifts something up, and I step over to the side as I see a relatively long series of white and black things on that.
"What is this?" I ask.
"This is a piano," he says, placing the sheets of paper on top of the black thing and shifting in his seat as he warms up his fingers. "This is one of our more standard instruments. It 'as every note attainable by every instrument, and… well… 'ere, just watch…"
And then he depresses one of the white things. A sound comes out of the object, and… This is fascinating.
He looks to see if I'm getting it. I look to the white and black things before nodding. "What are the white and black things?"
He chuckles softly and gestures to it. "These things are called keys," he replies. "You press 'em, and they make sound. We call instruments like these 'keyboard instruments'."
"Oh…" I say, nodding. "I think I'm starting to get it now."
"Good," he says. He then goes over to the sheets of paper he left and opens it. Huh…? What are all of those strange symbols? Is that… Oh, I guess it's what they read when they play music.
"I guess ya know what this is," he says, gesturing to the sheets. "If he talks about music, he probably talks about how ta read it."
"A little…" I say. I'm still not sure what the symbols mean, though, but that is probably for the best.
He nods. "I'm sure he'll tell ya how ta read it someday," he says. "But I'll spare 'im the trouble." Oh. Well, that is awfully nice of him. "Anyway… we usually look at this… and then when we learn to play it we translate these symbols into motions that produce notes. Let's just take… this, for example."
He points to one of the lines that is full of those symbols. The circles are filled and not filled… what is this supposed to mean? "Now… the noteheads tell us what note to play. The way they look tell us what the durations of each note is supposed to be." He points to some text I see above it all. Trés lent sans presser ni ralentir jus'qua la fin? What does that mean? "This, tells us what speed we have to play this at. You probably don't know French, so… that means 'very slowly, without speeding or slowing down until the end'." Oh. So it's a speed indication. I see… "We call that a tempo in musician's terms. So I'd like you to give me a pulse. Slow, and steady, and then you can follow along."
Oh, I get to set this… tempo, was it? Hm… Well, I can follow along I guess. So I think of something. All right... 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4...
I begin to tap this tempo out against the piano, the shopkeeper keeping an eye on me as he watched my hand. After about twelve beats, he nods his head to the beat, bringing his hands to the keyboard. He gives me a big nod, meaning he starts the piece with… silence. But then in two of the beats I'm given, he presses down on two of the black… keys, were they? He presses down on them in rhythm according to the beat I gave him. After he goes a certain ways, I see his left hand depress more keys, and it sounds a chord that is… haunting, to say the least. As I trail along, I slowly start to get how to read this notation.
This is very different from Khelish music notation, that is for sure. And somehow, it seems to produce all the same notes and all the same frequencies. It's astounding what people can come up with, I guess. And… I'm slowly getting it. I'll never really get to read it fully, though. I'm sure Art would be more than happy to change my ignorance of human music, though.
We read to about the first page, and then he turns and nods.
"That was… very pretty," I say, unable to say much else to that.
"That's also how we read stuff," he says, closing the book of sheet music. "Once ya get that down, you can go on to the composers that do the extremely odd stuff like spatial notation. But those don't start comin' until about the 1950's in human years, and it takes really, really good players to do it right, so I doubt you'll be needin' ta look at that."
"I see," she says. "What was that… music you were just playing?"
"We refer to 'em as 'pieces', if you're lookin' for a specific term," he replies before showing me the sheet with the title on it. "Gaspard de la Nuit. It's a piano suite written by a Frenchman named Maurice Ravel who was active between human years 1900 and 1931, approximately. Don't know where that rests in quarian years…"
Oh. I think Art has mentioned Ravel a few times. Mostly in regards to other things not for this 'piano', though. "I've heard of him, yes," I reply.
He smiles as he places the sheets back where they were. "Enough about that, though," he says. "I've taken away a lot of 'is ground to tell ya the basics of human music. I'll let 'im explain the rest. For now… let's see to that viola he's lookin' for."
And with this, he walks over to another corner of the shop, grabbing a stool from the far end and gauging where he should put it. When he makes up his mind, he places it on the ground, stands on it, and reaches up to get a medium-sized instrument with what I assume are four strings. He carefully brings it down, and then walks over to me.
"And this, is a viola," he tells me, bringing a hand across the strings. The hand pulls on them and releases them. Keelah, the sounds these human instruments make… They seem so sweet upon a first listening… "I should let you know that the best of these tend to run for 14,000 credits, and that's not including bow and case."
"How do you play one of these things?" I ask.
"Many ways," answers the old man as he comes around with a strange stick. Is that hair on that stick? This is all very strange. "One way is to draw this thing across the strings. Another is to pull the strings and release them quickly. There are… a lot of ways to play this."
"I… I see…" I say. "Case?"
The younger shrugs. "Well, ya gotta carry this thing around somehow, right?" he asks. "So… we can help you by asking what size his other instrument was…"
"Well, I was thinking to make it as similar to his instrument on Earth as I can get it," I say. "All he tells me was that it was a pretty large viola, and that it was a kind of dark red in color."
Both of them blink tentatively, and then they look at the instruments. What did they mean by that? I look up, and see a dark red viola sitting in the middle. I suddenly feel some kind of otherworldy vibe coming from it. It looks so regal from where I'm sitting… And it looks exactly like what Art described…
"That's the one…" I mutter under my breath.
"That one?" asks the older one. "That's… one of the best instruments in the shop. It's a Nikolai Tambovsky model from 2007. It was donated to us by a great player two years ago. Nobody's ever bought it, though… it's a bit expensive for that. Runs for 17,000 credits. And that's not counting everything else."
"I'll take it." My reply is simple, very to the point. I don't care how many credits it is: the Council's funding of the ship means I can get a lot of things. Besides… it's not for me.
They both give me odd looks before looking back at the instrument in question. Their expressions are quite surprised at this, and they both look to me.
"Are ya sure?" asks the younger. "You're gonna go broke for a friend?"
Might as well tell them what I think of Art. "He is… unique," I say. "He's got a strength of character I don't see in many other places. I… admire him for it, actually. He and I are very close in many ways. And I want to see him smile more often… He is the kind of man that will help you any way he can, no matter the cost to himself. He's kind… selfless… And I want to repay a few favors he's done for me in kind."
The younger one blinks as silence takes over the shop. They look at each other, confused looks on their expressions before the younger looks back to me.
"Are ya sure he isn't your boyfriend?" he asks.
W-what? Keelah! What gave them…? "H-he is not my boyfriend!" I reply. Why would I think of him as my boyfriend, anyway? "He's not!"
The younger one chuckles at my nerves, the tense air in the shop gone. "Trust me, if he isn't your boyfriend now, he's gonna be your boyfriend eventually," he says. "Right. One Nikolai Tambovsky model viola comin' right up."
And without further ado, he stands on the stool and takes that viola down carefully. Keelah, I can still feel the blood rushing up to my cheeks as I think about what he just said. Boyfriend… I don't think so. And yet… that prospect sounds beautiful.
No. We've known each other for barely two months. It couldn't be possible… could it?
"Right," says the older one. "Now, you will have to pick out a case and a couple of bows."
"Oh… yes… of course," I say.
And then he shows me what a case and a bow is. All right… I will take this bow and this case. The entire order comes out to 22,750 credits. Wow… That is indeed very expensive. But I'm doing this for a friend, so I pay all of it. I step out of the shop feeling quite invigorated, leaving the man and his grandson there with rather broad smiles on their faces.
The younger one is quite a funny man. Antoine Shar, I think it was. He certainly left an impression. I wonder how he gets around the music world, and how his regular customers must feel. I imagine it is enough to brighten their days. If they acted in such a nice way to someone who wasn't a human (never mind a quarian)… then they must have a great reputation amongst the human clients for being as nice, if not more so.
Oh, well. He was extremely helpful nevertheless. I am sure Art will be grateful for a lot of what he did to help me know more about human music. And I am sure he will be grateful for what I'm doing for him in a way that he can't begin to describe. I wonder how he'll react when I surprise him later…
I decide now is as good a time as any to head back to the Normandy. And I do just that, moving through the crowd with a rather heavy case and the bag with the OSD drive.
As I went through the more heavily populated areas of the Citadel, I thought I noticed something odd on my way back to the Normandy. No… This is weird.
There is a man who set up shop in the market district who seems to have been hypnotized by something. He is standing over his table, wearing these very thick glasses with dark lenses and a strange black glove. For some reason, his hand is hovering over some kind of pack, its contents all over the rest of the table. There are a lot of papers in there, and his hand is just hovering over everything.
Hm. This is very curious. It can't hurt to take a closer look.
I step closer to the area where he has set up shop, and I look first at the man. He's human, of course, and seems rather tall for his species. He seems lost in a trance as his hand runs over the pack and the items that are around. Looking closer, I see some of that paper that I saw at the music shop, only… everything was written in with some kind of grayish material. What is that stuff? I hope it's not lethal… They're all held down by weights, of course, and then there are some papers that look like they have overly neat handwriting there. Almost too neat, now that I think about it. Still, what can I do but notice things… Some of the papers seem larger than others. Now that is interesting. Who would switch to a larger size of paper if one size seems to do everything for them?
I then look to the man and back at the papers. I'm sure he won't mind if I take a look at these papers. I lean closer, and…
Wait…
Oh, Keelah! Art's name is on some of these papers! These must be the papers he lost when he got robbed by the batarians when he first got here! They all look… a little messy. But it looks like he was writing some kind of strange music…
What music is that? It looks so incomplete?
I look over to the man, still engrossed in what he was doing. I think I should get his attention or something. If I could get this back to Art, I think it would make him so much happier.
"Um, excuse me, sir," I say.
The man continues looking on with his hand hovering over the bag. If he noticed me, he is not saying anything. I'm about to say something again when he speaks.
"I was beginning to wonder when you'd say something," says the man. "It's not polite to stare, you know."
I reel back a little in shame. That is true… "I apologize for that, sir," I reply. "I just… couldn't help but wonder at what you were doing…"
"Testing out a new toy to fight crime," he says, letting his hand drop from where he was standing. "I'm hoping to join C-Sec with it. I like to call it CORI. Crime Overview and Review Item. It's technology that I developed that can sense all sorts of things. DNA, traces of blood, footprints, you got it all here."
"Oh…" I say. Keelah, that sounds strange. "What are you doing out here then?"
"Studying a bit," he says, looking over the bag. "This bag was robbed by two batarians around a little over a month and a half ago. Since then it was circulating the black market until it found its way to me. I've identified pretty much everyone in the ring from the DNA I've picked up on this bag. I've notified C-Sec, and they're off making arrests as usual."
Oh… Interesting. I don't know much about law enforcement, but that sounds like it could be really useful. "But why the strange visor and the glove?" I ask.
"It allows me to examine evidence and review it later," says the stranger. "But anyway, I'm still wondering who owned this bag in the first place. Nothing inside the bag was touched by any of the black market specialists, so the DNA of the owner is the only one who touched it."
"So it should be simple, right?" I ask. I mean, it is only DNA for one person.
The man shakes his head. "The DNA belongs to someone who isn't on any records," he replies. "I've searched extensively. Alliance. Citadel. Earth. Nowhere do I see this man. It's almost as if he just appeared here and began running around."
You are closer to the truth than you think you are. Yes, these papers definitely belong to Art. "If that's the case, I think I might know who these belong to," I say. "I have a friend who appeared on the Citadel at around that time period. He told me some items of his were stolen by batarians."
"Oh," says the man, looking to the papers. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," I say. "He's only just arrived at the Citadel, and I don't think he's been documented by C-Sec yet since he's been so busy running around the galaxy. I can take this back to him if you want."
I can't read his expression behind that visor. I see his shoulders relax slightly before he nods.
"All right then," he says, gathering all the papers and placing them in the bag. "I don't know if I should trust a quarian to do it, but you seem honest enough." Oh, the xenophobic bosh'tet! "Here." And he hands me the bag with every item inside.
Oh, well, he's offering it to me. I might as well take it. I place the viola case down and take the bag gingerly. Hm… Two straps… Maybe it was meant to be carried on my back… I bring my arms out through the two straps and feel as they hit my suit lightly. Ah, yes, this is how it was intended to be carried. I pick the case back up before gesturing to him with my head.
"Thank you, sir," I say.
"Just get it back to its owner in one piece," he replies. "That thing has been puzzling me for weeks."
I nod and head into the crowd. Oh, dear… I'm a quarian carrying more items than most humans really have. I probably stick out as if I'm not in my suit right now. Keelah…
I just hope I can make it back to the Normandy without being robbed. And then getting to my quarters without being seen by Art.
Oh, well. I might as well get going. I weave through a crowd, resolving to only step through the most crowded areas I can think of to avoid being noticed by anyone other than the ones I bump into by accident.
Somehow, I did it. I went through the Citadel with a lot of stuff and made it to the Normandy without too much of a problem.
And when I get here, there seems to be some kind of a commotion. Huh? What is going on? It seems as if everyone here is in a bit of a shock about something.
Maybe Art knows what it is. I could ask him when I run into him next.
In any event, at least it'll make it easier to sneak around the Normandy. I sneak all the way back to my quarters, and then I leave the viola there by the bedside. If anybody notices, they don't ask. Good; I wouldn't want Art to find out too early.
All right… how should I do this? Okay, leave the OSD drive out of the bag, place it by the backpack… and then open the viola case and let it present itself, right? No… there is the danger of the case closing without my consent. Maybe I could take it out and leave it on the bed just in front? Hm… I don't see why not. I take the thing out and carefully lay it on the bed. What are these things made out of? From the way Antoine Shar was handling it, I think it is a very fragile material. But I've never seen anything quite like it. I lay it down, take the bow and do the same. There's an odd contraption in the case… I'll close it and let Art figure out what to do with that contraption. Okay, I'm all set.
Now to find him…
I leave my cabin, but not before pass-protecting the door. After all, I wouldn't want someone to steal anything in there. When I do this, I go around the ship. When I manage to catch sight of him, he's over in engineering where I usually stand. I don't see Engineer Adams around anywhere, so… I guess we're a bit secluded.
I approach, my steps a little nervous at the surprise I'm going to show him soon. I think he hears my steps, for as soon as I approach, he gives me a rather soft smile.
"Hey, Tali," he says. "What's up?"
"Nothing much," I reply. "I see you are doing… reasonably well after our discussion yesterday."
Art shrugs before turning to me. "Where were you?" he asks. "I was a little worried about you."
Oh, I guess he would be if I vanished off the ship for no apparent reason. "I had to take care of some things in the Citadel," I reply. I look around briefly to find that the Engineer still hasn't returned before turning back to my friend. "What happened? The Normandy was in some kind of disarray when I got here."
Art licked his lips and bit his lower lip as he shook his head. "The Normandy went into lockdown," he says.
Lockdown? As in, it remains forced to stay grounded? "What?" asks Tali. "But… why? Aren't we supposed to be stopping Saren and the geth?"
He shakes his head before leaning against one of the panels of engineering. "I'm not supposed to know the full story, but here it is," he says. "The Council thinks that the Reapers are a lie made by Saren to trick the Council into falling away from his true intentions. They especially hate on Shepard for falling into that 'trick'."
What? That is ridiculous! "But we talked to Saren's ship on Virmire!" I reply. "It specifically told us it was working for the extinction of all organic life!"
"Yeah, well, tell that to a blind pack o' dogs who are in just a little over their heads," replies Art, shaking his head. "And it's not just because of Saren, either. Just wait another two years, and then take another look at the Council in relation to the Reapers. You'll really wish you could slap yourself then, I tell you."
Oh, Keelah… "I am not looking forward to that," I say. "So what did the Council do about this 'trick', and why are we on lockdown?"
"All vessels are staying at the Citadel," he replies. "They're expecting Saren to make a full-fledged attack on the Citadel. And we're grounded because that opportunistic son of a bitch Udina said so. If things go according to the game, though, we get to play Grand Theft Warship to get a chance to stop Saren."
Wait, we steal a ship? And what does Grand Theft Warship refer to, anyhow? "Grand Theft Warship?" I ask.
He regards me with some surprise, and then nods. "Oh, yeah, that's right, you don't know about Grand Theft Auto…" he adds with a small amount of disappointment. "Basically, we steal the ship. And Anderson helps us do it."
Oh! "But wouldn't we get in trouble afterwards?" I ask. "I mean, Keelah! If someone stole a ship from the fleet, we would not hesitate to shoot the ship on sight."
Art shakes his head, shrugging. "Trust me on this, Tali," he replies. "It'll be the only reason Sovereign's plan ultimately fails if events play out right. Because Saren isn't going to attack them. Directly anyway."
"What's he planning on doing?" I ask. I don't like where this is going…
My friend simply positions himself in front of the panel, and looks behind him. Adams still isn't here, and Art seems very relieved by it. He nods, and then gives a hand gesture before speaking. "He's going to enter through the Citadel's back door," he replies. "And then he's going to unleash Sovereign on everyone. And if Sovereign succeeds in causing damage to the Citadel, it's a countdown to total doomsday for all of us."
Hold on… "The Citadel has a back door?" I ask.
"What do you think the Conduit is?" he replies. "It's a back door to the Citadel. And it's a back door in a very inopportune place, too." He looks around again before leaning towards me. "Technically, nobody's supposed to know about this next bit of information, but since you asked me to I'll tell you. Although, when we get to the Conduit, there'll be a Prothean VI there to tell the entire squad everything anyway."
"Tell me what?" I ask. I definitely do not like where this is going, but I will listen anyway.
"Well… there's something about the Citadel that nobody knows," he says. "And that is that the Citadel is actually a huge mass relay that points into deep space."
What? Keelah, out of anybody else's mouth that would come out as insanity. But from his mouth, it is simply disturbing. "W-what?"
"That's not even the juicy part," he replies. Oh, Keelah, there's more? Oh no… "The juicy part is that it's what the Reaper fleet uses to destroy all organic life. I'm pretty sure you heard from Sovereign about how all organic life is left to develop because the Reapers want it to, and then they come in and destroy everything, right?"
"Of course," I reply, my voice beginning to get overtaken by the fear. "So… Oh… Oh no…" They don't…
"Yeah," replies Art. "They enter the Citadel and destroy the heart of galactic civilization, thus crippling everybody else and making it easier for them to destroy everything. There's an extra, incredibly… graphic detail that I'll drop out right now." Oh, Keelah, I don't even like the sound of that. It is a good thing he is sparing me that. "I'll tell you what it is in two years when it becomes relevant."
I see… Wait a second. There is one detail. "Wait," says Tali. "Why do we need the Conduit?"
Art shrugs at this. "The Protheans managed to sabotage part of their scheme," I reply. "I'm sure you've heard of the Keepers, right?"
"Of course," I reply with a nod. "Why?"
"See, the Keepers are there to make sure the mass relay activates in the first place," says Art. "It's also supposed to keep people from knowing about the fact that the Citadel is a giant mass relay. Normally, the Reapers would just be able to go right into the Citadel and take it out without a problem. But then the Protheans came along and messed with the Keepers just after the Reapers started taking over everything. So the reason they need Saren is because they need someone to go through the Conduit and reactivate the relay. The Protheans bought us some time to defeat them."
Oh… Oh Keelah… "So the Protheans left clues behind…" I say. Oh, of course! It makes sense! "Shepard told me about the beacon she found on Eden Prime when Saren attacked it. It gave her visions, and those became unscrambled thanks to the Cipher… So they were trying to warn us…"
"Yeah," replies Art. "It's up to us to finish what the Protheans started. And by that, I mean gather the big-ass army to fight the Reapers with everything we have. Although, with our Council the way it is that's much easier said than done."
Well… when do we gather this army? "What about this sequel that came out before you got here?" I ask.
Art shakes his head. "That's not the one that we collect the army to deal with the Reapers," he tells me. "There was a proposed third game in the series that would close the overarching story of Commander Shepard and the Reapers. I'm pretty sure that would've been handled in that installment. As of the time that I came here, the developers hadn't even started working on it, though."
Oh Keelah. Then that means… "You don't know how this war resolves?" I ask. "So you are as clueless as I am on that count."
He shakes his head. "Unless I can find a way to return to my home dimension in two years and be able to return in a month, that's pretty much it," he says. He shakes his head as he crosses his arms. "So that leaves part 2. And you are not going to like some of the things that occur…"
"Like what?" I ask. Better to be prepared now than later… Because then I can prepare for it better.
Art shakes his head, though. "I don't think I'll tell you now," he says. "I'll tell you in a month when the entire crew of the Normandy reunites under… unhappy circumstances. You'll know the occasion almost as soon as it happens."
Oh, no… I do not like the sound of that. It must have something to do with the Normandy getting destroyed that he mentioned briefly when he confessed that he knew everything. This… this is disturbing. I know he knows I trust him, but… he must have a very good reason for holding something like this back. I have a feeling it will be terrible… but I think I will take his word for it.
"I see…" I reply. "Art, will we be able to stop Saren?"
He smiles warmly upon seeing this. "Of course, Tali," he says. "It's how it happened in the game, anyway. Shepard's a good leader. She'll save all of our asses when the time comes."
All right, this makes me feel a little better. "Thank you," I say with a smile coming to my face. It's a shame he can't see it under this suit! "Art?"
He arches his eyebrow. "Another question?" he asks.
I shake my head, chuckling softly. "No," I reply. "I… have a surprise for you."
His expression shifts, and he seems very intent on listening. "Oh?" he asks. "What sort of surprise?"
I smile. All right, he's interested. "It's why I was out in the Citadel just now," she says. "I got you something I think you'd really like to look at there…"
He eyes me, and I can sense that he's suspicious for just the briefest second. That is… troubling. Whatever happened to him back home that he would find such an offer suspicious? Oh, well. I am better off not asking, I suppose. Besides, it was only for a brief second, and when he snapped out of it, he crossed his arms in front of his person.
"Well… all right," he says. "I would ask what sort of stuff… but that's a surprise, so I won't press too much."
All right, I have his interest! "All right," I say. How do humans do this? Oh, yes. "Close your eyes and follow me. And no peeking!"
Art smiles at this, closing his eyes and holding his hand over them. He holds his hand out to me, which I take. I lead him by the hand down the corridors of the Normandy, and he's giggling slightly.
"You know, I feel like I'm seven years old again," he comments. "It's a great feeling."
Oh, Keelah. "Really?" I ask as I lead him down the hall.
"Yeah," he says. "The anticipation, the surprise… I'm looking forward to seeing what it is."
I nod, smiling behind the facemask. "I think you'll like it a lot," I say.
And with this, I continue leading him to my quarters. I can feel the excitement flow throughout my own body as I walk along the Normandy's decks. I wonder how Art will react. Will he give me some kind of a public recital or something like that? If he did… I wonder what he would play. What would his music sound like on that instrument...? What'll he think of the gesture? I'm actually excited about it all, and I pick up my pace as I lead him there.
Then, when I get to my quarters, I quickly let go of his hand. "Don't look yet!" I say, just as I see his hand drop. He quickly brings his hand back up, and I can see his eyes close behind that. On my omni-tool, I take down the pass-protection on my door. It clicks open and slides out with a satisfactory hiss. I look inside and… yes, everything is as Ieft it. I walk back to Art and take his hand again, leading him into my quarters. I position him so that he is facing the bed, and then walk away.
"You can look now," I say.
Art brings his hand down, opening his eyes. As the door hisses shut behind him, he looks down at the viola, his eyes widening in shock as he looks at everything. The instrument, the case, the OSD, the backpack. His eyes linger on the backpack briefly before he turns to me.
"Well… what do you think?" I ask.
He blinks, shock still on his features as he turns to the instrument. He picks it up gingerly, holding it in his hand as he admires it.
"Dark red… Just like the one back home…" he says, looking at the instrument. His fingers glide across the strings, producing some sounds. "C, G, D, A… It's all the same strings I had, too…" He looks to the rest of the ensemble.
"And that's my pack!" he says, his motions becoming more excited by the minute. "Tali, how the hell…?" He walks over to the backpack and opens it up. "My sketches! They're still in there!" His joy is slowly beginning to break out into the open. "I can't… How the hell…?"
His attention turns to the OSD drive just by the backpack, as he terms it. He looks to it in wonder. "And the OSD… is that…?"
"Notation software?" I ask, hoping to facilitate him along.
He's speechless as he holds the viola there. His eyes are full of shock as he registers this. He looks around, and then goes to the case. He opens it and sees the bow, and the contraption inside. He looks over to me, gently placing the viola back in there.
And then, he lunges at me, and I'm taken off guard. I feel his arms snap around me as I stumble back in surprise, and suddenly his hug is a little too powerful. I have difficulty breathing, but almost as soon as he's on me he lets go.
"Tali…" he says, looking at me. I can see the combined sense of shock and happiness in his eyes. "That… that can't have been cheap… You really shouldn't have spent all those credits… I mean… I…"
"You're my friend," I reply, placing a hand on his arm. "I figured I'd do at least this much."
He looks at me as I rub his arm comfortingly. He nods, and I can see a tear fall from his eyes. Is he…?
He takes my hand almost without my knowing it. He clasps his two hands in mine, his five fingers holding my hand gingerly, if a bit awkwardly while trying to place how to fit his five fingers into my three. It almost seems as if he's praying…
"Thank you so much, Tali," he says. "I… You've made me the happiest man in the galaxy today…"
I nod at this, and then he fidgets a little, my hand getting moved around slightly within his. "I… I wish I had a more immediate way of repaying you," he continues. "This… Thank you…"
With this, I offer him a smile. Even if he can't see it, I'm glad I was able to make him happy again. He holds my hand for a few seconds longer before he turns over to the items themselves.
"Getting the musical items must've been a bit tough," he says.
"They were nice people," I reply. "Extremely helpful and everything, even if I got a little too much information. Still, it was nice to not encounter xenophobia when I talked to someone other than a quarian."
Art shakes his head, chuckling. "Leave it to the musicians to be progressive," he mentions. "They were pretty liberal back in 2010, too."
Oh, were they? I chuckle at this. "As for your 'backpack', as you call it…" I say. "I actually picked it up from someone who was using dark glasses on the Citadel to investigate crime."
He pauses, and then his attention is on me. "Really?" he asks. "Did you catch the guy's name?"
I shake my head. "No," I reply. "Why?"
He shrugs and returns to the instrument that's there. "There's a video game back in my dimension that has a character who uses 'sunglasses'—that's what we call them—to investigate crime scenes," he replies. "The glasses were called ARI. The guy was named Norman Jayden. Did his 'r's sound a little odd to you?"
Actually, now that I think about it… "He was saying them like they weren't there…" I admit.
He smiles. "Okay…" he says. "I've run into living references of four games from my dimension while also journeying in another. What are the chances of that?"
Oh, so that is why he feels surreal about that! "Not very high, I imagine," I reply. "That is very strange indeed."
"It makes all this even more surreal," he says, taking the strange contraption and putting on the viola. He tests it by resting it on his shoulder briefly before adjusting it. Wait… is he going to… "I hope you don't mind if I play something to see how I'm doing right now…"
Oh? He's going to play something? "Oh, of course not!" I reply. "I would actually like it a lot if you would!"
He smiles at me then, and he nods. "Okay then," he says. "If you want it, you'll get it."
He takes the bow, and rests the instrument on his shoulders. Oh… that's how you're supposed to play it. I see… I watch him intently as he takes the bow and draws it across the string, his fingers dashing along the higher part of the instrument as he gets himself warmed up. He glances at the instrument before drawing the bow across his strings. He then manipulates the black things that stick out of the top of the instrument, and then I hear the sound of the strings change slightly. He groans frustratedly at this, finally securing them into place.
"Fucking pegs," he mutters under his breath. "Always making life difficult."
He then goes out lower to the instrument once the peg is secured. I see him twist something much closer to his chin, and then he draws his bow across all four of the strings.
"Right," he says.
"Tuning?" I ask.
"You have to make sure all these strings are in tune before you start," he replies. "And by that, I mean that they kind of have to sound… like they work." An awkward pause stretches between us as he ponders on this. "Uh… Never mind, I just made no sense."
I shrug, and tilt my head to the side as I step away from him. "I don't mind," she said. "So…?"
"Yeah, I'll get something right now," he says, adjusting the viola on his shoulder.
He pauses for a few seconds, tapping his foot against the ground as he thinks. I guess he's wondering what he should play right now. He ponders on this for a second, and then nods. The bow goes back on one of his strings, one of his fingers settling there.
And then he plays… Keelah, I can't even describe it. The harmonies are… really strange by human standards, but by quarian standards they are absolutely sublime. But… there's something so depressing about the piece itself. It's… like a woman wailing a funeral dirge. There is something longing in each of the notes as it hits a climax very high up on the instrument, and then the feeling of despair that slowly overtakes everything. As he plays, I suddenly see why he loves music so much, if only by his expression; it's a way for him to express himself. He's just lost contact with his family and his best friends. And now, the music gives him another way of expressing that hopeless feeling of abandonment.
At least, that is what I think, anyway.
He ends on the most desolate sound I can think of to end the piece, and then he holds the bow in the air for a brief period of time. Keelah… The silence is really powerful, so much so that I don't say anything for a few minutes after he stops.
Finally, I approach as he puts his instrument down.
"Art, that was beautiful," I say. "So… desolate…"
Art nods at this. "Definitely," he replies. "That was the last movement of the solo sonata Opus 25 no. 1. The man who wrote it went by the name of Paul Hindemith."
"It sounds like such a depressing piece," I reply.
The musician chuckles at this, his mouth forming a smirk. "Well, actually, if you can believe it, the piece isn't known for how depressing it is," he comments. "It's actually known more for the fact that the movement before is supposed to be impossible to play if you follow the composer's instructions to a T."
Oh? This is interesting. I raise an eyebrow; even if he can't see the gesture I'm sure he gets my posture. "Really?" I ask. "How impossible?"
He blinks. "Well, the tempo that's marked is way faster than what you can see on any metronome, even today I imagine," he replies. "So technically, you have to play ridiculously fast to cover a lot of ground in a very short time."
"I… I see…" I reply, looking to everything else. We're both looking at the objects on the bed, and then Art takes off the contraption and places it back in the case.
"Everything's in working order with this thing," he says as he puts the instrument away. "And… well, I guess I can start composing again, so you'll be hearing something from me soon I imagine."
He closes the case, grabs his backpack and the OSD drive, and pauses. He places the case down, and then proceeds to give me another hug. I take my own arms and wrap them around him, finding my hands coming over to where the backpack is on his back. He then gives me a nod, with a smile on his face.
"Thank you, Tali," he says. "You've done more for me than anyone in this entire galaxy. I'll make it up to you somehow. This much, I promise."
And with this, he leaves my quarters. As he goes, I feel something in my chest start to rise up. Every time I see him now… I feel that admiration for him.
Could it be…?
No, don't be ridiculous, Tali. It's not that. It's not that at all… is it?
Oh, well. Hopefully the Normandy will get itself out of lockdown soon enough.
I might as well return to engineering if that is the case. I'll bet Adams came back to see that I wasn't there. I'm sure he'll understand, though. He usually is, anyhow. He's not too bad a human.
I leave my quarters and head to engineering. I suddenly notice a slight spring in my step as I go along, but ignore it and continue heading to engineering.