Chapter 2: Down the rabbit hole

A/N: Sometimes, things seem too good to be true for Shepard.
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Somewhere around the city.

Still blindfolded, Alice Shepard felt herself being gently guided out of the car, then through the streets. The madness of what was happening to her was slowly sinking in. It was a very quiet part of the city, and she could hear her heart beating slightly faster at every turn, at every traffic stop.

Who's gonna miss me?

Her life came back at her in a blur. Her parents passing away when she was in high school. Living with her aunt and uncle. College... Ph. D... moving to her dream job in San Francisco, leaving most of her friends behind. Dream turning into hell thanks to her self-indulgent, asshole boss and his brown-nosed minions, her esteemed "colleagues"...

Remembering all this cheered her up. She slowed down her walk. "Can I still say no?" she ventured.

"Of course, Alice," Nel replied, regretfully. "We would bring you back home, but... please..."

She kept going. So much work, so few people she could really count on... Last weekend's hike, alone, had felt so good! Sweating away her thirty-year-old blues, along those steep mountain trails, feeling her body work, emptying her mind. She wasn't that good with people, really.

Alice finally reached that familiar conclusion: her life sucked and would probably keep sucking for the foreseeable future. She'd been dreaming of "something else" for so long...

Right then, Nel stopped and very carefully guided her up a few steps, into a building.

A heavy door swung close. She was taken along what seemed to be a long corridor, counting the ceiling lights shining through the edges of her blindfold. Eventually, she heard the familiar sounds of an elevator door opening, then closing. But it did not move yet.

Her blindfold was taken off. Nel was standing right in front of her, eye to eye, gently but firmly holding her hands. Her voice became stone cold, almost mournful, as she said "Here comes the unpleasant part... There are... two things. First, let me get this out of the way, we will not uplift you technologically right now, so please do not ask. Our rules explicitly forbid it. Sorry about that. Alright?"

Alice nodded, frustrated, but understanding their reasons. Then, Nel added "Second, I am sorry again to ask this of you, but I will have to... look into your mind to make sure we can trust you."

Alice took a step back and bumped into the elevator wall. "Can you really do that?"

"Yes... It is not a sexual thing, but I will see your mind naked. Without your explicit consent, it is rape. If you disagree, we will bring you back home."

She added, as a last-minute thought on a more reassuring tone "I have good feelings about you, Alice. Don't be afraid."

Alice just... accepted what Nel said, closed her eyes and began thinking. Could it really be worse than her damn ex posting her personal diary on his fucking facebook? Those aliens could be dissecting her in an hour or two, and she had already decided to take her chances.

They did it by the asari book: Ch'ara recorded on her suit camera while she expressed her consent, then Nel hugged her. Alice muttered a tiny "omygod" when Nel did, indeed, say "Embrace Eternity" while her eyes turned black.

Alice felt something gently poking at her mind, pressing upon it. It was warm, friendly, curious, eager, but soft and caring. She understood Nel was doing her best not to intrude too much... but it felt like being woken up by a hand softly caressing her hair, without knowing whose hand it was. She spasmed and instinctively rejected it.

Nel blinked her eyes back to normal, and again reassured her. "This time, I'll go slower. Relax." She embraced Alice and attempted again. Alice felt her presence very close to her own mind, then touching it, but not trying to get in yet. Nel was waiting for her call.

Alice attempted to "open her mind", tried to reach for her, sent warm welcoming thoughts which seemed to make Nel giggle, but it didn't really work. Out of options, she imagined a tender kiss.

That did the trick. Nel entered her mind. Alice felt how careful she was not to break anything, not to dig too deep into really intimate memories. She could have seen everything if she'd wanted to, but was only really interested in Alice's personality and motives.

It was very intriguing. Alice tried to poke back at Nel's mind, but all her attempts were foiled by a very surprised, then amused thought, whispering "I am not single, you know..."

Alice opened her eyes. She was sitting on the floor, two smiling asari crouching in front of her. They brought her back to her feet. The lift was definitely moving, but it took its sweet time to reach its underground destination. Slowly, in her mind, all the panic and uncertainty was being washed away by raw excitement. She felt ready.

The lift chimed as it arrived. "Welcome to our hideout!" Nel cheered.

The doors opened to a corridor, then another set of heavy-looking doors with a code lock, which were unlocked from the inside by an asari. She greeted them, then resumed watching her episode of Person of Interest, while scribbling notes. They entered the common room of the hideout. It was spacious, and furnished with sofas, tables, chairs, and a kitchen. Everything seemed to come from IKEA, except some alien-looking computer equipment, and the asari, of course. Five of them in total, lounging, reading, cooking, working on their terminals... Nel introduced them, handed Alice a drink, then lead her to a more private corner of the room with a coffee table and two comfy-looking couches, surrounded by high bookshelves.

"We're going to change into more appropriate clothes," Ch'ara said. "Please wait here. See you in a moment."

The human looked all around, intimidated. asari in the room seemed politely intrigued but apparently preferred to wait for her to relax before starting conversation. One smiled and went back to reading. Everything looked terrifyingly quiet and normal.

The walls were covered, floor to ceiling, in all kinds of posters from human movies, plays, art exhibitions, concerts... There was even a Mass Effect poster with a Marauder Shields print besides. Soft music was playing. Whatever was cooking smelled frighteningly good.

A fleeting thought went through Alice's mind: They leave me there like they trust me. Did she really read my mind? I am so not worried it gives me the creeps!

The shelves were filled with an eclectic choice of books. Everything from comics to geopolitics, recipes from all around the world, geography, novels, poetry, economy, photography, even smutty magazines.

Her observations were interrupted by a smiling asari, carrying a tray with four bowls and glasses. "Human. I come in peace," she said, smiling, then set her tray on the coffee table, sat down on a couch, and patted the cushion next to her, inviting Alice to join. Alice complied, trying not to make a fool of herself by sitting too close or too far from the alien. Since she had no idea about the proper distance, it took a few awkward tries.

"You're... Kalinandra, right?"

Her skin was sky-blue. Her pale grey eyes were slightly slanted, giving her a bit of an asian look, korean perhaps. There was something undefinably hot and seductive about her attitude, about the little smirk on her lips. And considering she was an alien, her body looked very womanly. She was wearing a simple black wrap dress. Alice's eyes drifted to her cleavage, finding the same lighter blue freckles than on her face and naked shoulders. By Alice's standards, she was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.

"Call me Kali... I'm a xenobiologist, and... I also cook."

And to top it all off, her voice was cheerful, outgoing, confident, and sexy. She didn't seem like the kind of demure beauty who needs to be protected. At all.

Alice's insides boiled and tensed. A drop of sweat ran down her forehead. Her cheeks reached a deeper shade of red. What the fuck am I doing?!

Kali smiled, picked up a bowl and held it right in front of Alice.

"Alice?"

Alice blinked a few times, stopped staring into Kali's eyes, and took the bowl from her hands, trying not to – Damn me! Why did I have to put my hand on hers?

"Relax, Alice... help yourself! Most of it comes from Earth, except for a few spices. It is safe for you to eat."

Alice meekly thanked her and examined the contents closely, intrigued. The food looked like... normal asian vegan food. Vegetables and tofu chopped into small pieces on top of rice, with sauce, and a fork stuck in. The most alien thing until now was the lack of chopsticks.

The smell reminded her that she was actually starving. She stirred her bowl with her fork , tried to dig in, but there really were no eyes, bugs, worms, or wriggling stuff.

Ch'ara and Nel came back. Ch'ara was wearing simple pale teal pants and tank top, matching her complexion. With her armor off, Alice could notice the well-defined, wiry muscles in her arms, and wondered if she was into rock-climbing.

Nel looked much more girlish, in black satin pants and a matching short-sleeved shirt. She was shorter and less athletic than Ch'ara. Still, besides the color and the tentacles on their heads, those three aliens looked pretty much like three absolutely normal, healthy, smiling women.

Ch'ara and Nel sat side by side on the couch in front of Alice, who still couldn't believe what was happening. The three asari gently laughed at her bewildered expression, grabbed their bowls and took a bite. The human followed suit, first tasting a small slice of carrot, then after an eloquent "mmh", engulfing a mouthful. It tasted very good, and that helped. Alice and the asari looked at each other, chewing, nodding, smiling.

Alice swallowed, then started right in. "So, what are you doing here?"

"We've been studying you, like we do with most non-spacefaring species," Nel replied. "Partly out of curiosity, partly to know if you could become a menace in the future. Also, we need to be ready and able to communicate with you, to understand you, for when it will be needed."

"But why me?" asked Alice.

"Simple!" Ch'ara replied, waving her fork. "This isn't a mission or anything, right? We – I mean us right here – like to talk with... normal humans, not 'take me to your leader' kind of people. You know... you seem like a good pick."

"We were in your favorite game," Nel continued enthusiastically. "So you followed us without asking too many questions, which is practical for us. You seem to be... very interested in us, and enjoying it. And, last but not least, if you run to the press tomorrow screaming that you are Shepard and you spent the night talking with video game characters, no-one will ever believe you! So I won't have to put date-rape drugs into your drink. It always makes me sick to have to do that."

Alice was cornered by the logic of it. "Quite the clever plan..."

Ch'ara smirked "Oh, yeah, also, it seems you tried to hit on my bondmate..."

Alice twitched backward in her seat as her entire body screamed "NO!", while the deep red on her cheeks definitely confirmed that the idea had definitely occurred to her. Nel's flustered mumbling may also have been related to what she'd seen inside Alice's mind, in that damn elevator.

Alice mumbled "Errr... and I'mmm..."

Nel interrupted. "Don't worry, it was rather flattering. Besides, Ch'ara and I didn't invite you here to take advantage of you."

Alice stopped holding her breath and quickly fumbled for another topic. "Damn, this food is delicious!"

"You're rather quiet tonight," said Ch'ara, addressing Kali.

Kali had been intently observing Alice eating, without saying a word, or eating herself, during the entire conversation. She snapped out of it, and asked Alice "Yeah? You like it?"

"Mm-mm," Alice replied with her mouth full. "it's... very good yet different, like rediscovering something... I really like it."

Kali displayed an impossibly huge toothy grin, which gave Alice pause. For an instant she felt again like a little mouse in front of a cat... but Kali seemed sincerely pleased by the compliment, then started munching voraciously. Alice wondered for a while about human versus asari dining etiquette, and felt slightly less intimidated.

The conversation resumed.

"So, how did asari end up in the game?"

"A great story, actually," Nel explained. "Liara is my little cousin, we had her on board for first year internship, and she was so young, shy, adorable, serious and smart. Really uptight, also, she got that from her mom."

"You mean..." Ch'ara added, "she spoke like a noble, eh?"

"Wait, Liara's real ?" Alice asked, fascinated.

"Well, indeed..." Nel said. "She insisted so much to visit Earth. At that time I was a huge fan of KOTOR, so instead of the whole make-up deal with wig and fake bun to hide the crest and pass as a human..." she turned her head to the side, drew a bun in the air with her finger around the tips of her crest, and went on. "We stuck those large fake tentacles on her head and she was a blue Twi'lek!"

Ch'ara brushed Nel's shoulder with her hand. "You should know that Nel is in charge of studying human sci-fi. My babe is quite the geek!"

Nel smiled proudly, then continued. "So there we went, and at some point I lost her. Later she told me that her disguise was coming off, so she ran to the bathroom to find a mirror to fix it... and, well, she ended up in the guys bathroom because she wasn't familiar with the concept yet..."

"Wait..." Alice burst. "You're really monogendered? That wasn't the space babe cliché?"

Ch'ara grinned. "Yeah, really. We all have boobs. You humans are fascinating, though. You look so similar to us!"

Nel kept going. "Then, in the guys bathroom, she met this nice SF writer, who didn't panic and proposed to help! I later found them talking at the bar, he had lent her a beret and a scarf to hide her crest, so no-one found out. So, yes, that was Liara, and that's how we ended up in Mass Effect."

Alice gasped. "Your little cousin Liara actually met the guy who wrote the games?"

"Yes! It was totally unplanned! Our boss was furious, and she was sent back home on the double! But it ended up so... great!"

Ch'ara laughed. "Yeah," she added, "now we have the perfect cover, and we know how humans react to us... What's the saying?"

Nel smiled. "Make love, not war, I guess. I'm pretty sure we could conquer you without a fight, if we came topless... We'd have armies of drooling zombie fans..."

The human burst into laughter, and the asari followed.