I'm running again.

Something is after me. It's huge and I can't let it consume me.

I can't… I can't...

But I must.

I don't want to forget.

I…

It's leaving.

…..

The world vibrated as most of my senses came back to me again.

I had been confined to what appeared to be a bloom closet sans brooms.

My head was pounding from my captor's last memory wipe. I'm fairly sure that I still had everything important but I did a quick check just to be sure.

Personal information? Check.

Video footage? Check.

Skill summary? Check. Oh wait. I'm pretty sure there wasn't this much corruption last time. Meh

I'll just clean it out later.

Audio cache? Check.

Instructions? Check.

Video projector? Also check.

I think I have everything.

Key word, I think.

I'm not sure if I'd notice that something was missing anyway as I probably wouldn't remember knowing it. Still, Clearing out the corruption shouldn't take too much time.

On the bright side, I still have the things I learned from basic. I might be missing a few movies but I can re download those later. And also my art programs. That shit's expensive.

My collar was gone so no use waiting for rescue to come. My vest was still on me so I don't think that much time had passed since I got fried. Even if it was too small for anyone else, wouldn't they just pick it apart for the materials?

Or maybe I'm the only one who does that. I'm kind of a poor college student.

Wait. No. Never mind.

My legs were bound together with some sort of makeshift handcuffs. All four of my legs were connected with a knot in the middle. The bonds also carried some sort of charge, likely to keep me out cold or immobile. They seemed to be geared towards varren or some other four legged predator. The shocks tingled a little, but it was nothing like the EMP that knocked me out.

Synchronicity: 80%

I took a few experimental steps to see how much movement I had and I nearly fell on my face before catching myself.

Okay. I suppose that my legs had too little in terms of range and that would limit my stride. The tingling was annoying, but not disabling. It took me longer than I would've liked to correct myself. It's kind of like suddenly jumping up after sitting a long test. Everything was either numb, prickly, or tingly and nothing worked right.

Judging by the connection I might be able to get away with synchronizing my front leg with its opposite rear leg. I don't have much experience moving like that, won't be much help in escaping.

Especially since I'm still disoriented. The world swayed just a little bit.

Okay. I guess I'll walk on two then.

How ironic.

I've been trying to stop doing that all this time and now it might just be my only effective way of moving around.

I could either walk on two legs like a human being, or I could just push myself and drag my arms on the ground.

I tried to stand on my hind legs to try and promptly fell flat on my face. Reaction time was down and I landed with a heavy thud.

I don't know what I was expecting, but just because it was a viable option didn't mean that I was good at it. My center of balance is still higher than what I'm used to and I still fall on my face.

"What was that?" rumbled a voice. I've never heard anything quite like it. It was deep and gravelly. Maybe it was a krogan or a batarian? I'm not really sure. I've never heard either one speak at C-sec. Then again, maybe I have and I didn't pay attention. It's kind of hard to do that when a bunch of little kids keep demanding stories at the same time.

"The mech must've reactivated itself!" Answered an annoying nasally voice. Definitely a salarian.

"Someone go look at it!"

It also occurred to me that I might've been monitored while I was being held captive.

Something is approaching. That's not going to be good. That's really not good.

Okay. Calm down me. Calm down.

They already know I'm active. If they find out I'm sapient I'm either going to die, or worse. I won't think about it.

Panicking would be bad right now.

I need to stay in character. Meow. Meow. I'm a kitty. Feed me tuna.

I slammed my head into the floor in frustration. I've been careless. I shouldn't have gone to the apartment alone and I definitely shouldn't have lost track of my surroundings. Stupid stupid me for assuming that things were safe.

The door abruptly slip open and a green salarian stared down at me.

I stared back for a few moments before thrashing about and yowling at the top of my lungs.

The salarian reached down grab me and I hissed at him to move away. When that failed I bit him.

Now I'm sure that watching a salarian flail around with a cabbit mech clamped onto his hand was very entertaining from an outside point of view but it was terrifying for me. I am not a fan of rollercoasters or fast moving rides. Being tossed around like that in high speeds was nauseating.

I am so glad I emptied my stomach at the other place.

Eventually after the salarian caused enough fuss I let go and hissed at him again.

I didn't stop even when I felt someone approach from behind me.

"What's going on here?!" Barked an alien with four eyes. /Baterian/

Wow. I never thought the insult four-eyes would become a literal thing.

I probably should've been scared seeing as I don't know where I am, I've been bound, and I'm probably gonna die. I even have to act the part of a scared cat.

But I'm not.

"The mech has reactivated. It's very belligerent." Said the salarian over my high pitched howling. He made like he was going to grab me and I reacted by shrinking back as far as I possibly could until my back hit the wall. The hand moved closer so I threw myself forward to bite it.

Maybe this just hasn't sunk in yet.

"Why is it on the ship in the first place?!" Demanded the batarian. "I gave orders to avoid them at all costs!"

Someone who I couldn't see answered. "It was sitting in the hallway. It must've followed us to the meeting place."

Oh great. I wasn't stuck in the middle of nowhere because the perp wanted me dead. I was stuck here because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time! Once again O great Powers That Be. Why art thou doing this to me? I asked in my head.

The batarian in charge made a noise of disgust before grabbing me by the collar of my vest and holding me in front of his face.

Stupid move on his part. What is it with people holding dangerous things close to their face?

Even with my legs restricted His face was still within my strike range. I chose not to smack him with my tail though. I'd need an ace in the hole for when they figure me out.

I really don't understand the idea of holding an animal to your face. You are practically asking to get attacked, especially if that animal is terrified, pissed, or both. Naturally I clawed at him but no harm came as I lacked the necessary tools to really hurt someone. I wish I had claws like the actual cat mechs. Claws would be very handy right about now.

Also batarians are fucking terrifying. Their sallow yellow skin and vaguely human faces combined with the four eerily human eyes, plant them firmly in the uncanny valley alongside the asari. Seriously, they look like demons from a horror movie. The kind that lures people in under false pretenses of power, then slowly corrupts them into destroying everything around them.

If the Powers That Be are real, then it stands to reason that the demons are real too.

… No no. I can't let that take over my mind right now. First of all that's really racist and unwarranted. Second, fear is not something I need right this minute.

If I let that fear take over I'd crack and start bawling, which would break character and thus, kill me. Wow.

Survival instincts are strong stuff.

"Tch. If it weren't for the idiots I'd have just left you behind." Huffed the batarian. "At least you're worth something."

Gee I'm so flattered.

"Wouldn't have that just brought more C-sec attention to the operation?" asked someone. Human male I think. He sounded pretty young too.

"If what Fade said was true, they do memory wipes on the mechs all the time." The batarian shrugged as he put me back down. "This one's no different."

I tried to take a swipe at him but I missed on account of having interconnected legs.. "MREEEOOWW!" I screeched.

Not on me they don't. I lived through memory loss once already, I'm not doing it again because some sap thought it was a good idea to kidnap me.

The batarian seemed to have anticipated my strike and kicked me away from him. I think he may have dented my hip through the vest. Oh well. I can fix that later with Garrus's hammer.

"We can sell it once we get to omega. Put it with the hostages." He commanded tossing me to another salarian. "That should keep them from scheming. Especially that asari kid."

Then I'm thrown into the darkness.

Casia hated being the granddaughter of a counselor.

She repeated this often and she always meant it. People never wanted to be friends with her. They just wanted her to put in a good word for them. Her mother was always busy and her father died was dead before she could remember him.

She had never hated being the matriarch's grand daughter more than today.

Because her grandmother's enemies had decided to kidnap her and tie her hands to her feet.

Now she was stuck on a ship in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of stupid toddlers who were probably here for the same stupid reason. No matter what she said they just kept crying and whimpering.

The noise was making it hard to think.

Virtas would probably have some ideas, but they gassed him earlier when the two of them tried to escape and failed. Casia had no idea if he would wake up but she really hoped he would.

Now she had to wait until she was either rescued or killed because knowing her luck, she'd be dead by the time the spectres came.

Then the door opened and WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!

She shrieked in alarm when the thing turn its bulging eyes to look at her.

The pupils dilated and constricted a few times before focusing on her.

"Mrow?" It burbled.

The two of them stared at each other for a few moments before the creature flipped on a light switch.

Suddenly the room was flooded with light from the creatures forehead. Some of the younger children whimpered at the sudden brightness and hid their faces when the thing turned to look at them.

Oh thank the goddess. The creature was one of those mechs that C-Sec used.

She'd seen several of them wandering when she was on the citadel. Her grandmother had mention that they all had tracking devices.

Now how did you summon them? "Come." Commanded Casia.

The mech turned and stared blankly at her.

"Come." Repeated Casia without any result.

The mech started moving towards her but stopped as if remembering something.

"Come here you stupid mech!" She hissed.

She struggled furiously to stand for a few moments before giving up in frustration. Then she remembered something her grandmother had said.

"It appears that the mechs still require training to utilize their programs. Or at least to stop them from listening to the wrong people."

Of course the mech wouldn't listen to her! She wasn't it's handler.

If only it was the receptionist mech. That one was supposed to be really smart and friendly and fun to talk to if Virtas was right.

Maybe this one could pass a message?

"Mech. Can you send this message?" She took a deep breath. "This is Casia Tevos. I am being held hostage in an unknown ship. I am here with Virtas Palin and a large amount of small children. I can only assume we were abducted as part of a conspiracy." She felt her eyes watering as she forced out the words." Please help us! I don't want to be the reason we die! I don't want them to kill us all. Virtas got gassed and now he won't wake up! Who ever gets this message, send help as fast as you can! Please! I-"

"SHUT UP BRAT!" An angry thud on the other side of the cargo bay door silenced her. "Or I'll space you all!"

Casia wiped off her eyes and glared at the door but she quieted herself nonetheless.

The mech only stared.

It had been hours since he'd arrived at the scene. Hours since he'd found his roommate's radio collar.

Hours since she'd essentially been abducted.

He couldn't do anything about that. There was nothing around for him to work with. When he raised the alarm about her status he had been expecting to mount a rescue or something similar. He'd been expecting something to be done.

But to his eternal frustration, nothing was happening.

Palin said that a search was being mounted in secret, because as far as the public knows, it was only one surveillance mech. One mech can be replaced.

The price would be astronomical and it would cost more than two months worth of paychecks. But a b-synth mech could be replaced.

The council didn't care for her existence. He was almost certain that the search would comprise of people who didn't know the first thing about her.

They wouldn't bother.

Unless there was information that made her a priority.

Garrus needed to find that information. Something that would make her worth saving.

The two of them needed to work out their issues. She might've been a robot, but she was still his partner. Even if she kept interfering with his own job.

"Garrus. We've found something."

I have the worst luck ever.

Not only was I at the wrong place at the wrong time, I now had to worry about a serious hostage situation involving a bunch of kids. Kidnapped kids no less. Someone is going to be needing a crap ton of therapy after this.

Myself included.

Actually strike that. I already need therapy, because as far as I know, I'm still supposed to be at home procrastinating on my paper. NOT interacting with aliens, or dreaming about them, or being an alien. Therapy honestly does sound pretty nice, except I barely make more than minimum wage and I had to twist a few arms just to get a bank account set up for me. I can't imagine how much work it would take for me get a therapist. That's assuming that there are therapists who handle people like me. Which is not likely since if there were others like me, I wouldn't have to keep a cover and- No. Stop. Focus.

There are kids around and they are way more important than me. I mean this in a completely different sense than what C-sec academy basic drills. These kids are way way more important than me as in, they are the family of politicians.

Tevos is the last name of the asari councilor. I kind of recognize some of the other kids from an internet search on my captors, and I'm almost certain that the unconscious turian boy is the executor's nephew. I've met the kid a few times but not enough to know him personally and certainly not enough to tell him apart from someone else when he's face down and out cold.

The younger kids wouldn't look at me. Most of them looked to be asari with a few turians mixed in, though if I looked hard enough I think I could make out something else. No. Wait. That was a dead body, never mind.

Ew. I shuddered slightly. That's probably why they were so freaked out. Aside from the guy threatening to flush them into space I mean.

By the looks of it, they were all elementary school to middle school students. Which is really bad because kids that age aren't particularly discreet although the corpse in the corner probably scared them enough to keep them from doing anything. This is the sort of thing that will scar them for life. Maybe I should get them puppies or something. Therapy dogs are a thing here right?

I've sent Casia's message to just about everyone I knew, but I figured it would still take them some time for them to trace it back to me. I mailed it as spam to bypass the information monitors as fast as I could. Sepin is pretty good about checking his spam filters and he does it every afternoon. Hopefully I haven't missed it yet.

Anyways with that done all that's left is to wait for them to get us.

The waiting was torture though. I had to lie down after sometime because the surges were making it hard to stand for long periods of time. I stood up again after a few second had passed. I hated not doing anything and I still had the feeling that something needed to be done. There has to be something that I could do to improve the situation. The knowledge that only a door stood between us and death does not make for a restful atmosphere.

Aaaaand now panic and anxiety have made their reappearance. Joy.

I quickly shoved everything back into that little box in the back of my mind because I do not need any of that right now. If I have a melt down, we are all screwed. But that didn't work so I slammed my head into the ground to get rid of the tremors in my legs. I felt my throat tightening and I started floating away.

Synchronicity: 70%

Crap.

Okay. Okay. Calm down me. Deep breaths. You can do this.

I ignored Casia staring at me and started pacing again. Well, it wasn't so much pacing as much as it was hopping. I moved faster that way, even if I sometimes fell on my face. I kind of wished I thought to do that earlier.

Okay, never mind that.

I'm stuck in the cargo bay with a bunch of kids and I need to get them out. What can I do, to get them out?

What do I have on me that I can use?

A fake spider, dog ball (extra bouncy), a first aid kit, medigel packets, duct tape, wd-40, some sewing needles on a sponge, a lace doily that I hadn't finished crocheting which I stuffed into the roll of duct tape, and a permanent marker.

Nothing I can use there. At least, not right now.

Something that I can do then?

Well, I can scan biometrics, access the internet, draw, crochet, playback things that I've seen and the things I've heard, hack certain kinds of computer software, use my forehead lens as a flashlight, fire a pistol without dropping it, fire a bigger gun that's propped against something, and I can walk up walls. I have teeth that I use when I eat or when I can't get a grip on plastic wrapping.

Hmm… Could I hack the door?

I started hopping towards the door.

"Mech. What are you doing?" Called Casia.

I looked at her for a few moments just to show that I had heard but I walked to the door anyway.

"-ease don't l-et t)(-e -ad guys in?" Burbled another voice. That one gave me pause for a few moments as I worked out what was being said. Asari didn't talk like that. Their words were more flowy, a little like russian or hawaiian.

It must've been turian then, a young one who hadn't picked up the gist of galactic standard or someone who was too small for a translator. They didn't have lips so they always sounded a little bit like aquatic crows. They're equivalents to m, b, and p sounds were hard, sharp and sounded like they were cut off from something else with the subvocals filling in the space. It was hard to hear them out of context.

I turned in the direction of the quiet voice to see a small turian girl that had been curled up behind a crate. Wow, she was tiny. Her poor parents must be worried sick, but right now there's nothing I can do aside from getting us all out of the damn cargo bay.

I ran my biometric scanner to see if it was someone I should know.

Feferi Peixes. The current primarch's daughter. Huh, I thought she would've been older. Wasn't he like 50 or something?

Meh, aliens.

I closed my eyes and extended my mind out towards the door. The data streams making themselves visible to me, at least in my mind's eye. The glowing lines crossing between the door and the wall surrounding it. The red lines aren't to be touched. They are security and burn when I do.

Orange lines are communication streams. If I could access them I could listen in on all sorts of conversations with out getting deafened by all the other conversations happening in the galaxy. As of right now, that's just noise and static, like a packed school cafeteria.

The green ones are standard data streams, they carry information and instructions throughout the ship. I tentatively reached out with my mental avatar to see if I could manipulate them.

The stream parted around my fingers when I stuck them inside and the entire stream shifted when I gave it a good push. That was a good sign. I could change the flow so that the door opens.

Okay. So I have a way out of the cargo bay. That's a good start. What about our bindings? An exit is all well and good but it doesn't mean anything if no one could capitalize on it.

My cuffs were controlled by a key which means that the green streams are extra tiny. And while I probably could get it off eventually, I'm not willing to devote weeks to poking at data threads. They only limit the range of my legs anyway so I could probably adapt. Probably.

I can't say the same for the kids though. Most of them were bound with cables. Their hands bound to their legs or behind their backs. I have some teeth that appear when I want to chew at something. I could've chewed through rope, or even wire.

Cables, not so much.

I'm going to add knives and wire cutters to the list of 'Things I must always carry with me' when I get back to the citadel.

These guys must've been on a budget or something, the C-Sec restraints are all solid pieces and way more secure than cables. Not that I want them to use cuffs but still.

Now I know somewhere out in the universe, I'm going to be condemned by moral guardians when I say that I'm not sure if releasing the kids are the best thing to do.

I have problems anticipating adult behaviors in society. I imagine that traumatized children would be even harder to anticipate. Plus not all of them are inclined to stay in one place and respect a thing that's a quarter of their size, that can't talk.

I could break cover for this too. But again, little kids talk. A whole lot. I'm not really sure if this is worth it.

But then again, I don't like the idea of leaving them in the cargo bay. Being taken is scary enough with control of your limbs. Plus if shit goes down like I expect it will then they would have a better chance of saving themselves. There's also the fact that they would blab to their families about a C-Sec mech leaving them in the cargo bay, which would be really bad for public relations. Personally I don't really care about what people thought of me, but my continued existence and freedom is kind of dependant on the goodwill of others.

Ugh. I did NOT sign up for this.

I hope I get a raise after this, or paid leave for non-existent mech therapy.

Dammit! Stop getting distracted! What do I do?

That was a moot question. My conscience would never leave me alone if I let them stayed tied up. With a sigh I got up from my position and turned away from the door. My face planted itself on the floor as I made to move and I heard some giggles from the corner.

I fell because my legs were tied up and not because I tried to stand up on two legs. That's what happened and I'm sticking to it.

That being said, I'm glad that they got some amusement out of it.

I picked myself up and shuffled over to the tiny turian who looked both terrified and relieved.

Feferi's hands and feet were bound so tightly that her armored scales actually started to crack. I definitely wouldn't be able to cut the wires without making her bleed everywhere. No need to make the blue blood metaphor real after all. But on closer inspection, I noticed that the wire was galvanized.

Slowly, an idea begins to form in my mind.

I can't cut the wire but maybe I can get it to unravel.

I reached inside my torso cavity, and pulled out my unfinished doily. The project hung from my tiny thin aluminum crochet hook, and with great reluctance, I pulled the hook out and shoved the doily back into the duct tape roll. There went seven hours of work that I'll probably need to unravel. I knew I should have used stitch markers when I worked.

Feferi watched in fascination as I pulled out the WD-40, sprayed the tip of the hook and began separating the strand of wire that made the cable. Once I latched onto one I gave it a sharp tug and the strand snapped under the pressure.

Yes! One down, 99 more to go.

I quickly set to work hooking and breaking them.

I was about a quarter way through when I realized something. I had forgotten that the creeps would probably come back to feed and water the kids at some point. Sure enough, the door opened and I quickly slipped the hook into the crevice where the crate met the floor, shut off my forehead light,. and flopped down over the damaged cable.

The door opened to reveal a batarian carrying a bucket and a sack of what was probably dry bread. I think it was the one who ordered me in here.

The first thing he did was look around until he saw me. Which was smart, since if I wasn't here breaking wires, I probably would've made a run for it.

Then he came inside and put a bucket or water in the center and sort of chucked the contents of the sack everywhere on the ground. All but the youngest asari glared right back at him, which is good. That means they still have bite.

Casia spoke up. "You better treat us with respect or you'll pay for it."

The batarian only sneered back at her. "You think you're in any position to make threats?" He marched forward and kicked her across the cargo bay. "Your only use is your connection to the counselor. We'll be getting what we want soon. Either from your families or from the slave auctions you're going to." He gave use all a very nasty smile and left.

I stared at the door where he stood just a minute ago with my mouth on the floor. Casia was still curled on the floor, clutching what was surely a very nasty bruise. I could hear her sniffling and trying to suppress sobs. I wonder if that was from anger or despair. I really hope it's anger.

Then I tried to process what the creep had said.

What the fuck?! Who the fuck has slaves in this day and age?! And isn't money laundering more effective?

Now I really wish I had smacked him when I had the chance. Slavery is just wrong.

I picked up the crochet hook and redoubled my efforts to free the kids.

I had just about freed Feferi when I smacked myself in the face. That was a golden opportunity I just missed. I could've tackled the guy and stolen the key off him! That would've saved so much time and it would've been really gratifying to boot. At the very least I could've freed my own legs and beaten the snot out of him.

Of course I could've failed too, but still!

The last wire broke and I pulled the cables off the turian's wrist. I dabbed a bit of medigel on the cracked plates. Rope burn from a dog's leash hurts like a bitch. I can't imagine what cable rope burn must've felt like. Feferi trilled in delight when she realized that she could move her hands again.

Okay. Now I have two extra hands. What do I do?

I gave her the crochet hook and gestured for her to start picking at the cable binding her legs. The spurrs would prevent them being sliding off. I took the cable I had carefully picked off and inspected it. Maybe I could use it some how. I turned it a few times and I noticed something. It was effectively a giant zip tie. Seriously. I saw tons of those the last time C-sec busted a drug running operation. The guy was shipping red sand hidden in metal girders bound by these.

Sepin told me that the used and broken ones were often melted down and recycled into something else. Something about it being easily cut or melted. Either way, if there someway for me to heat this I could probably reshape this into another hook or even a blade.

The problem is that I didn't have a source of high heat.

Or did I.

I had a drive core which is what fueled my body and made me warm.

No no. That wouldn't work. My insides were good at retaining heat. If I used it to melt the cable the residual heat would ruin everything else. Not to mention I would just get a pool of liquid slag.

But my forehead lens got pretty hot too, whenever I used it for too long. Actually it was kind of hot right now. I pressed my head into my arm for a bit to gauge the temperature. No, that wouldn't work either. I don't have a way to focus light into a single point. Not to mention something like that would be better suited to incinerating something than cutting and shaping.

Maybe there's a sharp edge I could pry off and use. I could probably get the primarchs daughter to use her claws for that.

I took another look around the- Oh screw it! I had an extra set of hands. I'll just modify my other idea.

I reached inside, pulled out the duck tape and started pulling off long strips which I laid right by the door. Once the duct tape welcome mat was complete I took the doily and pulled it all loose. Then I wound it some of it into a hank and stowed it away. We would probably need some cordage later if this goes well. Good thing acrylic is sturdy.

The rest of the string was turned into a psuedo spider web using the walls, some crates, and tiny bits of duct tape.

By this time Feferi had freed her legs and was making her way towards me.

I stamped a hoof to get her attention and gave her the roll of tape with a strip started. I gestured for her to hold it out like that and stay by the door.

I think by this time, everyone realized that I had a plan of some sort and all of them looked to me for instruction.

Oh god. I hate being stared at. Please stop staring at me like that. If this fails then I will have doomed us all. Please stop staring. I don't want the last thing I see to be people staring at me.

I took a deep breathe and just as I was about to start explaining door opened. "HEY! What do you think you're doing?!" Screeched the salarian from before.

CRAP. The set up must've taken more time than I thought and I'm surrounded by kids. All of whom are just as frozen in place as I am. Wait, that's the salarian I bit from before. He was kind of a wimp, maybe I could taunt him.

I stuck my tongue out and waggled it at him.

Come on take the bait, take the bait, take the bait.

The salarian took two steps inside before the loose strips of tape and string got tangled around his legs, tripping him.

Yes! The tape trap worked! The plan was a sucess!

Only the primarch's daughter was too frozen to move and that salarian really needed to be taped and gagged before he could untangle himself.

I am so going to regret this. I opened my mouth and bellowed "Feferi NOW!" Startling her into action.

With the salarian all wrapped up and gagged I promptly frisked him for something I could use. All the while being hounded by everyone else.

"By the goddess!"

Knife? Yeah I could use that.

"You can talk?"

Lighter? Sure, why not?

"How come you didn't say anything?"

Guns? I'm not so good with those. I'll scan them though. Maybe they're better than C-sec guns. I'll have to ask Garrus.

"Can I call my mommy?"

Keys? Hell yeah! Except I don't know what they're for.

"Can I be freed first?" "No! I wanna be first!"

And they're still talking. "SHHHHHHH!" I hissed. "Silence!"

After they quieted down I took the knife and jammed it into the lucking bar of the zip tie that was binding Casia.

Once she was freed I gave her the knife and gestured for her to free everyone else while I went ahead.

I stuck my head out and looked at the data streams, trying to figure out where the surveilance cameras were. No ship worth its salt would be with out one and it'd be horrible to escape just to be captured a few minutes later. Embarrasing too.

Most of the cameras were evenly spaced out, with more of them bunched near what I assumed to be the cockpit. I reached out mentally and interrupted the flow of information right at a junction, disabling several cameras for a second or two. Any longer would've been unnatural and obvious.

I took that moment to dart into an empty closet. From there I ran through the keys I filched until I found one that would unlock my cuffs.

Freedom!

Okay. Okay! What do I do now?

Comms! I can call for help! Where would I go for that? I've never been in a ship before. Oh gosh this is really different from being on an airplane. This feels more like being on a cruise ship sans comforts and food. And also running water because I can smell traces of body odor.

Gross.

The cock pit maybe?

Then the alarm goes off, alerting me to our discovery.

Ok scratch the cockpit! I need to get to the armory and trash it. I should've fucking thought of that earlier but fuck me! I'm stressed.

Shit! I shouldn't have left the kids unattended either. Oh god. What do I do?

Do I run for the armory and leave them to their own devices?

Do I go back to them?

Oh god.

I've killed them all.

What do I do?

What

do

I

do?

AN: Hello again! It's been a while. I am currently working three jobs and that doesn't leave much room or time for writing. That being said, one of my jobs sometimes has a lot of down time so here it is!. Hopefully the slightly longer length of this will make up for the delay. Of course, this is kind of a side project so I can't say that this story or any of my other stories will have steady updates.

I have also drawn a sloppy picture of Lucia. She isn't wearing her vest but i think it's a good estimation of what she looks like. I posted the link on my profile.

EDIT: I feel as though I should correct myself regarding Lucia and guns. I have been informed that the ME guns don't have that much of a knock back. Which means that Lucia can actually use them with out falling. This does not change the fact that her fingers are about an inch and a half long and they are in the center of her palm rather than around it. Her palm is of course, the hoof. This means that she can't actually keep a good grip on anything larger than a an inch across.

Long story short, she can use a gun, but it has to be propped up on something and her torso cavity is too full of stuff to really be able to cram one in there.

Tusken1602-Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

Ulsindhe- Thank you for your compliments. You would not believe how happy that makes me! I will do my best to live up to your expectations. As for the garrus thing. I'm working on it. I promise.

shugokage- Thank you!

Blaze1992- you definitely aren't wrong. but it'sd not what you are thinking.

TheRangerBoy- Heh. I am planning to do that. But not right this moment.