A/N: If you read Chapter 57 before 13 February 2012, please re-read! I replaced the entirety of the content and the former version is obsolete.
Disclaimer: Mass Effect is copyright of Bioware. Ci-Ci is mine.
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Thank you for reading. Enjoy!
5 October 2185—Derelict Freighter Helene, orbiting Ilos, Refuge System, Pangea Expanse
Corinthia's ship wasn't big, but the name in and of itself was enough to tell Shepard that it was hers. She hadn't spent much on the piece of junk. Judging by the interior (which was little more than a glorified cockpit) there had been a fight recently. Other than that, there was no sign of life whatsoever. Shepard didn't like it. Finding her had been easy, sure, but this was just... Something wasn't right.
"So where the hell is she?" Shepard growled, opening the ship's navigation computer.
"Online," EDI said.
"That was quick."
"Commander Corinthia has allowed me access. Opening security footage now."
The screen came to life. Corinthia was in full armor, looking all business. Every so often, she would move to adjust one of the controls.
"Liara, you there?" she asked, voice processed by the bad recording.
"I'm here, Cassiopeia," Liara answered.
"I've established the link. Run that program I gave you and you'll have everything that they know."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Not really, but it's too late to go back, isn't it?"
"I'm calling Shepard."
"What? No! I mean, not yet. There's —"
A large bang, followed by hissing of pressure equalization and the tell-tale clicking of locks as someone hacked the outside door, screeched across the recording. Corinthia turned back to the screen. "Do whatever the hell you want, Liara. Just don't let them catch you watching, alright?" She smirked, winked, and got to her feet, drawing her pistol and readying a grenade.
Shepard knew what was going to happen without having to see it. A group of krogan and salarian mercenaries kicked in the door. Without any discernible cover, Corinthia was left in the open. She managed to kill a couple of the salarians before the krogan tackled her, knocking the grenade out of her hand and leaving her unconscious.
"That was easy," the krogan growled.
"Trap?" one of the salarians asked, examining the console.
"Possibly. Don't know what else she'd do."
"Look at this..." The salarian leaned over the screen. "The ship's log says... Damn... Just get over here!"
The krogan came over. "What is this this time? Corinthia-Imreas? Who the hell is that?"
"She is the Reaper Incident."
"Oh... You'd think she'd put up more of a fight."
"That's why I'm worried. She tricked us once... Test her DNA. See who shows up."
One of the other salarians complied. "Tests positive for Enig and Corinthia-Imreas."
"That sneaky little bitch," the krogan muttered, almost sounding impressed. "What do we do with her?"
The first salarian turned his back to the computer. "Take her with us, what else? But the game's changed, gentlemen. That hundred thousand credit bounty just turned into a million credit one."
"What about Shepard?" someone off-screen asked. "Remember what he did to Cerberus for her?"
"Shepard's busy with Cerberus's little errands. Besides, he kicked her off of his ship. He won't be coming after her. Let's move, boys."
Shepard clenched a fist as the krogan threw Corinthia over his shoulder and they exited the ship.
"The remainder of the recording is blank," EDI interrupted. "Time stamps indicate the recording occurred forty-one hours ago."
Shepard nodded absently, mind working overtime to form a plan. "Track the merc ship."
"External cameras show that they made for the Mass Relay, but when it would not open to them, were forced to land on Ilos. Searching for coordinates now."
Shepard checked the cabin for anything else of value. Other than what looked like a discarded omni-tool, there wasn't much.
"Located significant element zero deposits."
"Loot them," Shepard answered absently, trying to get her omni-tool to upload to his. "Damn thing isn't even in... Wait... this is Prothean. What the hell is she still doing with this thing?"
"Commander?"
"I'll tell you later. Where is she?"
"With her omni-tool disabled, it is impossible to locate her exactly. However, I have found heat signatures which could match her attacker's ship."
"Plug them into the shuttle."
"I would advise bringing a party with you, Commander."
"Yeah... Fuck it."
12 Hours Earlier—Ilos
Briggs cracked his knuckles. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Commander, and so far I've been nice, but it's going to stop sooner or later."
They had been at this for hours, with no results. Briggs had been told that he would be dealing with Ariadne Enig, an art dealer, not a Spectre. Cornithia hadn't looked like much, but the little spitfire had reacted in two ways to the interrogation: never stopped talking and told him nothing. No matter what drugs they pumped into her or methods they used, she still avoided questions as tactfully as a government agency. The Shadow Broker had ordered that they extract any and all information from her regarding Shepard, the Reapers, and Cerberus, but so far all they'd been able to understand was that things existed, and that was only after they'd put enough truth serum in her to drug an elephant. Before that, she'd been singing songs, talking to someone named "Imree", and given them a very detailed how-to-lecture on sculpting male nudes out of marble, clay, and fur.
She raised an eyebrow. "Oi! Yeh 'ear that, mate? 'E 'asn't been all that kind to me, now, 'as 'e?" she slurred in a terrible Scottish/Irish accent. "I see clouds of bubbles! Pretty bubbles in the air! 'Igher they fly, up to the sky!"
The krogan, Turz, put his hands over his ears. "Make her shut up!"
"And have to restart the interrogation?" the salarian, Mikka, answered. "No. This has to continue."
"You'd think we're supposed to be torturing her," Turz muttered. "After ten hours tied to that chair, I'd be talking."
Corinthia rolled her head around and focused on them. "Now, now, boys. Be nice. This is my first concert." She shifted her legs a little, though she couldn't go very far because they were tied to the chair. Her hands were cuffed together behind her back. "Though I might be off a bit because my shoulders hurt. You ming?"
Briggs seized her throat. "Where is Shepard?"
"Wherever he is."
"Where is he?"
"Wherever he is."
"Do you know where he is?"
"I have an idea."
"So tell me!"
"Tell you what? How to make a —" Briggs punched her jaw before she could suggest something else. She blinked and shook off the pain. "Shit. Didn't know you had it in you, love. Good to know you've at least got a little bit going for ya."
Briggs took out a knife and pressed it against her cheek, the tip hovering dangerously close to her eye. "Tell me everything you know about Cerberus."
"Why?"
"Because I'll take your eye out if you don't."
Corinthia's eyes narrowed, making it more than clear that whatever drugs they had given her had worn off long ago. "Listen to me, you imbecile," she hissed, "you can't hurt me. Not really. You need me alive. I'm worthless to you dead and you know it. You can't even knock me out because your lives depend on me and you know it." Her smirk widened. "Funny how things can turn around on you like that. Even if you can extract what you need to know, you're stuck in this system. The only reason you got in here is because I let you in, and you'll need me to let you out."
Briggs backed off and glanced at Turz and Mikkel. They nodded and exited the hold.
"Gonna check on my ship, are you? Try and hack it? Good luck," Corinthia continued. "I've got the best firewall system in the galaxy. I don't even allow remote access."
Briggs bristled, hating to admit that she was right. This was not how it was supposed to be going. They were supposed to be the attackers, not her...
"You're supposed to be a goddamn artist..." he whispered.
"Yeah... I dabbled. Decided I like kicking ass better. Or, at least, metaphorically. Can't really kick you right now. Not that it'll stop me. Before this is over, I'm personally going to snap your neck."
The Present
Shepard stepped out of the Kodiak onto Ilos, a chill running up his spine. He'd landed almost exactly where Joker had dropped the Mako; Shepard could still see the imprints from where the tires had wrecked the earth, even if the outlines were overgrown and fuzzy from the green moss that grew everywhere. There were scorches from gunshots, grenades, and geth malfunctioning. For a moment, he lapsed into memory: himself, Wrex, and Corinthia, all fighting. Corinthia had cackled like a witch when she hacked the geth. Wrex had argued with Shepard about hogging kills. Saren had known he was going to die, but Shepard had mistaken that knowledge for fear. It all seemed like a lifetime away, but it was only two years—
Two years. He'd died two years ago to the day. For a brief moment, he wondered how Corinthia had mourned, but within seconds his mind was back on the task at hand as several geth rounded the corner.
"Those fuckers are still here?" he hissed, drawing his assault rifle and readying his biotics.
"My scans indicate that they never left," EDI said into his ear.
"It was a rhetorical question," Shepard growled, tossing a singularity at the first geth and efficiently dispatching the others. "What else am I going to run up against?"
"You are five hundred meters from the crash site."
"Crash site? You never said anything about a fucking crash!"
"I was unable to determine that was the cause of the heat signature until this time, Commander. I am detecting several life forms, as well as nearly a dozen inorganics."
"Am I at least in the right place?" Shepar demanded, heading in the direction his helmet map indicated.
"I am ninety-seven percent sure that you are."
"That's comforting..." Shepard ducked into cover behind a Prothean statue. "Tell me again how Cassie ended up with sole access to this fucking place?"
"My records show that she purchased the exclusive rights to the Mass Relay, providing the Alliance and Council with contingent access privelages as well."
"So..."
"She bought the relay," Joker summarized. "Sounds exactly like something Ci-Ci would do."
"You're telling me... Where did she even get that much money?" Shepard muttered through clenched teeth, shooting several other geth attackers.
"Commander, I don't know if you realized, but Ms. Enig's art sells for nearly five hundred thousand credits per work. The Hellas Galleries are the sole providers of Prothean art to the galaxy. They do nearly two hundred million credits worth of sales per fiscal year."
"Great. I'm in love with an art tycoon."
"I believe you already have a piece of hers."
"Yeah, because she hung it up in my cabin — Look, just keep me on the right track."
In fifteen minutes, he spotted the mercenary ship. It wasn't very big, but there were several krogan patrolling the area. No one looked happy. As a matter of fact, they all looked a little stressed.
"EDI?" Shepard whispered. "That ship functional?"
"It would seem not to be, Commander."
"Security?"
"Minimal. You should be able to enter undetected, if you are careful."
"And Ci-Ci?"
"I am unable to determine her current location."
Shepard gritted his teeth and surveyed the scene once more. Three krogan, four salarians, a few humans, and an asari, all in various mercenary uniforms. Judging by the fact that they jumped at small noises, the scorch marks, and bodies, they'd been attacked by the geth as well.
"Alright, fuck this. I'm going in." Shepard stepped out from behind cover, deftly dispatching one of the salarians before the others countered.
"Shit! It's Shepard!" the asari shouted. "Kill him! Tell Briggs that we're under attack!"
Shepard regretted not bringing a team, but in all honesty he wanted to do the mission alone. His restlessness had been getting to him, for one, and second, he didn't want anyone listening to him and Corinthia argue again.
"Where the fuck is Briggs?" the asari shouted.
Shepard dispatched one of the krogans and used his biotic shockwave to toss the others into the air. He put a bullet through the asari's forehead as she flew past him, exploded two salarians with a grenade, and finished off a krogan with a shot in the eye. He didn't even look back as he killed the last salarian attempting to sneak up behind him.
He cracked his neck and let his biotics cool. He'd forgotten the rush of pleasure he got from coldly killing things; he liked it. He stepped inside the ship, a smirk trailing across his lips: this was going to be fun.
The interior of the ship looked like very other freighter he'd been in. Some idiot probably publicly posted the plans, Shepard through, automatically knowing which doors to go through to get to where he needed to go.
Ahead, he heard muffled shouts, shots, and what sounded like evil laughter. "EDI? What's going on?"
"I've been blocked from all systems. It seems that the Shadow Broker is in control of the ship."
"Shit." Shepard rammed his shoulder into the door. "Fucking thing won't open... You said omni-gel doesn't work anymore, right?"
"You'll have to manually bypass the lock circuits, Commander."
"And this is why I bring Ci-Ci along..." Shepard muttered, flipping his pistol around to knock open the controls with the butt.
"Commander, you will permanently damage the door that way," EDI warned.
"Well, then, how would you do it?" Shepard asked sarcastically.
EDI started giving him instructions. Shepard wasn't in the mood to be gentle with anything, especially because there was a fight on the other side.
"Fuck this," he growled after his fourth failed attempt at opening the door. He stepped back, pointed his pistol at the panel, and shot.
"Commander, the door has gone into lockdown," EDI warned.
"Stop giving me updates, EDI," Shepard muttered, tearing off his helmet and throwing it aside. He stretched briefly before creating a biotic field. He let it power up for a moment before he pushed it at the door with a feral yell. Metal tore, bent, and snapped, leaving a gaping hole and showing an empty room. Shepard stepped inside, glancing around for any signs of life. Other than an upturned chair, shed manacles, and some light blood spatter, the place was empty.
"She can't have gotten herself out," he murmured, going to the blood to scan it.
Confirmed: Corinthia-Imreas, Cassiopeia Iphigenia. Age: 25. DoB: 07 November 2149, the Citadel, Zakera Ward.
Confirmed: Enig, Ariadne Helen. Age: 25. DoB: 07 November 2149, Earth, United North American States, New York.
Shepard cursed and closed his omni-tool. Corinthia wouldn't have been so stupid as to have her DNA come up with two identities unless he wanted them to. She was making a point that she was Ariadne.
"Alright, Cassie, where'd you go?" he murmured. He could see that there had been a fight; hell, he'd heard the back end of it, even if it was only muffled. From the blood, she was injured, though possibly not badly. Escape outside wasn't an option, so...
He turned to the cockpit. The doors slid open before him. The hallway was littered with bodies, dispatched deftly by a practiced killer. Shepard's stomach dropped as he realized that Imeas was in control of Corinthia.
Someone screamed. Shepard sprinted in that direction, skidding to a stop inside the doorway just in time to see Corinthia snapping Briggs's neck.
"Told ya I'd do that," she muttered, kicking his body as she wiped blood from her face.
"Cassie?" Shepard asked, shocked.
She turned, raising an eyebrow. "You're early."
"What the hell are you talking about? And what the fuck did you do?" he continued, stepping towards her.
"Got rid of some ass holes, that's what, and made it pretty damn clear that I'm alive and I'm Ariadne," she answered with a shrug. "What are you doing here?"
"Rescuing you."
She laughed bitterly. "So Liara did call you? I knew she would... Still, you were a back-up plan, really. I wasn't supposed to end up on the ground." She knelt by Briggs and scanned his body. "C'mon, baby, tell me what I want to know..."
Shepard was still having trouble believing that he was looking at her. "It is you, isn't it, Cassie?"
Her eyes flickered briefly and focused on something behind him. "Yeah, it's me. It's all me." She flicked her fingers through her omni-tool's interface and put a finger to her ear. "Liara? You there?"
"I'm here," the asari answered.
"Get what you need?"
"It's too well protected. I'm not sure I can."
"Give me a sec..." Corinthia fiddled around for a moment. "Try it now."
"I have access. Cassiopeia, there isn't anything here."
"What?"
"It's been wiped. The Shadow Broker must have had a direct connection."
"Shit," Corinthia muttered, running her fingers through her hair. She flipped her locks over her shoulders and pushed past Shepard. "I'm headed to the cockpit. I'm going to see if I can at least get EDI to look. Oi, EDI, you there?"
"I'm here, Ci-Ci."
"Corinthia, please," Corinthia corrected distractedly. "I'm going to give you an in. See if you can get past the firewalls."
Shepard watched Corinthia, his mouth agape. "Cassie..."
"Not now," she answered, waving him off.
"I just saved your ass and you're telling me not now?"
"You didn't save anything," she snapped. "I had this all taken care of. I'm not some wilting flower, you know."
"You were sure as hell acting like it."
Corinthia stopped her movements and faced him, eyes narrowed. "I believe that this is the whole reason I left, hm?" She gestured around her. "The fact that I can take out a ship of mercenaries and the guards outside don't even know? Getting access to the Shadow Broker himself?"
"I'm in!" Liara squealed excitedly.
"EDI, work with her. Daddy and I are having a conversation," Corinthia interrupted, muting the transmission. "So?"
"So what?" Shepard answered, crossing his arms.
"Why did you come charging after me?"
"I just told you! To save you!"
"John, I'm still a Spectre. So, yeah, I got a little carried away with the whole boyfriend thing, but I've got a job to do and I'm doing it. You're off running errands for Cerberus and I'm trying to track down the only thing that I know has contact with the Reapers."
"Like I have a choice."
"Yes, you do. You could've stolen the Normandy, joined back up with the Alliance, and kept hunting the Reapers!"
"What the hell was I supposed to do? Let those colonists die?"
"No! But you could at least be in charge of finding out what the hell was going on rather than confirming that bastard's guesses!"
"You never cared about that until now."
She crossed her arms. "I did, but I wasn't saying anything because I wanted you too much and that distracted me completely."
He stared her down for a long moment. "You aren't coming back."
"No, I'm not."
"So we're over?"
"For now, yes."
He gritted his teeth and clenched a fist. "Alright, Imreas, if you say anything else..."
"It's not her, Shepard, it's me." Corinthia shut down her omni-tool. "Look, do you think I want to do this?"
"You sure as hell sound like it."
She pointed over his shoulder. "She's standing there, right now. I'm a fucking schizophrenic with a split personality. I'm a danger to you and your mission. We can't trust the Illusive Man because he only cares about humanity. I'm almost positive that he knows about the Reapers, more so than anyone else living, and that he's been experimenting with Reaper technology. I think you're the prime example of it. The only reason I haven't hunted that bastard down myself is because he's the only reason you're living and breathing."
Shepard didn't know what to think. "I've never seen you like this..."
"This is far closer to what I became after you died," she murmured guiltily. "What I was doing on the Normandy... I was trying to remember what it had been like before. I lost control. I over-exaggerated. I—" She stopped as her omni-tool flared up. "I think we need to leave. Now." She grabbed his arm and tore towards the exit.
"What the fuck?" he demanded, throwing her grip off and leaning down to pick up his helmet.
"That ship's about to explode," she answered, leaping into the open air of Ilos. She landed hard and rolled to her feet, ignoring the pain of being barefoot and in nothing but light pants and shirt.
"Do you have a detonation proximity?" Shepard shouted, sprinting next to her.
"Just keep running!" she answered.
"How about a countdown?"
"EDI!"
"Three minutes," EDI answered. "There is adequate cover to the west."
Corinthia skittered, arms flailing as she course corrected to run that way. Shepard heard the geth before she did, putting a barrier between them and throwing her behind him. She pulled his pistol off his belt and started shooting.
"It would've been nice to know the GETH WERE HERE!" Shepard hissed at EDI.
"I am still attempting to help Ms. T'Soni recover as much information as possible," the AI answered.
Corinthia knocked a thermal clip out of her weapon. "Give me the coordinates, EDI, and I'll get us out of here."
"Uploading now."
Shepard tossed Corinthia a new clip. "Where's your armor?"
"I don't know. I woke up wearing this," she answered, not flinching as a shot whizzed past her.
Shepard smirked. It was almost like Elysium, except that this time they had the upper hand. Corinthia dispatched a geth and started hacking another. "Hey, that program still works... Groovy."
"Groovy?" Shepard repeated.
"Better than 'fucking a'."
"What does that mean, anyway?"
"Not a clue. On your left."
Shepard destroyed the geth before it could even get close, but in doing so dropped his biotic barrier. Corinthia darted past him, ignoring the enemy fire and focusing on a point ahead of them.
"Ninety seconds," EDI warned.
Shepard charged after Corinthia, finishing off the geth as he passed.
"Don't bother, Shep! They'll be dead again soon," Corinthia hissed, returning to drag him away.
"Thirty seconds."
They were already going all-out, but they still sped up. Corinthia stopped just short of a fifteen-foot drop. Shepard wrapped an arm around her chest and pulled him against her before she toppled over.
"You don't expect me to catch you, do you?" he demanded.
"Five seconds."
"Hell no!" Corinthia answered, grabbing his hand and jumping.
They landed, hard. Shepard rolled and pinned her to the ground as the explosion shook the earth. She pressed herself against him and sucked in air.
"You alright?" he asked, his concern surfacing for a brief moment.
"Think so... Might've twisted my ankle, but I'll manage." She sat up and glanced up at the smoke. "Well, that was fun."
Shepard burst out laughing. After a moment, she did too, falling forward towards him and draping her arms around her shoulders. He held her against him and fell back onto the ground.
"Shit, Ci-Ci, it's more fun destroying stuff when you join in."
"Cassie," she murmured.
"Why not Ci-Ci?"
"I've grown out of it."
"Alright, Cassie." He stopped and brushed her hair away from her face. He'd been in "fighter mode", so he hadn't been able to see the bruises and cuts marring her visage. "What'd they do to you?" he murmured.
"Nothing horrible," she replied, tonguing a swollen lip. "Tastes coppery, though."
"Medi-gel?"
"Nah, I'll survive. You don't look too bad, either. Bloody in the face..."
"Not mine."
"Thought so." After a moment of gazing into his eyes, her expression softened. "You know why I can't come with you just yet, don't you?"
He nodded and leaned his forehead against hers. "I know. Mordin and Miranda want to help, though. Now that we know what's happening to you..."
"It isn't that simple."
"I don't care. I need you beside me."
"John..."
"In all capacities. Even if you can't be my girlfriend. Even if you're just there to spy on me. I don't care. It won't be the same. I've gotten to know the crew. I'm not..."
"Yeah," she finished for him, understanding completely. "Then I guess it's me that's not ready."
"Don't say that..."
"No. Let me explain. Being a Spectre is cool and all, but it just doesn't make sense to me if I'm not doing it for a reason... I'm re-joining the Alliance."
Shepard blinked. "I thought you were through with them."
"Things are changing. Quickly. It's... complicated, but it's where I have to be. I know it. Being Ariadne was just selfish of me. I wanted to get away from all this..." She gestured around, eyeing the flaming trees. "But the fact is part of me is always waiting to blow something up."
"Hence why you have Xerxes."
"Yeppers." She smiled kindly. "I guess my point is that we can't be first for each other, not right now."
"Doesn't mean I like it."
"And I agree, but you know that I'm right. It was different with Saren. We knew what we were fighting and what it was going to mean if we failed. The Collector thing is just confusing and almost... irrelevant in the scheme of things — like the Illusive Man is exploiting you while he still has the leverage. He—"
"Are you going to keep talking or can I kiss you yet?" Shepard interrupted harshly.
She blinked. "Seriously? After me doing possibly THE most immature thing I could? I thought that—"
He pressed his lips against hers, fiercely letting her know that he didn't give a damn about what had happened before. She answered in like, fingers digging into his neck and hissing as his teeth grated her split lip.
"One last thing," she gasped as he turned his attention to her neck.
He growled some kind of answer, hands roving across her body.
"No more sex-bunny," she continued breathily.
He brought his lips back to hers for a long, intense moment before purring, "What do I get instead?"
"We'll figure something out when you don't have your armor on," she answered, extracting herself from his grasp.
He closed his eyes and fell back on the ground with a groan. "Cassie, you're killing me..."
"Not yet." She held out her hand to help him to his feet. "But I'm glad to know that we can still kiss and make up."
"Doesn't mean I'm still not pissed at you."
"Doesn't mean I've changed enough, either."
"That isn't what I meant and you know it. I just..."
"You were right. I was immature. It's said and done, now, and I think it's going to turn out better this way."
He nodded and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Alright. I'll be patient, but I can't promise that I'll be able to let you leave without a stop on the Normandy."
"You have to take me back to the Citadel, anyway. That piece of shit in orbit was only meant to get me here in the first place. It'll self-destruct, too, before long."
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "You're just on an explosion kick, aren't you?"
"Yep, pretty much. Well, shall we?" She gestured towards the wall. "Uh... well... how shall we?"
"EDI, get the Kodiak over here," Shepard radioed.
"Oh. Right. I knew that," Corinthia muttered, blushing.
"You're not in any condition to walk," he answered grumpily, indicating her skinned knees, bruised legs, and highly-swollen and purple left ankle. "That looks broken."
She gingerly tested her weight on it, hissing in pain. "Yes. Yes it is."
He sighed and looped his arm around her waist. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Love me?" she offered helpfully. "Brush my hair? Ooh, yeah. That sounds nice... And a massage, a spa, a manicure... Mm. That's right."
He shook his head. "You were acting all bad-ass back there. That was... enticingly sexy. And now... Now you're going soft on me again."
She snickered. "That's what she said."
A/N 14 February 2012: This is, in all likelihood, the last chapter I will post until the release of Mass Effect 3 in March and my subsequent playthrough. I feel that in order to adequately finish the story within ME2 that I must know the end in ME3. Thank you everyone for reading and I look forward to an update in (hopefully) 3 weeks. As such, readers should be aware that there will be major spoilers regarding the newest installment of the game once I begin writing again. I'll try and make sure that everyone will have time enough to play Mass Effect 3 for themselves (since there is still the final mission for me to cover here, as well as DLC), and there may be more time between chapter updates because I'll probably need to play the newest game three or four times before I can adequately finish Shepard and Corinthia's story. I will also probably be editing the previous chapters, so if anyone has anything that they notice I got wrong/irked them, please let me know so that I can fix it while I have the chance! Thanks!