Garrus felt the docking mechanisms clamp down on the Normandy as he stepped out of the elevator onto the CIC. He was noticeably nervous. The hallucination he had experienced earlier was so vivid. He wondered if a hallucination was all it really was, or if he was simply dreaming. Maybe he drank some liquor that didn't agree with him, or... maybe he was just going insane. The human and suited figure standing just outside the airlock at the helm caught his attention. Tali and Shepard were apparently deep in conversation when he approached.

Tali greeted him warmly. "Hello Garrus."

"Hey..." he replied. She could see that he was a little evasive for some reason. Her curiosity setting in, she decided to poke him for answers.

"Is something bothering you?" she said in a puzzled tone.

"I—have you either of you, you know, noticed anything...off?" He paused. Tali tilted her head to the side and Shepard stared blankly. "Never mind." the turian finished. Tali hit the controls, opening the airlock door and the three stepped inside for decontamination, Garrus deciding to change to the subject as they for fear that his friends would think he was crazy. "So, where are you taking Shepard?" The Spectre shifted his head to Tali and she returned the gaze.

"Someplace special to us—err well, me at the moment." Garrus shrugged, not understanding what she meant.

"Where will you go?" Tali asked curiously.

"To C-Sec. Gonna get someone in here to take those two Krogan down in the brig off our hands." he replied. The airlock doors opened and the three stepped out onto the 27th level of the Zakera Ward. Tali took Shepard by the hand and walked him over to the rapid transport terminal while Garrus split off from the two and headed for Captain Bailey's office.

"See you later." Tali called out.

"Uh huh, you too. Try not to let her pounce on you, Shepard." Tali gave Garrus the 'Quarian death glare' upon hearing his comment. Garrus laughed with his mandibles moving about as he did and walked through the corridor to the C-Sec office. Shepard reached up and scratched the back of his head with a puzzled look on his face. He turned to Tali.

"What did he mean by that?" asked Shepard curiously.

"Uh—err, he was just referring to some hand to hand combat tactic I tried on you once. I-I mean no, that didn't come out right. What I meant was... Oh Keelah, please just forget I ever said anything." Shepard shrugged; deciding against pushing the question any further seeing as how it made her uncomfortable. She pressed the controls on the terminal calling a hover car down to them and they both boarded with her in the driver seat and Shepard riding shotgun.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Chora's Den. Well, the alleyway just outside of it to be exact." she replied.

"Why are we going there?"

Tali turned to look into his eyes for a brief moment. "Like I said, it's special to us..."

...

Zaeed began to stir, slowly coming back to reality. He moaned painfully upon feeling the throbbing in his shoulder where a bullet had pierced it. He could hear water dripping all around the room. It was cold and damp with the smell of mold reeking in the air. He began to open his eyes to take in his surroundings. It room was pitch black with the lamp above his head being the only source of light. He found himself tied to a metal chair with his hands bound behind his back and his feet to the legs of the chair itself. A rusted pipe leaked water in one corner of the room and as far as he could tell, no doors were visible through the darkness. He began to violently struggle to break free, venting his rage as he did. "ARAN!" He yelled. "YOU BACK STABBING, GOLD DIGGING BITCH!" Upon hearing the sound of a door opening, he halted in his struggles. Soft footsteps began to echo through the room and a certain young Asari emerged from the darkness. He recognized the black spiderweb patterned face paint and glared at her angrily as she began to circle him with her hands laced together behind her back.

"You fucking whore-" he started to say before she interrupted.

"Yeah, I got the message earlier Zaeed. Good to see you, too." she said still walking around the room.

"Wish I could say the same." he retorted. "So love, how bout you loosen these straps so I can rip your head tentacles off and shove em' down your throat?" she shook her head.

"You haven't changed a bit! You should be kissing my ass right now! I did you a favor by telling Santiago you were dead!"

He chuckled. "You told him I was history, eh? Why? So you can make another fortune by selling me out to the highest bidder? Again?" she halted.

"Zaeed... I fucked up alright? I thought credits was what I wanted but..." he watched as she rubbed her watery eyes but the rage never faded from his eyes.

"Ten years too late for that, love." he said. Aranya regained her composure and turned to him.

"I didn't bring you here for make-up sex Zaeed. I need information." She paced around him again. "I wanna know where your friends went, or should I say, where the crew of the mighty Commander Shepard went..."

"Truth be told, love, I don't know where they went, and I if I did I still wouldn't tell you a bloody god damn thing." he replied with a chuckle.

"I'm willing to make up for past mistakes, Zaeed. You tell me where they are, and I'll let you go. Hell, I'll even hand you some credits and a ship to off world."

"You really think I'd make a deal with a quad sucking bitch like you? I'd rather spend another week in a Blood Pack torture chamber." he replied.

"I'm tempted to take you up on that, Massani." she said stopping in front of him. "But I'm not in the mood for burning already broken bridges. My superiors, unfortunately, aren't as patient as I am. Way I figure it, you got 12 hours to tell me what I want to know before you spend a week in an ECLIPSE torture chamber!"

"It'll be less painful than listening to the bullshit your spitting at me." he retorted. Aranya became noticeably angrier and started to clench her fist for a brief moment but released her grip as her emotions calmed. She turned and walked toward the open door.

"Aran..." he said stopping her in the doorway. He smiled mischievously, "When I get out of here...my gun's barrel will gladly take you up on that offer to kiss your ass..." With one last glance over her shoulder at the man she once loved, she left the room and left him to rot.

...

"Are we there yet?" asked Shepard

"Almost, its just past the markets on the lower levels." Tali set the hover car down in the lower markets of the Zakera Ward. Tapping the controls, she shut down the engine and then reached over to turn a latch, opening the cockpit. She then stepped out with Shepard following suite and took a moment to look around at all the different aliens purchasing goods from the local stores.

"There aren't many Quarians here." said Shepard. Tali looked over at a Salarian shop keeper that gave her a dirty look then sunk her head.

"No...there aren't..." he could hear the depression in her voice and gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder. She looked over to see him holding out his hand, waiting for her to take it. She smiled beneath her mask and gladly accepted.

"Keelah...even without his memories he still treats me like a person and not like a pestering insect..."

"Lead the way." he said smiling. With that they both strolled through the markets, some pedestrians still giving Tali a mean glare. She ignored them and continued with an almost unnoticeable spring in her step.

"Excuse me Sir, Ma'am." A turian in blue armor stopped them at the door leading to the alleyway, a C-Sec emblem on his shoulder. "I'm gonna have to ask you both to relinquish your weapons."

"What? Why?" asked Tali.

"Security measure. Chora's den has been quiet ever since we enforced new laws on carrying concealed arms and I plan to keep it that way."

"Well, we're not actually going to Chora's den. Just the alleyway outside-" The C-Sec officer interrupted her.

"Regardless, weapons are prohibited past this point, Ma'am." Tali stared at Shepard expecting him to back her up but all he did was shrug. She pulled her shotgun off her back and handed it to the turian officer as did Shepard with his pistol and then the two walked through the door, letting it seal behind them. They both walked through the alleyway and stopped just before reaching the catwalks that would take them to Chora's Den. Tali let go of Shepard's arm and took a few steps forward while Shepard began to have feelings of Deja-vu.

"What is this place?" he asked. She turned around and slowly walked toward him placing her hands in his and stared into his eyes lovingly.

"This is where we first met, Shepard. Do you remember?" he directed his focus to the darkness in his mind, trying to make sense of the feelings coursing through his body. He began to see images of a quarian in a purple enviro-suit similar to the one Tali was wearing but slightly different. Then he saw a turian with white face paint resembling that of a tribal skull.

"I see... a quarian. She looks like you." The next image he saw was even more vivid and clear. Two Salarians, guns drawn, approached the quarian who reacted by tossing an explosive in their direction.

"That is me! Do you remember anything else?" she replied excitedly. He again scanned the images flowing through his mind and could hear the voice of the Quarian in his head.

"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!"

"I..." Tali proceeded to finish his sentence for him.

"Yes... You saved my life... And you allowed me to come with you to fight Saren and his Geth. From that point on I have been by your side..." More images flashed through his mind but this time they were so quick he couldn't make any sense of them.

"I think some of my memory is coming back. I-I can't sort through them but they're there." Tali smiled and moved closer to embrace him. She was overcome with joy that her idea had worked for the most part. She enjoyed being held by his warm arms for a moment even if he didn't fully understand how much he meant to her. However, when she noticed a figure in the corner of her eye circling them, she broke the embrace. The two of the, looked around find that they were being surrounded by five men. All human and wearing stock store bought armor with pistols at their sides. Probably a low class street gang.

"Check this out boys." The man with red hair that seemed to be their leader said. "This guy apparently has a thing for bucket heads." He said with a sly look. "You like screwing bucket heads pal?" He unsheathed a knife and began tracing it down Tali's body.

"Look..." she began to say. "We don't want any trouble, if you want credits we can-" The red haired man took a step back and drew a pistol at her helmet, interrupting her.

"Who said we want credits? I'm more interested in that sweet ass of yours. You wouldn't mind showing us what it looks like underneath that suit would ya?" Shepard took a step forward trying to come in between them but the man aimed the pistol at his head, stopping him.

"Look, we were just passing through. You can take our credit chits and let us go." said Shepard. After finishing his sentence, he was hit in the back of the head with the butt of one of the other thug's pistols and fell to his knees beside Tali. He looked up at the ringleader who had begun to slide the barrel of his gun down the center of Tali's breasts and looked at him with a malevolent grin. Tali began to tremble slightly, not from fear, but from the sheer violation she felt. She closed her eyes as she felt the gun slide down her chest; her skin crawled from the disgust she felt towards the man. The red haired man then placed his hand on the side of her helmet. "Lets see that pretty face..." Tali acted quickly. Twisting his hand, she caused him to drop his gun. Shepard felt an adrenaline surge flow through his veins and then got up and spun around the man that had hit him from behind and held him in a headlock. He grabbed his arm and bent it in an unnatural position causing him to shoot one of his fellow thugs. Tali pulled out her knife and jammed it into her offenders neck then pulled it back out and watched him cover his ruptured throat with both hands as he fell to the ground and quickly bled out. She quickly rolled across the floor grabbing his pistol and began to fire on the remaining thugs. Shepard proceeded to snap the neck of the men in his arms then helped her finish off the the remaining thugs with the pistol his victim once held.

Tali turned and stared at him in amazement. "Shepard?" His expression was filled with great realization as he stared at the smoking pistol in his hand.

"I just—how did I do that?" he said not understanding what provoked his actions.

"He is in there!" She thought to herself. Shepard turned to look down at the man Tali had stabbed in the throat. He was barely alive but still bleeding out. She stood over him, aimed her pistol at his forehead, and fired a single round, snuffing out the last bit of life in him.

"Don't touch merchandise you can't afford, Bosh'tet!"

...

Back on the Normandy, Joker sat at the controls in the helm surfing the extranet with his free time and sharing crude, pointless jokes with EDI. He decided to explore Fornax on the extranet. A famous Xenophilia magazine or "xeno porno" as he liked to call it. A particular set of a words caught his eye.

"Quarians barely suited, eh? Shepard would kill me for this, but I just have to know what they look like!" He was met with disappointment when a page popped up.

"Must subscribe? Only 150 credits per month? Screw that!" he closed out his search and waited for EDI to make some snippy remark about how disgusting he was when suddenly all the lights in the ship as well as the flight controls went dark.

"Great... what did you do this time EDI?" he complained. EDI did not respond to his comment. "EDI?" he began to feel uneasy. "Dammit Kenneth! I warned you about that button..." he carefully lifted himself out of his seat and pulled out a small flashlight from his pocket, flipping it on as he limped past the airlock. He was now halfway down the hall. The strange thing is, as he looked around the CIC, he found no sign of life. A dark figure suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor and he shined the light on it, nearly jumping out of his skin.

"Alenko?" he whispered. Kaiden Alenko stood at the end of the corridor just staring at him with a blank expression. But how could it be him? Alenko died on Virmire two years ago. He couldn't possibly be there! For a moment they just stared at each other before Joker began to limp his way closer. Kaiden turned and began to walk away towards to tech lab.

"Hey wait a second!" Joker called out. Kaiden seemed to ignore him and kept walking making Joker pick up his pace. He watched as the apparition passed through the hatch to the tech lab like a ghost.

"What the shit?" he walked closer to the door and it opened. He found himself inside the tech lab with the room being just as dark as the rest of the CIC with the exception of a light source emanating from Mordin's desk but Kaiden was no where in sight. He narrowed his eyes trying to get a better look at it and limped his way over to the table. He stared down at the capsule containing the strange energy they had recovered from the Cerberus research vessel. He slowly stretched out his arm toward the capsule; his heart beating faster the closer his hand got to it. He finally placed the palm of his hand on the device and a grotesque image he could not describe scorched its way into his mind. He fell backwards onto the floor from the shock of it. When he hit the ground the lights suddenly came back on as did every other power source on the ship. He looked around the room only to find that it was still empty and capsule had stopped glowing. He tried to lift himself up when the door behind him opened and Mordin walked in.

"Joker, why on floor? Strange position for comfort. Must have fallen." The Salarian scientist babbled.

"Can you take a two-second breather and help me up please?" Mordin walked over to him and helped him to his feet. Joker turned and headed for the door but not before asking a question.

"So why did we lose power a second ago?" Mordin turned to Joker with his finger under his chin.

"Power loss? None occurred. Was in mess hall. Recently spoke to EDI even. Power fine."

"No, I'm very sure we lost power a second ago and where did every one on this deck go anyway?" Mordin walked over to the door and opened it. The Normandy's crew were going about their usual duties. Even Kelly Chambers stood at her station with nothing seeming out of place.

"Crew still here. Everything in place. Recommend 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Should feel better." Joker seemed to grow angry at Mordin's suggestion.

"Dammit!I don't need sleep and I'm not nuts I'm telling you—ah forget it." Joker began to limp his way back to the helm with the door shutting behind him as Mordin pondered the situation.

"Is there something wrong Professor Solus?" asked EDI with her holographic image popping up in its place on the wall.

"Do not know. Strange behavior from crew. Could be ship-wide illness or maybe hallucinogenic drug. Never understood addiction of such things. Will investigate later." Mordin walked over to the glass casing he set up opposite of his desk with the Collector seeker drone still inside. He inspected it without noticing the flash of light that emanated from the capsule filled with the strange energy.