"Ok, let's just think this through-" Riah began.

"No, there's nothing to think through!" Santi growled, "I saw we just close up shop for good and leave. You yourself said it, they were threatening us!"

"They didn't!" Riah said, realizing she was contradicting her earlier statements. "Well, they didn't threaten us themselves, that is to say, I doubt the Upper Families themselves will actually kill us or do anything to us…"

"Fuck that!" Santi yelled, "You and I both know they don't want us to get out of here!" He sighed and sat down, setting the store lights to dim, the holographic sign switching to CLOSED. "Look, we ran away from Gaia, I'm sure you knew that already," Riah nodded, "And these Upper Family goons know we ran away…"

"Well anyone would know that," Riah interrupted, "This system isn't one of the few that has opened up to Gaian immigration, the very fact that you two are out here implies criminal behavior. Maybe they don't even know who you are or who you are running from and…"

"What, they guessed?" Santi snapped, "They walked in here and gave us their speech on a bluff?"

"It's just an idea," Riah stressed, "Look, even if they did know who you are and who is looking for you, why would they turn you over? As it is, you two are the only humans in this part of space and you are making cheap, easily built security mechs that can stand up to some small arms fire. The only one. And that means you are a valuable commodity, so until your government decides to open up the robot trade to Citadel space there's no reason at all why they'd let you go. Who are you even running from, the government?"

Santi ground his teeth, "No."

"Some gang?"

Santi said nothing.

"If it's no one with legal power, there's no guarantee the Upper Families will get anything valuable out of extraditing you," Riah began, hoping what she was saying sounded good enough to Santi. "And if it's some shady group, there's even less of a guarantee that they'll give the Upper Families something as equally valuable as you. Face it, you're too valuable for them to trade away!"

"Oh please, just stop it already!" Santi roared, standing up and slamming his hands down on the counter. "You only want to stay here because they promised a spot on the upper floors if you cooperated with them!"

"I'm terrified!" Riah yelled back, standing up from her seat, "What happens if you and your mother just up and leave huh?" she poked Santi in the chest before he slapped her hand away. "What'll the Upper Families do to me, who let you slip right out of their grasp? I'm just another suitrat quarian to them; any other quarian could replace me! No one will notice or care if they decide to take out their anger on me! And if that doesn't matter to you, what happens if you make yourself worthless?" she asked, Santi's eyes widening a fraction. "What happens if you stop being worth the secrecy to them? Do you think that card in your pocket will protect you then?"

Santi sighed, eying the drink that had spilled across the counter and moving his hand out of the way of it the growing puddle. "So what? We play their game?"

Riah glanced at the counter and pulled out a rag from one of her suit pockets. "Are we building golems for them?" she asked, handing him the item, "And aren't we helping out the people on the station? Varlus already came in here and thanked us, one of your drones stopped another shoplifter. Old Fali's drone stopped a burglar from stealing from her house. They haven't asked us to do anything… unsavory."

"Yet." Santi added.

Riah didn't have an answer to that.

The human boy sighed, and slumped in his chair, and gave Riah a look that made her ashamed of herself. "You know Riah, I hate that you know how to think like them."

"I do too."

"Are you serious? You're actually ok with this?"

Riah was surprised at Santi's tone; she had never seen the boy talk to his mother that way.

"You know I'm not," Katja replied evenly, "But we have to be smart about this-"

"Not you too!" Santi cried out, flinching when Yili laid a hand on his own, a momentary look of anger on his face before he realized who had touched him.

"We have to be smart Santi," Katja replied, unaffected by his outburst. "We have been in similar situations before." Riah caught the woman's nearly unnoticeable shudder, "And we can do it again."

Riah saw the boy grind his teeth, "I don't want to go through that again."

"I know you don't," Katja said softly, "But the situation is different, this isn't the Arkhangelsk Svalka and these aren't the Poglotiteli. We can get through this."

Riah shifted uncomfortably and looked over at her mother, who gave a small cough in an awkward attempt to move the conversation away from their private history. "So what should they do?" her mother asked, "Maybe Santi is right, they should just close up the store and leave?" Riah jealously noted how her mother kept her hand on Santi's. "I don't want our kids to be in danger."

"No, Riah is right," Katja responded, "If Riah and Santi stop selling their golems they lose their value to the Upper Families and hence we lose their protection…" Riah yawned, despite the circumstances she couldn't help but start feeling the effects of sleep. "Listen, why don't we talk about this tomorrow morning, it's late and we're in no condition to make big decisions if we're all falling asleep."

Riah looked to Santi and then to her mother, who nodded and began to stand up, "Riah, get some spare blankets."

Riah raised an eyebrow, though she quickly caught on to her mother's plan. "Santi and Katja are staying?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Seemed like her mother was worried about the two humans and thought there'd be safety in numbers. Not an unreasonable suggestion, especially since she knew Santi would bring the spare golem he had in his workshop for extra security. Katja, the human woman, seemed to have caught on just as quickly and didn't put up any token struggle, instead the two mothers simply nodded to each other.

"Santi," Katja began, "let's go and get some things from our place too, I'll help you activate that golem you've been working on, we could use it tonight." She led him out of their living unit and across the hall, their conversation in an untranslated language muted by their front door closing behind them.

"I'm surprised," Riah turned at her mother's voice, "That you aren't kicking up a fuss tonight."

"No, not tonight," Riah responded simply. Frankly, she was glad her mother hadn't asked that's she go and help Santi ready the golem, she wasn't sure if she could deal with that tonight. "They'll be gone for a bit," she explained, "The golems take a while to startup," she hadn't yet told her mother about all the blood, "So… they'll be gone for a bit."

There was a moment of silence as Riah was regarded by her mother.

"Come," her mother ordered as she headed into their room; Riah followed as her mother bent over and fiddled with the electronic lock on her safe; the one she rarely opened, the one that had old mementos of her husband. Riah had, on accident, wandered into the bedroom and caught sight of her mother crying over photos, or smiling over the old presents her father had given her mother when they were young. But she'd never see everything that was in the safe. Like the old, cracked visor, or the beautifully patterned shawl, or an old piece of jewelry that still shone in the dim light.

Or the guns.

"Mother, are those…?" she asked, shocked that her mother had kept several weapons in their home without her knowledge.

"An Elkoss Combine A-II rifle, two ERCS Firethorn SMGs and..." she trailed off as she picked up an old pistol. "This one was your father's." The weapons lit up to life in her hands, extending out of their compact carrying modes into their combat forms. Riah watched as her mother lovingly touched the old pistol before reaching further into the safe and retrieving several magnetic clamps which she fixed to her left. She stood up, holstered the gun and made a few quick draws before Riah's eyes, which bulged in surprise at her mother's movements. "I'm very out of practice."

"I didn't know you were into guns," Riah asked, never once thinking she'd have to utter that sentence. All her life she had imagined her mother as the very vision of femininity, weak, fragile, averse to violence. But here she was, with a small armory hidden beneath sentimental love gifts.

"I'm not." Her mother laughed warmly, "But your father was. Here," she handed Riah one of the submachine guns. "You should be able to handle the SMG since the rifle has too much kick for you."

Riah accepted the weapon, careful to keep her fingers as far away from the trigger as she possibly could, the weight of the weapon shifting in her hand as it extended out. She turned it over in her hands, getting herself accustomed to it. "This one has my name on it." She said.

"No," her mother said as she faced away from her, retrieving the other weapons from the safe and laying them out in the bed, inspecting them one at a time for faulty components. "Riah is also the name of my best friend when I was your age; she met your father while out on her Pilgrimage. The two of them wiped out a merc base out in the Systems; hauled back several tons of weapons, one small corvette and two dropships. They both got accepted into the Fleet Marines for that. They got married shortly afterwards, I'd never seen Riah so happy." She laughed at some old memory.

"Why did you never tell me that I was named after someone?" Riah asked numbly, looking back down at the weapon in her hands.

"You never asked Riah." Her mother replied back, "You never asked who I was back on the Fleet, or what I did or anything. You were always too busy resenting me for taking you away from our people."

Riah recoiled, stung by her mother's words. It was true. "Well… why did you leave?"

"I never told you because I didn't want to validate that resentment."

"Oh."

"Can you use a gun?" her mother continued as she handed her one of the magnetic holsters. "Let's see how you look with it on, you have your coat with you? Wear it to hide the gun, we don't want one of the enforces catching you with an unregistered gun."

Riah felt awkward despite her mother's attempts to steer the conversation away from her father and past, but followed her mother's instructions and checked herself in a nearby mirror. The SMG hidden beneath its heavy layers. "This should be fine," Riah said before practicing her quickest draw possible, though she wasn't anywhere as quick as her mother was.

"Here," her mother said as she handed her the assault rifle, "We'll keep this one in the living room, somewhere within reach. When Santi and Katja come back, we'll ask them how they are with weapons and we can give them the spare SMG."

Riah briefly wondered about that. A few weeks ago a video had been released about the so-called Lluvia Incident; some turian mercenary band from an infamous slaver ring had landed on one of the Gaian-Citadel joint worlds and gone on a rampage before being killed by some old Golden War vets alongside some asari locals. Caused a big stink; made some of the Gaians second guess allowing aliens on their world if it also means pirates are going to shoot up their cities, made the Citadel species second guess living near nigh-unkillable elderly that could blow up krogan with their magic. Captured video had sprung up on the extranet, uncensored. She also remembered Santi's blood magic. She assumed Katja had her own tricks. "Yeah, good idea," she agreed with her mother. Magic or no, it's probably always a good idea to have a backup plan. Those old folks on Lluvia were famous vets, so it was unlikely every Gaian could turn krogan into smears.

She also doubted the whole "unkillable" angle that some people had put forth.

The door chimed and they heard Katja calling through the door. Soon her mother had allowed them in, a pale Santi shuffling in before his mother who carried a bag full of personal belongings with them. Then the new golem, which hunched over to fit through the door, followed them in. Motor humming and chainsaw occasionally revving up. Soon the sounds of Katja and Yili talking and cooking in the kitchen filled the small room, and Riah could momentarily forget that their two little families were being watched by powerful people.

"What's this one called?" Riah asked Santi as he flopped down on the couch. She thought back on the store golems and their similar names. "Kila? Sila?"

"Mila," Santi said weakly. "Triplets."

"I should have known," Riah scoffed, "More of these human perversions. Just remember to control yourself tonight."

"I don't think I can," Santi joked, "Knowing your mother is nearby. I have a thing for hot moms." He pointed at a nearby container, "Could you hand me that? I really need some water."

Riah did so.

"I'm a little disappointed," Santi said after taking several gulps of water, "that you didn't berate me for that last comment. Honestly, I'd prefer if you did. It would make this entire situation feel a little further away than it actually is."

"You pervert," Riah said simply, "Stay away from my mother. Keep your filthy eyes to yourself." She sighed, sitting down across from Santi and taking off her coat, she noticed Santi's eyes land on her newly acquired weapon as she did so. "Can't do it." She growled, "Can't pretend things are fine, and I'm not in the mood to make little jokes."

Santi struggled to sit up, "Well… at least you tried. And you are right, I don't feel like joking either, I'd have never joked like that with you before. Guess I'm trying to be too relaxed right now."

"And it's not working." Riah stated.

"And it's not working." Santi agreed.

They sat in silence, Santi mostly out of exhaustion and Riah out of anxiety. Dinner went by quietly too, Katja and Yili making small talk in a vain effort to keep some sense of normalcy going, the golem still looming in the living room by the front door. It soon grew late and Riah's mother convinced Santi and Katja that it'd be much better if Santi slept in her bed with Riah.

"The couch is no place for someone in your condition dear," she had said sweetly, "He'll sleep much better on a bed."

Katja stood by silently while Riah protested. Unfortunately, she realized what game the two adults were playing. Her mother and Katja were the only two who had any experience with guns and fighting. Santi would be a liability in the living room if, Ancestors forbid, the Upper Families sent someone to pay them a visit in the night. In the end Katja agreed, and the two adults decided that they'd take shifts to keep watch at night.

So Riah found herself laying uncomfortably close to Santi on a bed. Occasionally their bodies would touch and she'd recoil away from him, a difficult task on the small bed. They laid that way for at least an hour, uncomfortable, restless, and worried about their mothers in the living room and about the turn their lives had so abruptly taken. Riah noticed that Santi's breathing had started becoming steadier as time went over, and turned over to look at him. He seemed peaceful, though she understood that he was physically exhausted. Still, she was jealous of his ability to rest. His eyes fluttered open and he caught her staring at him.

"It's pretty nice being in your mother's bed," he whispered.

"You're disgusting," Riah replied honestly, "Stop thinking about my mother, a scrawny little human boy shouldn't be thinking about her. Stick to your own species."

Santi lay still for a long time.

"That's the venom I wanted." He whispered before falling asleep.

Riah decided that she didn't like Santi much.

She slowly got off of her side of the bed and went to the bedroom door. The human woman's head snapped up at the movement of the door sliding open. Riah looked past her, at her mother sleeping on the couch, rifle within easy reach, then back at Katja, SMG in hand.

"Can't go to sleep dearie?" she asked, Riah noticed she didn't look tired at all. "What's wrong?" Riah pointed out her appearance. "Oh," Katja smiled. "I've done this before, so I don't' really need to sleep." Riah asked if she planned to let her mother sleep the entire night. "Of course… now get to sleep yourself. Your mother would be upset if she found out you were still awake."

Riah nodded.

"Lock the door too."

Riah did. Then she pulled up a chair by the bed, wrapped herself up in blankets, drew her SMG, and sat and waited. She wondered if, perhaps, they were making a big deal out of nothing. If the Upper Families only wanted them to freak out, wanted to be unbalanced by a single visit, wanted them to be in a state of mind where they'd be more likely to break and accept anything the Upper Families offered. For certain they've ruined her night. She doubted her mother and Santi were sleeping peacefully and she doubted Katja's idea of a fun night included all-night stakeouts.

Tonight is fine, Riah thought, but how long can we keep this up?

So Riah sat there, throughout the night, trying to think of a way to get out of this mess.