Look who's back! I know, I know I had to take a break for a minute, midterms killed me for a bit, but I'm ready to go again! I'll just cut to the chase too, enjoy, and please review and follow/fav!

I feel obligated to respond to a Guest review stating that Medi Gel was invented by Humans. Yes, you are correct in the sense of Canon, but for the sake of the story I needed to add certain AU elements, such as non-Human made Medi Gel. Thanks for the review though and keep them coming!

P.S. ~ My offer still stands for free music as a trade for cover art! Also, if you would like to feature a OC in this story, please PM me with as many details as possible!

Close Case Notes

The doors to the docks parted with a slight hiss. At first the brightness of the lights, relative to the dark airlock, kept me from seeing anything. When I found my eyes finally adjusting to the change, I found myself in a long passageway, tall glass windows to my left, looking out upon massive structures I thought looked like some of the modern skyscraper designs I had seen around Earth. I could make out strange symbols on the walls and windows, and on holographic screens similar to Visia's Omni-Tool. What I didn't expect was the massive number of different races present at the docks.

Of course, I recognized several Turians among the bunch, different clan markings of all shapes and colors. I spotted multiple blue and purple women, who from the small descriptions Visia gave, I assumed to be Asari. I was awestruck when she had told me that this race lived a whole millennium! My eyes wandered over to an odd-looking group of amphibian creatures with curled 'horns'. Salarians… they seemed from what Visia told me to be the more slippery of all the races, pun intended.

I stepped slowly through the threshold of the airlock, my first step on the massive station that apparently housed millions of the galaxy's citizens. It was not long until I noticed many sideways glances in my direction from these different aliens, however, and before long a few were downright panicking. Visia and I stopped in our tracks, and it seemed she was about to say something when a group of five Turian men in bright blue armor jogged up to us, forming a perimeter with their long rifles up and ready to fire. They squawked to Visia in their native language, her own translator being the only one able to convert to my native English. I threw my hands up defensively, didn't want to be shot yet again on the other side of the galaxy!

"No! Don't take him into custody, he's under my care, and by principle the Council's! If you so much as attempt to hurt either of us, I'll put in a word with the Councilors to have you shipped down to the wards, so you can handle the Vorcha!" Visia snapped back, leaving two of the seemingly younger presumed 'officers' slack-jawed at her tenacity under pressure.

It was another tense minute before finally, to much relief, the Turians lowered their weapons and stepped away. I had to admire her bad-assery, I myself wouldn't want to cross paths with this particular woman if I was going to piss her off.

"Well, Cole… now that you've been warmly welcomed to the Citadel, we should go and get you an Omni-Tool with a translation program. I can't speak for you forever, you know…" She joked, elbowing me before lightly pulling me along the corridor and to the right, through what seemed to be a checkpoint. "That was docking bay D24, from here it's not too far from some of the shops where you can get your new tech."

"Alright… I'll follow you… but what's stopping those police from nearly shooting me another time today?" I asked, genuinely worried I wouldn't survive twenty-four hours.

"You'll be fine! They had to update their files that you're technically my charge for the time being, until you get registered and speak with the Council" She smirked, getting onto the elevator after me and pressing another unfamiliar symbol before I felt a small lurch and we were moving upwards.

The elevator ride seemed unnaturally long for a futuristic space-faring society, but it gave me time to cool off before we stepped off on a level Visia called the Presidium. This time the crowds were even larger, in what seemed to be elegant clothing or military uniforms no matter where I looked. It seemed that time nearly stopped as the two of us walked off towards the closest tech store. Everyone was staring, muttering things in their native tongues inevitably about me. I didn't blame them, I was a new species they've never seen before, but still, it was pretty jarring to be the center of attention for so many people.

I was lucky to be free of their lingering gazes when we made our way through the small doorway of a store, seemingly owned by a Salarian opposite us at the counter. Visia spoke first, "Hi again, Netan! I need an omni-tool for my friend here. Mid-level, a very good translator program as well. Audio and text."

His reply came as incredibly fast paced, fluid syllables that I made no sense out of, but apparently were funny as they made my Turian friend laugh wholeheartedly. The Salarian grinned before disappearing under the desk, reemerging seconds later with a silver bracelet. He gestured to me to hold out my arm, palm up.

I was hesitant, but a nudge from Visia and I did as I was asked. I felt the cool band around my wrist as it clicked into place, secure on its new owner. I turned over my arm and admired it, the small orange-glowing orb on the front face and the sleek design. "Here, just flick your hand like this…" Visia demonstrated, her hand moving quickly to the side.

Again, following her direction, I mimicked her movement, and a familiar orange glow similar to her own tool hovered over my forearm. I heard a chirp as she took a holographic symbol and somehow sent it to mine, before lines of what looked like coding flashed up my arm. In a few seconds, it calmed, and she told me, "Try talking again, I just updated your translator."

Nodding, I looked too the Salarian shopkeeper. "Can you understand me at all?"

His smile widened, before his hands shot up. "Ah! Yes! First Salarian to speak with new alien species! Greetings! I am Netan, owner of Omni Emporium! Must say, excited to have such a prestigious new customer."

It seems his fast speech translates well, as I could barely keep up. "Um… thank you?" I say, still thrown off by the whole ordeal.

"Thanks, Netan. You know I'll be back, but for now we have some other business to get to." Visia picked up for me as we turned to leave, inevitably off to some other store to try and get me adjusted to the station.

"Yes, anytime! Good long-time customer, appreciate your business. Good day!" His words trailed after us as we walked back onto the main area of the Presidium.

Having taken care of my toughest need, I finally was able to see just how beautiful this area of the station was. There were trees and gardens of new varieties I had never seen before, huge fountains in large pools of water, elegant bridges and buildings lining the walkways. We headed off down our path, passing plenty of aliens still thrown off by my appearance, with the exception of two massive brutes that I took to be Krogan. I made out what they were saying as we passed.

"There have to be fish in those ponds!" I heard one argue to his companion, before we were out of earshot again.

I was happy to be able to read signs and projectors, thanks to the text function of my tool. One building we were headed towards was marked with the translated words, C-Sec, and as we walked up the ramp and through the entrance, I could tell this was some sort of police station. Maybe Visia was really on their side, out to turn me in to be experimented on. I quickly dismissed that, though, as we made our way to a desk and greeted one 'Captain Ba'ilee'. Apparently Visia knew this Asari just as well as the shopkeeper from before.

"Greetings Faana, it's good to see you again!" Visia exclaimed. "I have a favor to ask, though, for an old friend. I need you to help register my guest in the Citadel databases as a Citizen. He's going to be here for a while to advise me." She clapped my shoulder while talking to the woman.

"It might be tough, but I can do it. What's your name, newcomer?" The Asari asked plainly, pulling up some sort of form on her 'computer'.

"I'm Doctor Cole Hartford. What else do you need? I'll try my best to give you the answers." I chuckled, noticing the woman's all around bored, no b.s. attitude.

"Well… besides what species you are, I need a sample of your DNA and some of your basic identifying information. Put your hand on this." She gestured to a glass tablet embedded in her desk. Reaching out and spreading my hand over it, I felt a small prick on my finger as a light passed along my palm and fingers. It looked almost like a copier, and I could only guess it was taking my handprint or something similar. I sat with Visia at that desk for a good twenty minutes, giving the Captain basic info like height, eye color, and the like, which I could only assume was being converted into a usable language on her end. Finally, after a constant barrage of useless DMV questions, we were finished, and my new Omni-Tool pinged again with an update.

"I just set up your public profile. You're now officially registered as a resident on the Citadel, so you shouldn't get any more trouble from our officers. Your name and information are also tied to your tool, if you ever need it. Only thing left if you so choose is to set up an account with a bank, so you can get paid doing whatever it is you want to do. That it, Visia?" The Asari looked tired of dealing with us, jumping through the hoops of registering a member of a new species.

"That's it, Captain. I appreciate it, you just made our lives so much easier!" Visia told her, tapping my shoulder as she stood, gesturing for us to walk back out into the bright cityscape that is the Presidium. All I hear as a response from the officer is a short grunt as we leave the station behind.

"Damn, Visia, if I would've known you were going to torture me all day I would've stayed back on Earth!" I shot at her jokingly.

She laughed, "Sure… you would have loved having your best friend, the CIA, keep you company I bet!" She grinned, her mandibles flaring.

"Point taken… So, where's a good place to eat around here? I assume that there's not anywhere to get a good peperoni pizza, so I'll have to settle for some other species' food…" I was genuinely worried that I was going to have to eat some crazy things here… forefront in my mind the fear of eating any sort of bug.

"Well you could always have Salarian cuisine, they have really wonderful -or so I hear- roasted beetles from their homeworld." I couldn't tell if she was being serious, and my heart dropped. I think I even went a little pale from her look of concern she gave me.

"I'm joking! I'm joking, I lived with you for a while, I know you don't eat bugs! I'm not a tyrant. We'll get you some Asari food. They look the most similar to you, so might as well give that a try." She rested her arm on my shoulder, "What do you say, buddy? Want to try your first alien dish?" She chuckled.

"Yeah… let's get this over with…" I fake a smile as we walk off to the closest restaurant that serves her dextro and Asari types of food. It looked busy as we walked in, asking the host for a table for the two of us. After the male Turian got over his shock at the sight of me, he led us to our tables. For drinks Visia recommended Asari Wine. It was apparently very popular. She ordered her own, bright orange drink and our waitress soon returned with both. I was surprised at how strong this so-called 'wine' really was. I told myself to take it easy otherwise I'd have to get carried out.

After a couple minutes of idle small talk, the server came back and took our orders. Visia again did the ordering, picking out Ke'ah with a Thessian fish for me (which she explained, and I took to be something similar to a seafood pasta), and a plate of Macedyn Fried Louza for her (akin to a fried chicken).

All-in-all, I enjoyed my food. It was in a way very similar to that of Earth, but at the same time had a sweeter overall taste that's hard to describe. I finished all of my plate, and after my two glasses of the Asari drink I had to admit I was a bit buzzed. Luckily, we weren't slated to see the Council until the following morning.

"Ready to go, Cole? My apartment shouldn't be too messy, I cleaned it before my mission and the couch is plenty big." She smiles after graciously paying for the meal.

"Mhmm… I'm very… tired." I say, perhaps a little bit more than just buzzed. Damn my metabolism.

She only laughed as we stood, her hand taking my arm gently and guiding me out into the night-cycle of the Citadel. A short (albeit nerve wracking for me) ride in a skycar to her apartment, and I was home for the next while, until I found a steady job or something to get me a place of my own. As my Turian roommate guided me to the couch and helped lay a blanket over me, I thought how strikingly similar this was to me taking in Visia not even a month before. With that thought, I drifted off to a deep sleep.

Visia smiled after I closed my eyes, herself pretty tired after the long day. Unknown to me, though, she laid her hand gently on my forehead with a smile before making the short walk to her own room, settling in for a good night's rest.

Case Notes:

Well, what do you think? Back in force? Hah. And please god tell me at least a few of you caught the subtle jokes and ME game references in there. As always, review and follow/fav, and please consider being my savior and making cover art for my nice little story! Peace.