DISCLAIMER – I do not own Mass Effect franchise, the story, or any of its characters. All rights go to Bioware.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I'm sorry about the month-and-a-half delay in posting a new chapter, but I simply couldn't write. It wasn't the question of time or obligations, but I simply could not write. Every sentence I wrote dragged on, it didn't flow, it didn't seem perfect… I rewrote this chapter 4 times before I gave up and dropped it altogether for a few of weeks until it all cleared up.
So, YES, I am continuing this story – and there's nothing you can do about it! ;)
Also, there were a couple of anonymous reviews in the previous chapter, and I will take this opportunity to answer them both in detail to every point and question that they have made since as they are anonymous I have no other means:
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Reviewer Guest - you have posed a number of interesting questions:
Q: You don't think [Cerberus] monitors the suits of every guard for death or vital spikes?
A: Not when they are out of their combat suit and in their R&R hours, which was the case for the guard you were referring to.
Q: They put explosives on the elevator but not to destroy the computers or base? Thermite on the hard dives is a simple thing.
A: Sure, it's a simple thing – if you were talking about today's tech. This is 150 years into the future. I'm not about to conform the future technology to today's conceptions of whether simply physically destroying the drive would be sufficient to eliminate all instances and traces of the data. A guy from 150 years ago today would have thought that burning all paper documents would be enough, but he wouldn't know about computer or cloud data.
Q: Not to mention how cloaking defeats base sensors, which are all thermal not visual even in current times.
A: Soldiers in Mass Effect wear fully environmentally sealed suits. Or didn't you play the game? As such, they don't give off body heat. It is also clearly mentioned in-game that suits are often designed to dissipate all heat into the ground through the soles of their boots.
Q: What about the Prothean Deus Ex Machina, you said it is adaptive but how does that allow it to copy the hardrive?
A: Do I really need to invent a valid technological method as to how Prothean computers are supposed to work? If I could do that, I'd sell it and be a trillionaire. This is science fiction. So, no, you don't get to know how the Prothean device works; use your imagination – that's what storytelling is all about.
Q: You still would need access to the hardrive and much more than simple administrative access just to read it. How does Prothean even adapt to our computers?
A: As I mentioned in two previous answers: how would you know how mass effect computers work 150 years into the future? Or Prothean ones? I certainly don't. I'm being imaginative. It's something called writer's liberty.
Q: Can a modern USB drive plug into a cray super computer? Heck, USB 3 doesn't even work without the proper drives from windows 7.
A: Again, you are trying to find justification in today's technology to explain the one 150 years into the future. That would be like trying to explain how today's computers work to a guy from 1860-s. They didn't even have electricity, let alone computers. They couldn't even imagine such things. The guy would have no idea what I'm talking about, so why would I even bother?
Q: To think Cerberus is this incompetent and easy to defeat is breaking suspension of disbelief, a child could design better fail safes.
A: I don't think that Cerberus appeared incompetent or easy to defeat in any way, but of course, I won't begrudge you your opinion. And if you say that even a child could design those fail safes better, then great – I encourage you to write it and post it as your own story.
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To reviewer named Whatever:
You do have a point about Miranda being able to notice and plug the security holes, but I was taking liberties on the matter of her not being fully able to do so on the account of timeframe and logistics needed to alter and enhance security. Increasing the level of readiness across all bases cannot be instantaneous.
Also, thanks for the compliments!
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Chapter posted on 6.7.2017.
Main Tags: Action, Sci-fi, Adventure, Friendship building, Love.
Additional Tags: Slowly turning AU, Technology-heavy, Geopolitical themes, Economic themes, Intrigue, Romance…
Rated M – for mature and adult content.
Enjoy…
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Chapter 25 – To Be Ensnared
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Marcus lied on the medical examination table as the machine's frame slowly swept up his body, a dull buzz filling the air as the scanner made its recordings. The arc frame reached the end of its journey, and the robotic arm raised it up and to the side of the medical table.
"You can stand up now, Commander," Chakwas spoke from the side where she was monitoring the results on the terminal screen.
Marcus sat up and turned sideways, sitting on the edge of the medical bed.
"What's the verdict Doc?" Jaina asked from where she stood off to the side with her arms crossed. "Have you discovered anything that would explain how Marcus has suddenly developed Prothean abilities?"
Chakwas said nothing for a moment, her keen medical eye narrowing as she read out the scans and made causality links.
"I think I have," she said interestedly. "Most unusual indeed." She looked at Marcus with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You sure are a magnet for unusual occurrences, Commander," she said.
"I call it my bad luck," he replied dryly, then nodded up toward the monitor. "What did you discover?"
"Well, you were right to come to me, for one," she said with no nonsense as she turned back to the monitor. "I am detecting a wide range of peculiarities. From what you told me of your newly-developed abilities, I have no doubt that these changes that I'm seeing have occurred in your body is what's facilitating them."
"Changes?" Marcus asked pointedly.
"Several of them," Chakwas said significantly. "First of all, your blood and lymph show signs of elevated delta-triceramins of various subtypes. Not a naturally occurring substance in a human body – or any of the known species that originate from Earth."
"Is it dangerous?" Jaina asked in concern.
"Not really," Chakwas replied. "Triceramins are a substance that is similar in function to asari geanadin – a substance that facilitates the skin-to-skin meld. These substances work as a conducive element that transfers neuro-chemical information, but in exceedingly greater density than what is normal for a human."
Jaina hummed. "That does correspond with your apparent ability," she noticed.
"Apparently," he said slowly. "So how can my body be flooded with them, Doc? I'm no medical expert, but the last I checked, human body tends to flush out any foreign substances real quick."
"And that would be true for most cases, but this as far as your body is concerned, Commander, this isn't a foreign substance," Chakwas replied pointedly, then added, "Because you're the one that's producing it."
She turned the display of his body's scan toward them. "Your body itself has changed. You have developed new organs, new neural networks, new receptors. I have never seen anything like it."
Both Marcus and Jaina turned their focused frowns toward the display that held his body's internal scan. Several areas on it were marked out in red.
"That's a lot of red," Jaina murmured worriedly, then raised her eyes to Chakwas. "Are these new bits dangerous?"
"Everything indicates that they aren't," Chakwas replied certainly. "If they were in any way, Commander would have noticed the negative symptoms far sooner. And they'd be far direr."
"So, what are we talking about here?" Jaina wanted to know.
Chakwas tapped a button, and the image highlighted a few areas of Marcus's body.
"These areas of your skin represent the first major metamorphosis that your body has undergone. These areas of your skin are the ones that have developed a network of new types of receptors. As you can see, they are mostly concentrated in your hands, forearms, as well as your facial, cervical, and collar bone area."
"The areas with which I pick up things the most," Marcus noted. He nodded up at the images. "Are those the new sensors? New neural webs?"
"Mixed with specialized chemical receptor buds," Chakwas confirmed, nodding. "They work quite differently than the normal receptors. They are much more precise and differentiating. Our, human, receptors pick up many things from our environment, but are able to only identify them as the most basic human senses – heat, smell, and so forth – but with these new receptors, you'd be able to identify much more. Immensely more. Now, normally, despite these receptors detecting nearly everything, all of it would simply go right past us because our brain wouldn't be able to interpret it, making it as if the trails weren't even there if it weren't for this," she said, circling out a highlighted area inside Marcus's cranium.
"What is it?" he asked.
She turned her piercing gaze at him.
"A whole, new, fully differentiated brain lobe, Commander," she said gravely. "Right there, between the two cortexes. It has developed from your natural neural stem cells in your brain, and it has developed dense neural links with all other brain lobes."
She straightened, then sighed deeply.
"It is this lobe, I think, that is responsible for you being able to actually interpret all of the sensory input that your new receptors are sending its way. No other known species has quite this kind of segment inside their brains. I suspect that this was something that was endemic to Protheans. Only the asari have something remotely similar, but it does not work with skin receptors but only if melded with another neural network."
She glanced at the monitors for a moment.
"From what I see here, I'd say that this new lobe is using all other lobes to interpret the signals it's receiving via skin receptors and form images, sights, and sounds that Marcus can visualize and understand. The link works both ways. But I'd need further study to be sure."
Jaina sighed, a deep frown marring her face.
"This is not a small thing," she said. "These changes are huge! A whole new brain lobe? New skin receptors? Something like this doesn't just happen. I know you said it came with the Cipher, but how is it possible that a neural transfer could have caused all this?"
"Oh, it was not a neural transfer," Chakwas replied readily. "I've already found the culprit. It's this," she said and popped up a microscope render.
"Are those…?" Jaina murmured, trailing off.
"A form of Thorian spores," Chakwas finished for her. "These ones are dormant now, and whatever content they carried has long been released. I suspect that they were a part of the package that came with you receiving the Cipher from it. Thorian must've transferred them to you somehow."
Marcus and Jaina stayed silent for a few moments, just looking over the data that streamed over the monitors. Almost unconsciously, Jaina took his hand into hers, holding it by her side.
"What is your verdict on their presence, Doctor?" she asked after a few moments of pause. "Are they dangerous?"
"I'd need more data before confirming anything," Chakwas replied. "But they differ from those spores I've detected in Zhu's Hope colonists. These ones are not invasive, and they seem to be concentrated around the new lobe in your brain. I suspect that these spores were responsible for 'directing' your body into forming these new organs. For whatever reason, though, your body is not flushing them out, but they don't seem to be active anymore."
"So, they are not of immediate danger," Marcus stated.
"If they were, you'd be suffering through a series of complications long before now," Chakwas said. "The immune system reacts almost immediately once a foreign body is introduced into the system, and they have had quite a bit of time to sit in your brain. However, from what I'm seeing here, your body's metabolism is perfectly balanced. Your immune system is as strong as ever, your blood chemistry, red and white blood cell count, overall hormonal balance – all of it is top notch!"
"I'm still a bit concerned about all this," Jaina said softly, rubbing Marcus's hand with her thumb as she held it.
"We won't throw caution to the wind, Jaina," Chakwas addressed her, and activated her omni-tool. "I am going to install a monitoring program on Marcus's omni-tool. It will monitor and record a wide variety of data in your body, and send it to me."
Marcus raised his arm, activating his omni-tool and waiting out as the Doctor installed the needed app.
"There we go," the woman said. "I've set this app on low priority; it shouldn't drain too much of your omni-tool processing resources. Your combat effectiveness should not be diminished."
"Good to know," he replied. "Am I free to go now?"
"I didn't realize I was such a boogeyman for you to run away so soon," Chakwas teased.
"Men," Jaina said in mock exasperation, taking Doctor's side.
"Alright, Commander, you are free to go," Chakwas acquiesced. "But a word of caution: even if the monitoring app does not detect anything unusual, but you, on the other hand, do feel something is off, do not hesitate to come here immediately. Something like this has never happened to any human that the modern medicine knows of; it would be irresponsible to ignore anything."
"About that," Jaina ventured then, "I was thinking of one more approach that we might take, which is a bit more 'alternative', so to speak."
"Right," Marcus continued as he stood up. "We were thinking that since this thing is basically based in my brain, that perhaps Liara's mind meld could shed a bit more light."
Jaina continued: "Not as a cure, or anything, just… a scan of his mental state; to see if all the cogs are turning properly."
"Like the time after the Thorian implanted the Cipher?" Chakwas asked, crossing her arms and raising a finger to her chin. "Hmm, that might actually be a very prudent thing to do, assuming Liara would be willing."
"Leave the persuasion to me," Jaina declared imperiously with a ghost of a smile in the corners of her lips as she hopped away toward Liara's chamber.
Chakwas's face lit up mirthfully as she watched Jaina ring the bell and then disappear behind the doors.
"Our XO seems quite eager to keep her commanding officer in top shape," she said, chuckling as she turned to Marcus.
"What can I say, doc – I'm a lucky guy," he replied, gazing toward the closed doors fondly.
"Maybe… Then again, she might just be that eager to have any excuse to befriend our young xenoarchaeologist," she commented amusedly.
"She's just trying to bring Liara out of her shell," Marcus said noncommittally.
"I'll say," Chakwas laughed. "They did spend a lot of time talking the other day. Though, something tells me that Jaina has quite a different agenda than what it seems."
Marcus's face turned stony in a flash. Chakwas was the smartest and most perceptive person on the entire ship; he knew then she'd noticed. And despite everything, it wouldn't do to have the crew know…
A hand touched his bicep softly.
"Do not worry, Commander," Chakwas soothed. "Your and Jaina's secret is safe with me. As a spec-ops soldier, you may not have too much experience as the prolonged member of a warship crew, but I have spent decades as one. In the deep coldness of space, people try to find warmth in whatever arms that'll hold them. And good captains sometimes keep a blind eye to it. So yes, your secret is safe with me."
Marcus felt stony armor drop from his body. He smirked after a moment.
"So, you've noticed that Jaina has some hidden agenda concerning Liara, eh?" he commented as his gaze returned to the closed off doors to Liara's quarters. He smirked. "Well, what can I say, doc – I'm a lucky guy."
Chakwas laughed out loud, her rich, regal voice filling the room for a moment before the doors to Liara's chamber swished open and Liara burst out, her face bearing distress.
"Is it true?!" Liara exclaimed almost frantically as she homed in and rushed up to him. "You're developing physiological traits of the Protheans, including mind abilities?!"
"Well – yes?" he said, mildly confused by her demeanor.
"And you have been practicing them without having any mind training whatsoever?!" she exclaimed, a surprisingly chastising note rising from her throat and mixing with the tones of concern. "Don't you know how dangerous that is?" she went on a lecturing tirade, back straight, one hand on her hip, and wagging her finger at him as she chastised him. "Young asari go through many years of training ever since they're children in order to learn how to use their mental powers safely! Thinking that you could do it on your own is very irresponsible! You could have injured your own mind. Accidents have happened. By the Goddess, what possessed you to do it for this long without telling anyone?"
Marcus laughed, his deep voice reverberating the medbay. "Well, the last time I checked, this mental ability is Prothean, not asari," he pointed out. "Which means that, with the memories and impressions that the Cipher has given me, I happen to be the only one who can justifiably call himself an expert on the matter."
"Please, Commander, I'm just concerned for you," she spoke empathically. "You are strong-willed, yes – especially to endure the Beacon imprint and the Cipher – but even a mind as powerful as yours can fail, and don't want to see that happening. Not to you!"
"Well now," Jaina spoke up from behind Liara, a smile forming on her lips, "someone around here is very happy to hear you're devoted to keeping our commanding officer's mental health in peak condition. How about the three of us retreat to somewhere more comfortable so that we can discuss this new development, and all the suggestions you might have, Liara?"
"Yes!" Liara exclaimed with relief. "Thank you, Jaina, for trusting me on this. I'd be more than happy to help! Even giving advice, if nothing else, would calm my mind."
"Good!" Jaina declared, promptly taking both Liara's and Marcus's hands with hers and leading them both out of the medbay as she spoke in a mock-stern tone to Marcus: "And there's no wiggling outa this, Commander Shepard."
He chuckled as he let himself be led. "Wouldn't dream of it, Commander Shepard."
"Take care, Commander," Chakwas called to Marcus warningly as they left the med bay, but her tone carried clear mirth as to what he needed to take care of.
Jaina ushered Marcus and Liara into their quarters, and bid them to sit at the lounge table. She rummaged through a small cryo unit Marcus had appropriated for their quarters and procured three bottles of cider.
"Here we gope," Jaina declared as she doled out the bottles and sat down on the third chair at the circular table, right next to Liara and on the other side of Marcus. "This would usually be considered as taking advantage of the perks of a command post, but I think this case justifies it... So there - something for us to sip and relax. You really look like you need it, Li," she said and took a pull from the bottle.
Liara took the proffered bottle and sighed deeply.
"Frankly, I don't know where to start," she said, shaking her head as she looked back and forth between Marcus to Jaina. "A human developing a mental ability? If you were an asari, I'd know how to explain it – it's ingrained in us, but this… and a Prothean ability! And of such magnitude! I…"
She huffed anxiously as she sat, fidgeting nervously as her wide blue eyes darted back and forth from Marcus to Jaina. A mix of eagerness, anticipation, nervousness, impatience, and a quite a bit of not-knowing-where-to-start was depicted in her entire expression and posture.
Jaina laughed musically, stepping up behind Liara and placing her hands on the young asari's shoulders.
"Calm down, Liara," she said. "We have a whole evening just for this."
"Easy for you to say," Liara said wide-eyed, a hint of distress crossing her face. "I was researching Protheans for fifty years, asking questions that nobody knew or dared how to ask, and now that the biggest and most important find after the Beacon knowledge is in front of me, I don't know where to start!" she finished with a cute whine.
Marcus chuckled mirthfully and pointed at Liara's untouched bottle, speaking calmly and reassuringly:
"Why don't you start by popping that bottle open and taking a long sip for one?"
"He's right, you know," Jaina sing-sang from her side. "Once you feel the bubbly, sparkly happiness on your tongue, your mind will settle down before you can say 'kebab'!"
Liara took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, tilting the bottle and taking a long pull. Just as Jaina said, she let the bubbles sparkle their way down her tongue and throat, and she took a content sigh.
"Better?" Jaina asked knowingly with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay…" Liara nodded with a sigh, then smiled, inclining her head. "Okay."
"There we go," Jaina said, smiling victoriously. "Now, how about Marcus retells how he first sensed this power and how it progressed?"
"Yes!" Liara said, her eyes widening as she turned to Marcus and leaned in.
She listened with reverent attention as Marcus retold and explained everything he told Jaina, starting from the first notice of the strange new phenomenon, how it called to him and how the Cipher revealed what that new phenomenon was. He explained the way the new ability grew, developed, evolved into the form that the Protheans had had, and how it was still developing and spreading its wings, so to speak, and the way that he used it, and all the places that he did consciously use it.
By the end of it, Liara sat there in front of him, wide eyed, her hands clasped in front of her chest as she leaned against the desktop with her elbows. For all her years, she reminded him of an enthralled teenage girl at that moment. When he finished, Liara closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. When she opened them again, the little girl was gone. Wide eyes were replaced by a content smile and a bold gaze directed his way, and a kind of radiance that a creator had for his greatest achievement.
"That was the most amazing thing that I have ever heard," Liara said calmly and contently, a small smile gracing her features. She spoke up a little more excitedly. "Now I know why that mind meld influenced all three of us that time, even though I wasn't the one to initiate it like that."
"You think it was because of this new ability?" Jaina asked.
"It's gotta be!" Liara stated vehemently as she turned to Jaina, and spoke in a way a lecturing academic does. "Marcus's ability might not have quite the same nature of a mind meld, but it carries through the air, through touch, and it carries a person's thoughts and emotions with them! It must've reacted as a bridge that connected you as well, Jaina, when you held onto him while he and I melded! You are the person that is the closest to him. Your body is attuned to his, just as his is to yours. It would have been easy for this new sense to connect you two."
Marcus and Jaina shared a brief, loving look.
"That actually makes sense," he said slowly. "The Cipher did not transfer that many exact memories, but the impression is clear enough."
"But will it work the second time?" Jaina asked with a small smile.
Liara held her breath in. "You really would want to try having another meld like that one?" she asked, sounding almost hopeful.
"M-hm," Jaina nodded, smiling warmly. "How else are we to know for certain if we're right?" She laughed out loud. "And I, for one, would be happy to be a part of it. Last time it happened, it was amazing!" She cocked her head. "You did mention that time that you would not be averse to trying it again. Does the offer still stand?"
"Why, yes, of course!" Liara replied empathically.
"Good," Jaina beamed at her as she stood up and lead Liara by the hand with her. "Now come. If we are going to do it, then let's do it properly. You!" she spoke, pointing to Marcus. "Sit back comfily. And you," she spoke to Liara, "come here."
She led the slightly confused Liara over to where Marcus sat, maneuvering her to face him.
"There. Now, straddle his legs… Like that. Good… and sit down in his lap. There we go."
Letting herself be guided by Jaina, Liara straddled Marcus's lap and sat down uncertainly, looking bashfully cute as her face turned fifty shades of blue blush.
"U-um… i-is this alright?" she asked haltingly. "I-I mean… uh… I don't want to impose…"
Jaina chuckled softly. "If we didn't want you to impose, we wouldn't put you in this position, now would we?"
"Hah!" Liara tittered in relief. "N-no, I suppose not."
"Damn straight. And besides, you are about to do a lot of imposing, aren't you?" Jaina pointed out as she leaned down next to her ear. "Mine and Marcus's minds are about to become open books to you, aren't they? I'd say that next to that, touching, and being very physically close is a mandatory perk, don't you?"
"Ah-hah!" Liara laughed, blushing and biting her lower lip. "Th-that's one way of putting, it, I suppose," she commented as she turned to look up at Jaina over her shoulder.
To someone as perceptive as the female commander, the look of contained want and hopefulness was clear in Liara's eyes. But still, there was that remnant of hesitation – the final seed of fear that needed to be rooted out.
"Good to see we understand each other," Jaina said. "Now, why don't you scooch all the way up," she said, placing her hands on the small of Liara's back and prodding her gently forward.
"Here," Marcus promptly said, taking Liara's hands and placing them on his shoulders before he placed his strong hands on her hips, drawing her in.
Liara complied, scooching forward until her and Marcus's stomach pressed together, and her mound pressed firmly against his crotch, making an electric jolt shoot right up her spine and into her brain.
A hitching gasp escaped her throat. Before she managed to utter a word, though, Jaina straddled Marcus's knees as well and sat down right behind her, pressing tightly against her back and pushing her even more snuggly against Marcus, her hands trailing gently over the curvature of Liara's hips until they settled low on her waist.
"There," Jaina crooned softly right next to the dazed Liara's gill-shaped ear. "Doesn't that feel comfy?"
Liara exhaled a hot breath, almost a gasp.
If someone had told her that morning that she was going to end up in this position, she'd have laughed in their face. Yet, here she was – snuggled tightly between the two humans that had occupied her late night thoughts for weeks now. And it felt So. Damn. Good!
She became acutely aware of Marcus's hardening member against her mound, of his strong hands on her thighs, of Jaina's soft breasts pressing against her back and her hot breath caressing her ear. She felt her blood torrent through her veins and heat her face and her head crest tentacles, and her heart felt like it would burst any second… if something else lower down wouldn't burst on its own first.
"Weeell?" Jaina urged her. "How does it feel, Li?"
"It feels… a-amazing!" she breathed out passionately, and then gasped, realizing what it sounded like. Her lidded eyes shot open and looked at Marcus like a doe caught in the headlights.
Jaina hugged her tighter, speaking through a smile, "You're goddamn right it feels amazing. It shouldn't be anything less!"
Liara breathed heavily.
Despite the heady sensation that coursed through her body, her sharp, perceptive mind still worked, and it worked good.
She knew what was going on; she may have been young, but she was far from an idiot. She may have preferred solitude, but that didn't mean that she hadn't had a share of however brief liaisons in her 106 years.
So, yes, she knew the game. She knew that she was being seduced…
But this… with both of them at once! Goddess – that was something she had never experienced before! That was something she had never even heard of before.
Yet to be ensnared between the two of them, like this, felt just… right.
"Jaina… Marcus…" she spoke slowly, somberly, surfacing briefly from the haze of arousal as she measured her words. "What is this?" she asked softly, leaning back into where Jaina was nuzzling into the crook of her neck, right behind her small ear. "What is… this we're doing? Please… I need to know."
There was a brief, silent pause.
"You already know," Jaina replied softly, somberly.
A shudder went through Liara's spine, her eyes closing.
"Yes… I know," she admitted breathily after a moment. "But… Goddess… it's not… I have never felt like this," Liara whispered. "I don't know what this all is that we are doing, Jaina. You… the two of you. I… I don't know how to react…"
"Do you like it?" Jaina asked softly.
Liara released a heavy breath. "Yes…"
"And we like it too," Jaina said, speaking for Marcus. "And that's all that matters. We may or may not do anything if we so wish. This is just three good friends enjoying each other's intimate company."
Liara bit her lower lip. "Goddess… I want to make that work. I don't want to make a mistake. Tell me… tell me what to do."
"Take a look," Jaina said simply. "Marcus's mind is right there for you. And, once you meld, my mind will hopefully be drawn in like before and be opened to you as well. All you need to do is take a look."
Liara took a deep breath and steadied herself. It all felt surreal. It felt too good to be true. But she wanted this. She wanted this so badly that next to Jaina's words and her own desires, all that was left was to act on her instinct.
She raised her hands, placing them on the side of Marcus's head, and relaxed, letting all of the sensations flow through her like she was in the center of it all. And then she opened her darkened eyes.
"Embrace Eternity!"
Like being dunked into a lake of fire, Marcus's and Jaina's presences washed over Liara like a tidal wave. It bathed her, surged around her, blanketed her like a magnificent cover that made all her nerves tingle and her own presence surge and rise up to entwine between theirs.
Their presences were powerful, omnipresent, making her mind moan in undiluted ecstasy as she sank deeper, the tendrils of her mind spreading welcomingly into every nook and cranny of the other two's minds even as their own so satisfyingly penetrated hers.
Then, the ethereal feeling began to abate, giving rise to their first clear thoughts.
For the first time, Marcus and Jaina became aware of the overwhelmingly good sensations that Liara felt as she sat entrapped between them – both the sensations of their bodies pressed together and the fuzzy, arousing and downright sexy emotions that bubbled deep in her being. And Liara, in turn, felt both of Marcus's and Jaina's desire for her, the attraction the two humans felt for her, the arousal itself.
It was like a revelation, making the three of them sink even deeper into each other's minds, probing and seeking, like tongues dancing in a deep French kiss seeking every nook and cranny, and being perfectly welcome to do so, each of their minds welcome to the other two.
They had clicked together like cogs perfectly designed for each other.
Driven by the desire to share, they sought out each other's hidden depths, revealing secrets, images of their hidden desires for each other, and the actions they did to sate them fluttered clearly across their minds. Being pulled deep into both Marcus's and Jaina's memories, Liara witnessed some of the two humans' most intimate moments together, both old and recent, and she was welcome to seek out everything in great detail, almost like she was the one reliving it, and Marcus and Jaina, in turn, sought out and saw Liara's memories and attractions to the two of them, culminating in the couple of nights of explosive self-inflicted pleasure.
Whispers. Gasps. None of it physical. Understanding. Encouragement. Acceptance… Content.
A sense of absolute contentment spread across the three; content and acceptance, and not a small amount of excitement and the good kind of butterflies – almost like a post-orgasmic bliss and the cuddly, fuzzy sensations of being held close.
They stayed there for what seemed like a very long time before their singular mind decided it was enough, and had Liara guide them out of the meld.
They slowly began to surface, their thoughts and senses very slowly retreating back into their respective bodies, like small and soft kisses and pecks that would follow any deep French kiss, giving the final sense of contentment to the ending of the joining.
Liara opened her eyes, and met Marcus's eyes boldly, even though her cheeks felt hot from the blush that seemed to have become a constant. She felt Jaina's cheek pressing against hers comfortably from over her shoulder, the human woman's hands gently roaming up and down her flanks, while Marcus's strong hands were caressing her hips and thighs. She breathed deeply, almost laboriously, as she lowered her hands from Marcus's head, slowly trailing them down his neck to rest on his pectorals.
"By the Goddess," she spoke softly. "That was amazing."
"You were amazing," Marcus murmured softly.
Liara spent a moment silent, working her thoughts as she breathed deeply, urging her hummingbird heartbeat to slow down.
"I had wanted this," she almost whispered as her hands trailed across Marcus's collar bones and as she cuddled her cheek against Jaina's. "I had wanted this almost since the first time I met you… but I knew that I couldn't have you. You were married to each other, for Goddess's sake." She chuckled ruefully. "I thought I was crazy. There I was, not only attracted to one human but both at the same time. I berated myself, asking myself how was it even possible to be attracted to two other people at the same time… Yet, still, I was so drawn to you that it invaded my waking thoughts… And now, to know that both of you actually had these feelings for me as well…"
"We are glad, too," Jaina murmured into her ear as she nuzzled into her neck, hugging her tighter. "We knew you were interested in us. In Marcus, more so; but we hoped your interest went further than just because he interacted with Prothean Beacon. And now we know."
"… I admit," Liara spoke reluctantly, in an apologetic way, "at first I was intrigued by Marcus because of the Beacon. But it evolved very quickly into something more, for both him and you, Jaina. Seeing you both in the field, the way you lead… you're confident, quick-witted, you dominate the battlefield and people around you. They want to listen to you. It was so easy to become attracted to both of you. I couldn't understand it. And then, when we had that first mind meld, it… it opened up my eyes. I couldn't keep you out of my head anymore."
"Trust us, the feeling was mutual," Marcus replied with a chuckle.
Liara gently shook her head in wonder.
"But why?" she tried understanding. "What could it possibly be that you find attractive in me? Both of you are warriors, yet I am just a reclusive scientist. You two are fire and passion, sweeping undauntedly through the thickest of battles with absolute confidence, whereas I had always been calm, logical, flowing calmly through life like a river. How could we be attracted to each other?"
"Because people are not thoughtless elements," Jaina said. "A person that is fire needs to be tempered by water or it will burn out. And water needs to be warmed by fire or it will freeze up. That is why the two of us feel so right when we're with you; why we have clicked so well together. You are something that keeps both of us rooted… something that tempers us."
Liara chuckled. "Looks like you have a bit of a matriarch's wisdom between the two of you."
"Stick around," Marcus said. "You'll see that we're full of surprises."
A ghost of a smile was creeping onto Liara's lips. "I know that," she said. "But there was no way I could have known then that it would be appropriate to act on my feelings." She closed her eyes, taking a deep, laborious breath. "I didn't want you to think that I'm like so many other young asari."
"And you've already proven that you're much better than that," Marcus stated firmly. "You're smart, intelligent, perceptive. Pretty girls are a dime a dozen. But real smarts?" He shook his head. "That is rare. And nothing trumps that."
An involuntary smile tugged at the corner of Liara's lips before it spread into a full, thousand-watt smile.
"He always knew what to say to a girl," Jaina murmured in Liara's ear as she looked at him.
"Well, as much as I'm grateful for the compliment, that still doesn't tell me what to do now," Liara said. "Doesn't tell me how to act; how to… reconcile this – this three-way relationship – with everything that I had been taught of how relationship should work… Of what society would say."
"Do you trust us?" Marcus asked, giving a supportive squeeze to her thighs.
Liara merely nodded, but her gaze was firmly on his, and volumes were being spoken through it.
"Then you do not have to worry about anything," he said. "Whatever bad things people might want to say, they'll have to say it to my face. And I don't think they'll be able to deal with the aftermath very well."
Liara laughed airily. "It's not the protector I need, Marcus," she said, then sighed contently. "What I need is time to process this revelation. I don't want to bulrush into it blinded by my emotions and desires. I need to make my consciousness come to terms with my feelings. I want… I need to make this work."
Marcus and Jaina were silent for a couple of moments, just giving a gentle, supportive squeeze to Liara's waist.
"Very well, if that's how you feel," Marcus nodded supportively, and Jaina then stood up, releasing Liara from where she was comfortably trapped between them. Almost immediately, Liara felt a sense of loss.
"Hey," Marcus said softly, cupping her chin and making her look at him. "I can sense what you're feeling; my new abilities make it so. It's alright. Jaina and I are here, any time of the day, and we'll stay open to this no matter what. So, don't start feeling as if it's a loss or anything like that."
Liara smiled softly and nodded, and then stood up from his lap, sharing a smile with Jaina, the other woman squeezing her hand.
"I may take some time to sort these feelings of mine," she said, "But that doesn't mean that you two should be strangers by any stretch. My doors are always open and welcome for both of you – at any time of the day or night."
"That's good to know," Jaina said, then leaned in closer. "And by the way…"
She then leaned closely and whispered a few things into Liara's ear. The girl blushed a deep blue, her breath quickening.
"I-I'll remember that," Liara said with a slight stammer when Jaina finished, a big smile breaking through on her features before turned and walked out of their quarters, her hips swaying quite a bit more seductively.
Before Marcus could speak up to ask what was that all about from where he sat, Jaina turned and pounced on him like a tigress, driving her tongue deep into his mouth and grinding her crotch into his with need as he cupped the back of her head with one hand, pulling her into a deeper kiss, and grasped her buttocks with the other, keeping her pressed tightly against him.
After a long minute of tongue-wrenching pleasure, Marcus grabbed her by the hair on the back of her head, and with a final deep kiss, pulled her face off of him with a resounding and delicious smack of their lips.
He looked at her face. Her usually luscious lips were slightly puffy from kissing, and she gazed at him with half-lidded lust-filled eyes from behind the bangs of her red hair that fell over her face as she panted. She smiled coyly at him as she kept grinding her crotch against his, her need and desire palpable to his newly developed Prothean senses, images of what she wanted to do, what she wanted to be done to her flashing clearly in the back of his head, and all that time a very clear naked figure of a certain asari writhed there along with her.
He licked his lips, enjoying the taste of their mixed saliva as he swallowed, and then spoke:
"What did you whisper to Liara before she left?" he growled through a smile.
She smirked down at him. "I told her that she is very welcome to use the memories she saw in our heads of us having all those crazy sex adventures for her own pleasure, whenever she felt like it."
"You sly little minx," he chuckled with a shake of his head before he pulled her in for another resounding wet kiss. "You're messing with the poor girl's head, manipulating her closer and closer."
"And that's why you love me," she said.
They dove into another deep and lasting kiss before she pulled away.
"Well?" she demanded breathlessly. "Are you going to just sit there, or are you going to fuck me senseless already?"
He growled gutturally, lifting her up by the buttocks as she hooked her arms around his neck and legs around his waist, kissing deeply as he carried her off to their bed and threw her down on it, and then dove right in after her. They resumed kissing, as she pawed and pulled at his clothes, relieving him of his shirt and undershirt in quick succession, before she flipped them both over so that she was on top. She dove in, kissing his strong pectorals, her tongue boldly exploring the taste and texture of his skin, flicking it teasingly against his nipple and nipping gently with her teeth, with an occasional bite thrown in on the firm muscle flesh as she descended down and down, unbuckling and unzipping his trousers along the way.
He went for her shirt to pull it off, but she stopped him and pinned his arms to the bed, urging him with her look to keep them there. When he complied, Jaina stood up from the bed with a coy smile and began a slow and sensuous striptease. Despite the drab navy uniform, as she undulated sensuously, her clothes leaving her body in cadence with her motions, baring one inch of her perfect skin at a time in the rhythm of some inaudible music, and exuding primal female sexuality with her every motion, the sight would have even cured impotence.
Bit by bit, inch-by inch, the clothes disappeared, until she stood before him completely nude, displaying her shapely athletic body, both toned and voluptuous at the same time, in all its divine goddess-like glory for his eyes to feast on as much as he liked. She knelt on the bed and then advanced on her hands and knees toward him like a prowling feline until she reached his waist, and released his hard member into the open air. It stood firmly and proudly, pointing toward her as she caressed it teasingly, racking her nails gently over it as she licked her lips hungrily. She looked up at him then and spoke:
"Now. For the rest of the evening. I want you to think of Liara. I want you to imagine all of the things you are going to do to her. To both of us. What you want me to do to her under your instructions. And I want to hear you say it all."
And then she lowered her head and engulfed his firm member with her lips.
And he told her everything.
Liara had left Marcus's and Jaina's quarters with a hot haze clouding her mind that she fought valiantly to contain. Sounds of the crew deck and the people who occupied it was barely reaching out to her. Her mind was fully occupied with something else.
It was as if all of her fantasies were coming true. The meld was so deep, so frank and open that she had read everything there was about who Marcus and Jaina were, what kind of people, and what mattered to them the most. All about them was revealed. But also, everything they felt about her was revealed as well – the attraction they felt to her, the reason for that attraction, the things they liked about her the most and the image they held of her.
Goddess, she thought. Do they really think all those things about me?
But what held her head clouded in a haze of heat the most were the erotic images that had flooded her mind. She had accidentally caught glimpses of it during their first meld, but this time, Marcus and Jaina had consciously revealed everything for her to see. The scenes she had seen were dirty, tawdry, and downright kinky and filled with debauchery, but…
She sighed, enamored.
But the amount of love and trust that the two humans had had for each other while doing all those things was beyond anything she had ever believed possible. She smiled then; she believed one thing for certain, though. As soon as she was in her quarters, her doors would be locked, her clothes would be off, and she would be bringing herself off repeatedly to the memory of Marcus's and Jaina's sexual adventures until she fainted!
Doctor Chakwas raised her head from the novel she was reading to see the young asari scientist walk through the medbay doors. She was about to speak up and ask Liara whether she had found everything in order during the meld with Marcus but stopped when she took a closer look at her.
The girl had had a blissful smile on her face, and her eyes were filled with complete and utter lust. There was no hiding such a thing from someone like her; the good doctor had been young once, and age only gave her superior perspective. The young asari seemed to be completely oblivious to anything that might have been around her as she wordlessly went into her quarters and locked the doors behind her.
Karin chuckled mirthfully.
"Those two commanders are incorrigible," she said.
…