How Are You Doing?

To: Admiral Rael'Zorah

From: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

Father, you'll never imagine what has happened during my pilgrimage! I'll spare you the details for now, but I'm currently aboard the most advanced ship in the entire human fleet. It is absolutely amazing!

It's the ship of this famous human, 'Commander Shepard.' He's a Council Spectre. Can you believe that? The very first of his species. And I was allowed to be part of his crew! Keelah, I never imagined my pilgrimage would be this exciting.

I'm sorry to cut this short father, but I need to get back to work. I really want to make a good impression.

Love,
Tali

Shortly after Shepard left Tali in the Normandy's engineering deck, Tali sent a message to her father, eager to tell someone about the amazing turn of events that had happened during her pilgrimage.

Tali had been working closely with Adams ever since then, asking him constant questions over the Normandy's technology as he showed her the ship's systems and explained its inner workings. Tali was fascinated by the vessel she was now serving on, and extremely eager to understand it as well as possible.

Despite her enthusiasm to learn about the Normandy, she couldn't help often bringing up Shepard and asking questions about him. She was very curious about the human who had not only saved her life, but made it possible for her to be there, working on what was probably the most advanced frigate in the galaxy. She wanted to learn everything about him.

Adams didn't have that much to say about Shepard; he didn't know him on a personal basis. All he really knew were some well-known facts about him. Such as that he was a war hero for his actions during the Skyllian Blitz, and that he had a difficult childhood on Earth—though Adams didn't know to what extent. Tali didn't mind his lack of information about Shepard, it just meant maybe she'd get to learn on her own, hopefully directly from him.

Several hours had passed with Tali working in engineering. Adams' shift ended a while ago, so he had left the engineering area to get some rest. Tali stayed behind, doing some basic maintenance with one of the drive core's terminals. After finishing, she decided to take a break. She was wary about wandering around the ship, so she just walked to a corner of the engineering area, and sat down on the floor with her legs folded in, knees pointing up. Tali began to fiddle with her omni-tool to kill some time, and noticed her father had sent a reply.

From: Admiral Rael'Zorah

Do not forget the purpose of your pilgrimage. If being on that ship will impede you from finding something of value, then you have no place there. The pilgrimage isn't about having fun or excitement. It is about helping the fleet and helping your people.

Remember my position and that there's a lot expected of you. Take your pilgrimage seriously.

Rael

All of the excitement and happiness Tali had been experiencing since joining the crew instantly evaporated as she read her father's response. She now felt saddened, discouraged, and worst of all, stupid.

Tali wasn't upset with her father. She knew how he was, and she knew his response was just like him. She wasn't angry, she just felt stupid for getting her hopes up and expecting him to approve of her putting her pilgrimage aside to serve on a human vessel. How could she not have expected him to disapprove this?

Maybe he's right, she thought to herself, What am I doing here? I just started on my pilgrimage a few weeks ago. Can I really be of any help to someone like Shepard? Tali wondered and began to consider if maybe this was a mistake. If maybe she should just get off at the next port, and go back to her normal life. Did Shepard really even want her help, or was he just being polite when he accepted her offer to join him?

Amidst her depressed mood and pessimistic thoughts, she suddenly saw a figure walk into engineering with a familiar brisk step. It was Shepard. He turned his head side to side, quickly scanning the terminals and stations of the engineering deck.

"Guess she's not here," he said to himself before turning around. As he turned, he noticed Tali sitting against the wall, near a back corner of the engineering deck. "Oh there you are," he said and approached.

"Oh, hi, Commander. Is everything okay? What can I do for you?" Tali asked as she quickly stood up. She spoke with a falsely positive tone, in an attempt to disguise her current sad mood.

"Got a minute to talk?"

"Yes… of course," she responded. I hope everything is okay. I hope I didn't do something wrong, and Adams complained to him.

Shepard sat down on the floor, next to where Tali had been sitting. He gestured with his hand for her to sit as well. Tali reluctantly followed, not sure what to make of the informal meeting.

"Remind me to put a requisition order for some chairs, looks like you guys could use some down here," he commented with a smirk, half joking and half serious.

"You don't need to do that," Tali responded, still hiding her somber mood, "I just sat here since I was nervous about wandering around the ship. I'm not sure if there are restrictions on where I'm allowed to go."

"You can go anywhere you want, Tali. Feel free to get familiar with the ship. It doesn't even have that many decks."

"Thank you," Tali responded. She waited for a brief moment, then asked, "What was it you wanted to see me about?"

"A few things," he answered, his eyes looking right at the faintly glowing dots of light under her mask, "First of all, I wanted to apologize that we're not very well equipped for a quarian crew member. I know it's not anyone's fault, this is a human vessel after all, but I wish we could give you better accommodations."

"Oh, it's perfectly alright. Not that I don't appreciate your concern, of course. But I'll make do. I have everything I need right here on me." Tali was feeling relieved, as it was clear now that he probably wasn't here to bring up any complaints or warnings.

"I don't know exactly what you require, but feel free to use the med-bay if you need a clean environment. It's not a true clean room, but it has some sterilization equipment, antiseptics, things like that."

"Thank you… Commander," Tali responded with a small nod, turning her head to look back at the floor in front of her. She found herself feeling touched over his concern about the lack of accommodations for her.

"Also, we don't have any food that's specifically for quarians, but we do have some turian rations. It's my understanding quarians can eat turian food?" Shepard asked, and Tali nodded. Figuring she might be curious why an Alliance ship would have turian food, he added, "We had a turian Spectre on the vessel not long ago, so we had stocked-up on some supplies. Don't worry, I'm sure Garrus won't mind sharing."

Oh that's the turian's name, Tali realized as she responded with a quiet half-laugh and said, "Thanks, but I should be fine. We're given months' worth of concentrated nutrient paste before our pilgrimage. Garrus can have most of those rations for himself."

There was a brief period of silence until Shepard remembered what else he wanted to discuss.

"Another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Your omni-tool."

"My omni-tool? What about it?" Tali asked as she turned her head back towards him, curious as to why he brought it up.

"It sucks," Shepard answered bluntly, "I noticed you have one of those old Bluewire models.

"Oh… yeah. I know it's old and not very good, but… it's all I have," she responded with some embarrassment. "Um… it's not that bad, though. I've done some modifications to it, to get more out of the hardware."

"You'll have to do your modifications again, although you may not even need to. Here you go," Shepard said as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out the small device that constitutes an omni-tool, holding it up for her to take. "We have a few of these among our supplies. Alliance standard issue. Not the most advanced omni-tools out there, but they're decent. This should be a nice upgrade over your current one."

Tali looked at the omni-tool he held in his hand, and then looked at his eyes. She wasn't sure what to make of the gesture. She hesitantly reached out and took it. Her fingers lightly touched with Shepard's as it transferred between their hands. Tali found herself wanting to keep her fingers pressed against his, but she wouldn't dare do something that unprofessional. She just took the omni-tool and retreated her hand.

"That's so… this is very kind of you. Thank you… Commander. I'll take good care of it. Thank you." she said quietly.

She held the omni-tool in her hand, casually moving it around, looking at it from multiple angles. However, she wasn't really paying attention to it. Her thoughts were elsewhere. She found herself once again touched by Shepard's actions, even though she knew there really wasn't any reason to be; he was just making sure his crew was properly equipped. That was all there really was to it.

As she looked over the omni-tool, Tali realized she was feeling much better. Her doubts about being on the ship had been alleviated, and the sadness spawned from her father's message was gone. Shepard coming in, and just chatting with her caused her depressed mood to vanish as suddenly as it had appeared. Thanks to him, it got replaced with a distant happiness.

"You know, Adams spoke to me not long ago. About you," Shepard said, completely interrupting Tali's thoughts and changing the subject. She stopped moving the omni-tool and looked at Shepard.

"What did he say?"

"Pretty much what I've suspected about you since we met—since I learned that you managed to extract that geth data," Shepard answered. "He said that you've got an amazing knack for technology. In fact, he wishes the rest of his team was even half as smart as you. He suspects that within a month, you'll know the Normandy's engines better than even he does."

Tali laughed at the flattery. She put her hands together and wringed them. "That was very nice of him to say," was all she could say.

"Adams is a very experienced engineer, he's literally served on every class of ship the Alliance has. He was even handpicked to serve on this ship. It really says a great deal about your engineering skills for him to be so impressed."

"It comes with my race. Most quarians are very good with technology, especially ship technology. Ships are our homes."

Shepard recognized that she was just being modest. It was obvious that even among her people, she was very gifted, "I have a hard time believing that all quarians are as good with it as you, Tali."

"Well… it's true that I'm a little more familiar with engineering and technology than other quarians. It interested me a lot as a child. My father taught me several things, and always wanted me to learn as much as I could," Tali explained, then hesitated a brief moment before adding, "Although, he wasn't too happy that time I dismantled his omni-tool to see how it worked. And then… I, uh, couldn't figure out how to put it back together again…" she said with slight embarrassment, but clearly amused at the childhood memory.

Shepard just laughed at her story.

"What about you, Commander? Any funny stories involving your dad?" Tali asked, wanting to change the subject away from herself, and learn more about Shepard.

After thinking for a brief moment, Shepard inhaled and quietly sighed, "Nah. I'll tell you about it another time."

Tali noticed that the question about his father bothered him. Maybe he grew up with a strict father, like mine? No, that's not likely. I can't imagine someone with a father like mine being this informal while in a position of command. But Adams did mention he had a tough childhood.

"Well, Tali, It's been nice talking with you," Shepard said as he got up, "I need to go and take care of some things."

After getting up, Shepard offered his hand to Tali to help her up. She intended to stay in engineering for a while, but she took his hand anyway. With a firm grip, Shepard pulled her up with little difficulty. Despite her comparatively long legs and the extra weight of her enviro-suit, she was relatively light thanks to her petite torso and arms.

Once she was up, Shepard said, "I never realized it before, but quarians have pretty small hands. I guess three fingers will do that."

Tali laughed and said, "I'll have you know our hands are a perfectly normal size. Although, I have no idea how you humans keep track of all those fingers. How can you even keep track of what they're all doing?"

"One thing's for sure, it's going to be awkward asking you for a high five."

"A high… five?"

Shepard was taken aback, as he never had to explain what a high five was. "It's an informal, celebratory hand gesture used by humans. One person holds up their hand, and the other slaps it. We have five fingers, thus it's a high five. I guess in your case, it would be a high… three."

Tali giggled at explanation, and then reluctantly held up her hand, "Like this?"

"That's the spirit," Shepard exclaimed as he slapped his hand against hers. He made sure not to do it too hard. They both laughed quietly.

A brief moment later Shepard said, "Well, I should go."

"I'll see you later," Tali responded, finding herself saddened that he was leaving. He's so great. He must have had a great father, she thought to herself as she watched him leave.

After Shepard was gone, Tali sat back down, and got ready to backup the files on her omni-tool, in order to transfer them to the new one Shepard had given her.

She did not save her father's message.