September 18th

My eyes were moving around so fast they felt close to rolling out of their sockets. Everything was so clear. I could see the details of an asari's facial makeup from a few yards away, or every crease and detail of Lera's suit. I couldn't believe I had survived so long with such limited vision. I felt like when I'd first gotten my glasses, giddy and disbelieving that everyone else saw the world with this level of clarity. I kept turning my head to look at everything going on in the market.

"Stop doing that. You're going to hurt your neck, you idiot." Lera seemed annoyed by my childish glee.

I shoved her shoulder a little. "Oh give me a break! I can finally see. And it's my twentieth birthday. So let me be an idiot for a bit."

"But you're always an idiot," she shot back.

Lera was a godsend. Nearly two months alone, with no friends or family, had been slowly wearing on me. I was generally an introvert but humans were social creatures, even the ones with neurological disorders that made socialization difficult. Now I finally had someone to talk to. She was a bit abrasive, but she was funny, and obviously loyal to her people. She spent most of her time trying to save up enough credits to buy a Pilgrimage gift by doing odd jobs for people who were more than willing to hire a quarian with mechanical experience. She was apparently homeless and living in a nearby district, but when I offered to share my room she turned me down, saying she didn't want to have to rely on anyone else. I accepted her choice but left the offer open. Now she was accompanying me to some stores, where I intended to spend the rest of the twelve-hundred credits the Blue Suns had given me for the stolen eezo.

When we arrived at the store we were met by a beautiful but cold asari with pale blue skin and silver face makeup. "I'm sorry, but I think you two have entered the wrong store. We sell good quality clothing, not suits or rags." Her voice was perfectly even and emotionless the entire time.

Nearly everything about her made me dislike her on principle.

I responded in an equally calm and cold tone. "I can pay. My friend is just here to help me pick something out."

She casually waved us away. "Look around if you want, but you had better not steal anything."

Without replying I quickly went to their asari section, as they did not have a dedicated human section. I supposed I was fortunate to be female; a lot of things that would fit an asari would fit me just as well.

Lera glanced over her shoulder and muttered under her breath. "Bosh'tet."

"Ignore her. She's just a stuck-up racist. Now, help me figure out what my size is."

Once I was able to ascertain the ratios between the old human sizing scale I was used to and the modern asari scale, I was surprised at just how much thinner I had become. I was no longer starving but I hadn't put on much weight since then between watching my credits and working out. I had little to no extra fat on me. If I was ever again in a situation where I couldn't eat for a while I would be in serious danger. All the same, a small part of me could appreciate what hardship had done for my figure.

Lera and I looked through the types of clothes for a while. The asari had strange fashion senses, at least compared to what I knew. They were fond of clothing that reached from the neck to the ankle, but often exposed just as much skin as if they had been wearing miniskirts. The fabric was oddly textured and came in a variety of bright colors, from bright pinks and purples to fluorescent yellows and deep oranges. I found myself gravitating to the few dark blues and blacks whereas Lera kept trying to get me into browns and greens, saying they brought out my eyes. I avoided anything with a skirt, and Lera thankfully agreed. The last time I had worn one was for my high school graduation and that had been forced on me by my family.

Something bubbled in the back of my mind. I shoved it back down.

After a few minutes, I found a couple of shirts and pants that seemed interesting. I wanted to just buy them and leave, but Lera suggested that I try them on first. I wound up in the small dressing room with a floor-length mirror. Avoiding looking in the mirror, I stipped down to my underwear and started trying things on. As I reached to grab one of the shirts, I caught a glance of my left shoulder in the mirror. The graze had scarred, leaving a long white mark three inches long. I ran my finger along the scar.

Unable to stop myself, I looked at my face.

I was very pale, the palest I've been in years. Now that my eyes weren't hidden by my glasses they seemed rather large, looking greenish-amber in the lighting. My face had all of the fat stripped of it, making it almost angular. My brown hair was shorter than I had ever seen it.

I looked different. I felt different.

Unnerved, I quickly changed back into my old clothes and left the changing room.

Altogether I had found two sets of pants and shirts I liked, along with a new black coat. The asari looked like she had smelled something horrible the entire time she was ringing me up. The clothes were bagged and I carried them out quickly, eager to get away. Lera was grumbling about my choice of footwear. "I still don't know why you insist on keeping those boots."

"Because they're practical," I retorted, pretending to be offended. "They have good traction, ankle support, and decent foot protection."

"Yes, but they're also old, ratty and falling apart!"

"You just don't know good boots when you see them." I shook my head, and then realized something. "Hey, I never did thank you for coming to see me."

Lera shrugged. "I was bored. Besides, you're the closest thing I have to a friend out here."

I was still thinking about how to repay her. "I just think I should do something for you... hey, you wanna see something neat?"

"What?"

I activated my omni-blade and showed it to her.

The two glowing spots behind her facemask grew large, and the curiosity was evident in her voice. "That is neat. Is that what you stabbed the krogan with?"

"Yep. I can give you a copy of the program if you want."

"Would you? Something like that would be handy if someone tried that again." I sent her a copy, and she experimented with it for a while before we arrived at the armor store.

There were armors of various types, sizes and species-shapes lining the walls. The bright green salarian who managed the store seemed happy to see us, in contrast to the owner of the clothes store. "Ah, customers! Wonderful! Are you here to buy armor, repairs, modifications or customizations? I'd be happy to help you with anything!" The salarian spoke quickly but at least he fully structured his sentences.

"I would like to see your armors," I said, glad that this store owner at least didn't look down on us from the start.

"Good, good! If you'll come over here," the salarian walked over to one of the walls of the store, where there were several sets of armor for people with an asari-human body type, "You can look through these! They're meant for asari, but human females are quite similar. There are a few suits for quarians over there, if your friend is interested." Lera decided to go look at the sparsely supplied quarian section and left me with the salarian.

I saw several different designs, some of which were familiar from the first game. I saw two sets of Predator armor which were priced way beyond the four hundred and eighty credits I had on hand, a couple of Duelist designs, several Gladiator armors, a few of those horribly yellow Survivor sets and three Mercenary suits. As I looked over them, I noticed that most of them seemed worn down; some even had punctures in them. I looked over the info-holograms attached to each and realized that many of them didn't even have functioning shields, HUDs or communications. The ones that were somehow defunct were quite cheap, while the ones that functioned properly and were in good shape were highly-priced.

"Why are so many of these broken or horribly expensive?" I asked myself.

"Partly due to supply problems," the salarian answered, surprising me. "It's not difficult to get a set of Gladiator armor because Elkoss Combine makes them and they're based here in the Terminus, but if you want something made by Armax Arsenal or Ariake Technologies, it has to be bought in Citadel Space and smuggled here."

That's probably why my omni-tool and pistol were both made by Elkoss Combine.

"The other issue is just simple economics. There's no one on Omega managing item quality, pricing or competition. People here charge what they want, and if someone else is selling lower they intimidate or blackmail them into changing their prices."

I looked back at him. "Is that happening to you?"

He shrugged. "Not really, I just need the money to pay my bills and the smugglers."

I sighed. "Alright then, what is the least expensive set of armor you have that is still sealable and has working shields?"

The salarian frowned, then looked over the armors. After a moment, he lead me to a Gladiator set and a Mercenary set, both lightly armored. "This one," he gestured to the Gladiator suit,"Is two hundred credits. It has functioning shields and no ruptures that I know of. However, this one, "he indicated towards the Mercenary suit, "Is practically brand new. It has a fully working shield system, HUD and internal communicator. It has better shield capacitors and impact resistance than the other one. It also costs four hundred credits."

Ack. So either I get the cheaper, crappier set that would still probably work, or the more expensive but better suit. Ah well, this was the last thing on my list and it's pretty much an investment into my continued existence.

"I'll take the red one," I decided.

The salarian grinned. "Excellent. Would you like me to customize it for you? It's just twenty-five credits."

I thought about it briefly. "Ahh, sure, why not. Can I get it in all black, please? No other designs."

"Sure!" The pleased salarian store owner carried my soon-to-be new black armor to the back of the store. Lera stopped browsing and came over.

"It sounds like you found some armor," she observed.

"Yeah," I sucked air through my teeth. "Very expensive though. I'm going to be completely cleaned out after this."

Lera looked at me curiously. "You know, you never did tell me where you got all those credits."

I hesitated for a moment, but decided I could trust her. I leaned toward her and whispered, "I stole some eezo from the Eclipse."

Lera reared back in shock. She was utterly silent for a moment. "Really? How did you accomplish that?"

I chuckled. "Very carefully."

"Wow." She shook off the surprise. "That's impressive."

"Not really. The first time I was nearly killed. The second time was pure luck."

"You stole from them twice?!" Her voice went up an octave.

I shushed her, as the salarian was coming back with an open case in his hands, black Mercenary armor nestled inside. "Here is your armor, human. That will be four hundred and twenty-five credits." I transferred the credits and he closed the case and handed it to me. "Have a good day!"

"You too!" I called back. It payed to be polite to people who were nice to you.

The armor weighed a bit more than I expected and with the bag of clothes in my other hand I felt a bit burdened down so we headed to the apartment complex to drop it all off, chatting about the benefits and downsides of the omni-blade the whole way. As we reached our destination, Lera suddenly stopped.

"Oh, I forgot, I had a job interview in an hour." She glanced at her omni-tool distractedly.

I was a bit sad to see her go, but a job interview was important. "That's okay. Thanks for shopping with me. Good luck with that interview."

"It was no problem. Bye!" she waved and headed off at a brisk pace.

Alone, I entered the complex. Taren was at the front desk. He gave me indiscernible look before going back to his datapad. "Your rent's up in a few days," he mentioned idly.

I grunted an acknowledgement as I made for the stairs.

"Did you hear about the Eclipse being stolen from?"

I stopped.

"They've been asking around Kima District for a human girl of your description." His voice was casual. "Apparently she's been stealing eezo from them."

I couldn't speak.

"If I were you, I'd be careful." I couldn't read his tone. Warning, or threat? I didn't know. "Someone could end up mistaking you for that girl."

"What do you want?" I asked in a hollow voice.

He looked up at me with that strange expression again. "Why would I want anything?"

I turned away and walked down the stairs.

[Edited 3/1/2017]