I'm so excited Tali is back. My power generator is lighting up like crazy. It's as if I am a little kid again. The power is almost reaching the synchronicity generator. Flow it back down. I'm so happy. She is such a good soul, more than likely even better than mine. Oh, I can go on and on, however, it is tour time.
Tali already made the reunion and met Thane. He was courteous with her. Tali never met a drell before. Thane asked if she could alter the environmental conditions in his space to slow down his disease progression. An easy feat for her. The man getting a renovation excuses himself to check with Dr. Chakwas. Not sure why, the heat from the planet we were just on seemed to help him get his color back. Other than that, I'll introduce Tali as we go around the ship. This is the galactic map that Shepard won't let me touch.
"Hello I'm Kelly. The ship's mental health manager. Also, part time seamstress. If you have a minute, I'd love to talk about patterns with you. Would it be possible to purchase fabric from the migrant fleet?" She clenches her fists in front of her sternum, pleading for a yes.
"I-I. No one has ever asked me that question before. Let me look into it and get back to you. ********* do you know her?" Tali tightly grabs my forearm for security.
"Would you relax? Yeah, she's good. I have mandatory mental health status checks with her, and she knows her stuff. Plus, she's so bubbly and happy, it's infectious" I said.
"Thank you" she blushes. Tali squeezes harder.
I cover my eyes "Oh no" she was supposed to be last.
"What is it? Tali asks. Kelly turns around as well.
"That is Jacob. Weapon's specialist and my workout buddy. He's the one who gave me that really good gun I told you about. And next to him is Miranda. She's mean to me often" my head surrenders forward.
"I'm going to need that back. Cleaning is a hassle" Jacob extends his hand. Tali lets go, permitting the blood flow back into my fingies, and shakes Jacob's hand.
"It's nice to meet you, but I take care of my own guns if you don't mind" Tali said.
"I understand. The commander is the same way" Jacob said.
"My name is Miranda Lawson. I'm second in command" she said.
"What's this about you being rude to *********?" Tali the tigress confronts Miranda the lioness. I feel warm.
"Oh God" I look away.
"Dear lord" Jacob utters.
"I will admit our conversations should be more civil and the fault lies in me. I'm working on it. I should let you know that while I am a very high-ranking Cerberus operative, I have no animosity towards other races. It's a good thing you're here really. It'll be nice to have someone reign ********* in" Miranda smirks.
"If I was meant to be controlled, I would have been born with a remote" I treasure my freedom. Nothing will take that away. Part of being a true American.
"Seriously Miranda can you go one minute without getting him mad?" Jacob asks.
"I think a joint session may be in order" Kelly suggests.
"I have matters to attend to. Please feel free to visit my office if you'd like" Miranda and Jacob leave.
Tali asks "Does that happen often?"
I close my eyes, tighten my eyebrows, but the under the inside of the lower lip, and nod.
"Should I leave it alone?" She asks.
"If you please. Come on, I'll introduce you to Mordin. His lab is over here. He's one of the other aliens I told you about. A salarian scientist. Former STG" I guide the way and knock on the door. No response. I know what this means. I cover my ears and manually open the door with my foot. Inside is very loud classical music with Mordin singing. It takes a moment for him to spin around and realize we have a new member. He pulls out his omnitool, pausing the song.
"Oh quarian. Interesting immune system function. Would like opportunity to study. Oh wait, can't, have to run size exclusion on collector protein samples. Too much with little time." Mordin said.
"He's quite a character" Tali said.
"He is. Quite a loner. Sometimes I talk philosophy with him. Kasumi why are you in here?" She uncloaks.
"Oh, this is the girl. She's adorable. Hi, I'm Kasumi. Chief thief in charge. I was planning to steal Mordin's eye glass thingy but that's a bust now" she stands up from the counter and hugs Tali. Her attempts to pickpocket are failed by the suits numerous zippers.
"You two should get along" I said.
Tali asks "Why is that?"
"You're both wearing essentially the same thing. Hoodie sisters" they look at each other and back towards me.
"It's a little different" Tali said, not trying to cover the irritated tone in her voice.
"Ooo I got to go. Zaheed is stealing the smoked turkey early and now is my chance to get Jessie. Bye Tali" she disappears.
"Not again! That's supposed to be for tomorrow" deep breaths in.
"Who is Jessie?" Tali asks.
"Zaheed's favorite gun. He's weird" I walk out of the room, leaving Mordin with his Mozart. The elevator is around the corner. Time to take her to the engineers Ken and Gabby. I should inform her about Ken's habits.
"The elevator is so slow. I'm going to fix that" Tali examines the human sized cuboid.
"I know right! Anyway, just a heads up. Ken is a good guy, but, he has a huge crush on Gabby. They've known each other forever. The issue is that he makes sexist remarks about other women to make her jealous as he's too much of a coward to confess his feelings for her. He'll probably call you a bucket head and make comments about your suit. If you get past that, you'll love him. He's great" I said.
"Thanks for the warning. I probably heard worse on the citadel, and I have a shotgun" she said.
My instincts kick in. "Give me a list of who. I'll go talk to them!"
"Take it easy. I appreciate you looking out for me. Really, I'm fine. Calm down. You're turning red" she gently pushes me back.
"Sorry. I get like that sometimes. It's in my bloodline" I give her breathing room. Wait, her suit gives her oxygen so what am I accomplishing? The elevator opens. While it is a detour. It's important for Tali to learn now.
"See this? This is my kitchen. You or anyone else no touchies. This is my area. That tape on the floor, no one crosses without a painful visit from miss spatula. Crap. Zaheed forgot to turn the smoker back on. Let me get this." Why did he put it on this setting?
Tali places one foot on the tape and looks straight into my eyes. Without breaking contact, I grab the spatula from the drawer.
"Don't test me" I hold up my instrument of torture. My hand trembles more violently than a schizophrenic patient in a sensory deprivation tank.
'Only if you make those pancakes again" her mouth led lights up.
"Deal. I'll have to ask Garrus where he got the turian flour. Come on, I'll show you where you'll work. Oh by the way, that room at the end. That is where Garrus and I sleep. Doctor Chakwas is to the right" I point out.
Tali's experience in ships molded her instincts to follow the vibrations to the engine room. Gabby and Ken notice us. They both turn around, lean back with their arms crossed.
"Uh oh" Ken said.
"Now we are in trouble" Gabby said.
"What's going on? Did you two rehearse something?"
"Shepard told us how we're basically out of a job now" Gabby said. I see what going on. Hehehe.
"We had a quarian engineer teach us at the academy in exchange for a pilgrimage gift. We can't compete" Ken explained.
"Why would a quarian teach humans?" I ask.
"Maintaining mass effect core engines was still relatively unknown back in those days. Who better to ask for help than those who have done it for centuries with scraps" Gabby explained.
"Oh that's smart" I said.
"Sadly, there will still be work for the three of us. I worked on the original Normandy engine and there are a few things I'd like to try. Something Joker would love, but I can tell the engine is different. I'll need to run by a few things with the two of you. Run some simulations. Give me your omnitool addresses and I'll send over what I have" the three of them share info, firm a group chat, and I copy what I hear into my own. I miss phone numbers.
We continue with the rest of the tour. Samara is meditating and won't be available. Jack is sleeping which shouldn't be distributed... Or heard. Shivers. Zaheed's screaming bloody murder from the disappearance of Jessie sends us straight to Grunt's room.
"Hey Grunt. I'd like you to meet a good friend of mine. This is Tali" the quarian slightly hides behind me. The krogan puts down his book, sits up from his couch, and towers over us.
Grunt asks. "Why is a suit rat here?"
Tali gasps.
"EXCUSE YOU!" I stomp forwards.
"What?" He asks like he did nothing wrong.
"What did I tell you about shaming language?!"
"It's for correcting behaviors that endanger the clan" he repeats what I drilled into earlier.
"Name one thing she does that endangers us."
"She is a quarian" Grunt said.
"And?"
"Her immune system is weak. She will become a liability on the battlefield. In a fight, a scrape will leave her unable to fight and will require assistance from another squad mate. Effectively removing two members from a firefight. Increases chances of mission failure" Grunt said.
I have no defense against that. I feel proud he remembered what I taught him. Wait, I shouldn't feel proud of this. I look at Tali. She can tell my mind is drawing a blink.
"It's not that weak!" Tali said.
"IT'S NOT THAT WEAK. Besides that. Do we shame people for things outside of their control?" Thank God I came up with something.
"No. It is wrong to hold someone accountable for something they did not chose" Grunt said.
Pointing to the naval area "Do you have that feeling you did a bad action come from here?"
"Yes" Grunt nods.
"What do men do in these situations?"
"Swallow our sensations of desiring to be in the right and do the proper thing. Which I think would be to apologize" Grunt said.
I'm waiting.
"Tali, I am sorry for my words. Please forgive me as I am still learning. That is not an excuse, but a motivation to improve myself" Grunt said.
I explain "he's a tank bred krogan Shepard picked up on a mission. All he knows is what was inserted into his mind and whatever happened after Shepard adopted him. He's trying to learn how to be a Krogan and since I lived on Tuchunka, he asks me for advice. I encourage him to learn on his own for good reason. Apparently, he forgets that he shouldn't be a giant DICK!"
"My shaman is very wise" Grunt said.
"Shaman?" Tali gives me a look.
"Don't call me that. I told you not to. I didn't take the rituals, nor do I plan to. If another Krogan hears that, I'll be in big trouble. I'm trying to be a good example for him." I said.
"I'm sorry. Commander Shepard is my battle master, and it seems only logical ********* would be the shaman" Grunt explained.
"Right. How old are you exactly?" Tali asks.
Grunt proudly puffs out his chest "21 months."
…
"Right. I forgive you Grunt. You should get back to whatever you were doing. By the way, you are going to want to reapply sealant around your tank soon or you'll end up with leaks" Tali said.
Grunt examines his tank mother, giving us a moment to step out.
"I'm so sorry that happened. I thought he'd knew better" oh God is this what being a parent feels like? I thought I would be ecstatic, happy, full of purpose, not filled to the brim with embarrassment.
"It's fine. Really. He's a child basically. I want to go talk to Shepard about everything that has happened. I don't know if he told you. We ran into each other shortly after he woke up. Did he really die?" Tali asks.
"I don't think so. Must have come super close to it" he said he didn't pop. Unlikely his soul untethered from the organ puppet. It must have gone dormant.
"Has he said anything to you?" Tali asks.
"He's not ready to talk about it and won't be for a while. He has changed. Traumatic events can do that to a person. He's doing so much better now than when he picked me up from Urdnot. I shouldn't go into detail" I said.
"I won't bring it up. Thanks for the tour. I feel much safer. It's good to be back on the Normandy. It's not the same. You know what I meant. I'm glad to see you again. I missed you. You look great" Tali said. Oooooo brain thingilies. I like these.
I flex my biceps "you like these do you?" She squeezes her shoulders and looks away.
"Don't you put your eyes over there. I worked hard to get these. GAZE UPON MY DIVINE FLESH!"
That gets a laugh out of her. "I'm glad the ********* I know is still the same. Will you stop that? Your veins are bulging, and you look like you going to pass out" I wheeze out and relax my muscles.
"It's worth it to make you smile. Alright I took enough of your time. It is going to be awesome to have you back. Feel free to stop by my room anytime. Zaheed's freaking out. If I help him, hopefully he'll hesitate (that's alot of H's) next time he tries eating my food early. ZAHEED, I'll help you steal Jessie back" Tali shakes her head side to side.
