Shepard walked to the terminal on her desk and hit the intercom for the starboard cargo hold. "Arius, you free? Come on up."

A few minutes later, she heard a knock on the door to her quarters. She opened it. Arius stood waiting with a stack of datapads in one hand and a small bottle in the other. His eyes were unreadable, but his expression was a sombre one. "Shepard. How are you doing?"

"Eh, losing someone is always shitty. Come in."

He did, and he entered her quarters for the first time. On the corner of her desk, he placed the stack of data pads and the small bottle. The bottle was filled with a homogenous white liquid, and two small glasses were stacked atop the bottle's spout.

"The ancient Egyptians," he began explaining to her, "typically performed the act of libation, of pouring out a liquid offering for the dead onto the ground, with water from the Nile. Unfortunately, we have neither a river nor ground." He removed the glasses from the top of the bottle, flipped them over and set them on the desk. "In ancient Greece, a similar ritual of choai, liquid meant to be poured and consumed,used wine or a mixture of milk and honey. Mordin detested alcohol, so…" Arius shook the small bottle gently, then removed the stopper and poured the nourishing fluid into one of the small glasses. He offered it to her.

"Why milk and honey?" she asked, taking the small glass from his outstretched hand.

"It's an ancient motif." He poured the bottle's contents into the second glass. "One that's always held special significance in the west, long associated with a promised land overflowing with abundance."

"How appropriate. I think he'd approve." Shepard grew pensive, looking down at the mixture, something on her thoughts. "Did Mordin ever tell you how he got that injury on his head, why he was missing his right cranial horn?"

"No."

She swirled the liquid in the glass slowly, rotating it with the movements of her wrist. "He told me that In his earlier days, while re-engineering the genophage, he and his assistant, Maelon, covertly visited Tuchaka to hide the dispersal unit for his modified strain. As luck would have it, In the exact tunnel location he had chosen, they discovered a female krogan hammering a pedestal into the ground and leading her followers in prayer to Kalros. Stubbornly not accepting any placement substitutions and against his teammates' advice, he ordered the tunnel to be lined with explosives while he dealt with the krogans. The female apparently hammered the ground, hoping to attract Kalros to their aid - it failed, and he taunted her, unimpressed with the whole thing. Mordin stated his justifications for the genophage, of the threat the krogan posed and the suffering that would result if allowed a resurgence, and the female shared the horror of countless mothers suffering amidst the corpses of their stillborn children, blaming all of their anguish on him."

"... And then?"

"And then the explosives he had ordered went off at that moment. His teammates pulled him from the rubble afterwards, and he was missing his right cranial horn."

The reveal was unexpected, and Arius grew contemplative with this new information. He had known the extent of Mordin's work but not the details of this story. With this prelude, he saw the beginning and end of the salarian's life in total clarity, his transformation done, and his arc finished. For the ghosts of the doctor's past to return to him - to have a second chance to choose again after the journey, was the ultimate boon. Now complete, Mordin's was a great story in the older, more meaningful sense of the word, and Arius held it in esteem with the rest of those stories one collects privately and reflects on in quiet moments.

"Life has a funny way of coming full circle, doesn't it?"

Shepard nodded soberly.

Arius raised his glass. "To Mordin. May every frayed thread of our lives be as neatly mended as his."

"To Mordin… and second chances."

They simultaneously knocked back the glasses and drained them. It soothed as it went down.

Arius took back the glass from her and stacked it within his own above the bottle. "Well then, to less somber matters," he said, glancing around prudently. "This is quite the model collection you have here."

"Thank you. Think that you can identify them all?" she challenged him, walking to the seating area opposite the large, open display where her models were suspended.

"I think I can. Let's see… we have the Destiny Ascension," he said, pointing to the large, prolific asari flagship on the far left. "Alliance Shuttle and Cruiser, Turian Cruiser, Geth Cruiser, Quarian Ship, Freighter, Alliance Dreadnought and Fighter…. Is that a scale model of Sovereign?" he asked, pointing to the Reaper. "It is? Sorry, my mistake, a scale model of 'Saren's Geth Warship'" he corrected, making finger quotes in the air. Shepard rolled her eyes at his comment, but a grin slowly began to materialize on her face.

"This one," he said, pointing to the model of the Normandy, "I've never seen before in my life."

A snort escaped her. "Ha."

"And is this…" Arius asked in genuine surprise, "the Shadow Broker Base? Seriously, how did you get this?"

"Liara made it for me. She printed it from the ship schematics. This is all that's left of it now, aside from some tech she brought aboard."

"Wow. A true collector's item."

"Mhm."

"So, how did I do?"

"Full marks."

"Nice."

Arius turned his head to the left towards the blue glow of the aquarium. "And this must be the fabled fish tank. I did not imagine a tank this large."

"Right?" she enthusiastically agreed, joining him at the tank. "Imagine my surprise. It's downright excessive if you ask me. Fish, in space? But they are the closest things I have to pets, so I keep it stocked."

Arius gasped dramatically. "KEI-9 would be absolutely shocked to hear you say that."

Shepard rolled her eyes again at his bad pun. KEI-9 was a robotic dog an Alliance technician had accidentally left in the hangar during the retrofits. It still roamed around the ship, doing whatever robotic dog things it did.

"No, you're right," he said, seeing her reaction to his bad jokes, "KEI-9 wouldn't mind. His bark is worse than his byte."

She groaned and covered her face with her hand in mock exasperation. "You're a regular comedian, you know that?" But it was all a show. "You're really pushing my buttons, Arius."

"I'll admit, my jokes aren't what they used to be. I have gotten a little rusty."

"Maybe you just need some time off to recharge."

"Heh." He was glad her mood had improved. "Have you given your aquatic friends names?"

"My fish? Sure. Those are 'Akarui', 'Hanako', and 'Magikarp'," she said, pointing to the three koi fish, each brightly coloured, the last being a striking shade of orange.

Arius snorted at the last name. "Fitting."

"Those are 'Finneaus', 'Caspian', and 'Squirtle'," she continued, pointing to the three Illium Skalds, each a deep blue with large, flowing fins.

"I'm sensing a theme here."

"Shush, let me have my fun. The Thessian Sunfish," she said, gesturing to the small, brightly coloured fish, "are all 'Sunny'; they always move together, and I can't tell one from the other yet. And this little guy is 'Fishy McFish'," she said, pointing to a single, flat-bodied fish. Reminiscent of Earth's butterflyfish, it was the colour of teal with a single, large black spot on each side of its body.

"You did not name your Prejek Paddle Fish 'Fishy McFish'."

"I did. Bite me."

He grinned in amusement. A flash of remembrance struck him, and he walked over to pick up one of the datapads he had earlier set down. He briefly scrolled through the contents. "Were you aware that a member of the Hanar Illuminated Primacy is offering a choice of rewards in exchange for specimens of this endangered fish?"

"You're kidding me."

"I am not." He turned the data pad towards her so Shepard could see the listing. Due to the war, the Hanar Illuminated Primacy member was willing to pay for a costly weapon or power upgrade in exchange for a live specimen.

"Alas, Fishy McFish is not for sale."

"Just as well," he said, turning the datapad back around. "Good companions are invaluable assets in themselves."

"Mhm. Say…" Shepard eyed the pads Arius had earlier set down. "Did you bring those pads up for a reason?"

"I did, yes. I wanted to give you an update on the recent developments. But if now is not an appropriate time…"

"No, it's fine," she said, straightening her back. "Hit me. Bad news first, as always."

"Of course." Arius tapped at the pad to review. "As you've probably guessed, due to the genophage being cured, the salarians have pulled out, and Salarian First Fleet, along with STG resources, are now locked out from the war effort. As a side note, the Shadow Broker's intel has confirmed that over the last year, the First Fleet has replicated Normandy's stealth systems and, surprisingly, the Reaper IFF algorithms."

"Are you saying Salarian First Fleet now have dreadnoughts with stealth capabilities?"

"I am."

"Damn." That one hurt, but it had been her decision. "The cost of their cooperation was too high. What else?"

"Aside from Grunt, Aralakh Company has effectively been wiped out. None made it out of Utukku."

"That was unfortunate but not in vain. I got Liara's message about the rachni workers on the Crucible."

"Onto the better news." Arius picked up the other data pad. "Due to the genophage cure, Krogan First Division and the Krogan Clans, including Urdnot, have pledged their help. Additionally, it has called forth krogan bodyguards in the private sector and fortune-seekers from the Terminus; It seems krogan everywhere are heeding the call. As promised, since the krogan have extended their forces to the turians and taken the pressure off Palaven, turians assets have grown to include Turian 43rd Marine Disivion, Turian Seventh Fleet, Turian Engineering Corps, and Turian Blackwatch team." He wasn't done. "Your recent interviews with Diana Allers have boosted the morale of Palaven's forces. Same for the krogan. You're all they're playing over their channels at the moment. Eden Prime's colonists pushed Cerberus off-world with the data you found during your capture of Javik there not long ago. With its shipping lanes secure, the colony is sending out as many supplies and equipment as it can spare. I know the salarians are now cut off from us, but one asset, Major Kirrahe, has independently pledged his support."

Shepard exhaled; The better news was significant in its own right. "Yes, we go back. He alerted us of Virmire back when we were chasing Saren. He was also down at the STG base, too, on Sur'Kesh. Good soldier. Very inspiring orator..."

Arius stood in front of the tank, his back turned to it, facing her as she leaned against her desk. During their conversation, Shepard noticed something peculiar. The fish in her tank, usually oblivious to anything outside of dropped food or each other, had collectively ceased their aimless swimming and instead began swimming closer to Arius. She had noticed it slowly in the background with mild interest, but as time passed, the fish drew closer and began crowding his outline in apparent interest. Eventually, she could no longer ignore the abnormal behaviour and had to interrupt their exchange.

"Arius, sorry to interrupt you, but you need to turn around and see this. I've never seen my fish do that before."

Arius turned his head to see the tank behind him. "Ah," he said without a hint of surprise. "I'd forgotten about this."

"This has happened before?"

He nodded slowly, and Shepard almost sensed sorrow in the motion. "Some creatures can sense it," he told her, touching the aquarium's glass with an index finger. "Like how some animals on Thessia can sense eezo." On the other side, Fishy McFish swam happily toward it, curious. "Happened to me often while on Earth. It was one of the more interesting side effects of our gifts."

Arius slowly walked to the aquarium's right-most end, and some fish followed. "At the beginning," he told her, "I found it fascinating, but then it became a bit… complicated. Man's relationship with the natural world began to change." He gave a deep sigh. "I sometimes miss those old days."

He shook his head to shake himself from the inner nostalgia and turned away from the aquarium, and Shepard saw the pronounced lightening of his eyes again.

"Anyways. I've occupied you long enough." He scrolled through the remaining items, double-checking if he had missed anything. He had. "Oh, there was one last item I wanted to bring to your attention pertaining to us recently passing through the Asgard system. The Reapers destroyed gas giant Borr's helium-3 infrastructure, but Sixth Fleet did not secede easily. They killed a Reaper Destroyer, and Glyph identified it as a potential opportunity for intel if we sent drones to scan under the Reaper's hull. I went ahead and made the executive decision to instead demolish the remains, as recommended by the Council - and myself - for all Reaper cores. They've bestowed a Citadel-wide merchant discount of 5%."

"Okay. Sure."

"The one on Tuchanka, assuming Kalros had its way with it, should be sufficiently eaten or destroyed. I've sent a message to Wrex about taking some ground scans to confirm. If still viable, it would require demolition as well." He closed the notes. "Well, that concludes it, then. We'll be docking at the Citadel soon. I need to get down to help upload the provisions Cortez scored." He picked up the datapads and the empty bottle. "Shepard."

"Arius… Thanks for coming by."

"Of course. Anytime."

He turned from her but paused just as he passed through the door and called back to her. "You were right, by the way."

"About what?"

"I do have the coziest corner on the Normandy." He winked at her, and the door closed.

.

After Arius had departed, Shepard looked back at her fish which had resumed their fishy business. A previous conversation she had with Eve while the female krogan had been seated in the med bay repeated in her head.

"...have you had a chance to meet some of the crew? They come from all walks of life."

"A few, though one did come to see me - Arius. He came and spoke to me for a long while the other day. He sat and asked me to tell him about traditional krogan stories, then my experiences becoming a shaman. He then, very unexpectedly, shared with me his… unusual origin. I'll admit I treated his story skeptically, but it seems he's already shared this open secret with much or all of the crew." Eve hummed quietly, turning a thought in her head. "I don't understand why he's still alive."

"Did he explain his ability?"

"I can understand the how, Commander. What I don't understand is the why. Why he would voluntarily burden himself with the hardship of life… endlessly. Krogan live for a very long time. For those that reach the end in relative peace, most are relieved to be done with the whole ordeal."

Shepard searched for an answer. Arius had never explicitly explained why he had held on to living for so long. She and everyone else automatically assumed it was for revenge. "Now that you mention it, I definitively don't know myself. Revenge against the Reapers, maybe? Or maybe he feels like he's constantly trying to dig out of that buried cave, much as you had been?"

"I'm not so sure. As I've told you before, Wrex is a mutant among krogan to not obsess himself with war. Some of our warlords have upheld themselves through blinding hatred and anger for their enemy. Arius' capacity for such dark emotion does not seem all-consuming, nor does it seem the defining reason for his existence. There's something else in him, another reason that has sustained him long after the initial flames of revenge in him cooled."

"Hope, then, for all of us to see a better day?"

"Perhaps. Whatever it is, it must be deeply personal. For someone with so many tales to tell, I sense there is an untold story at his core. I hope he one day has the opportunity to tell it."