*****A Cursed Existence*****

Entry 6: Hello Me, Nice to Meet You

AN: Well, can't think of anything to say up top. Let's cover the reviews then.

lestibur: Well… thanks, I guess. Nice to know someone cares… good to see another person that understands my sorrow… *sniffle* I'm not crying, you're crying!

Prometheus-777: …yeah, I think this goes without saying. Though just a heads up: I haven't actually written the response yet, but you should get it soon after this is posted. [Covered in a PM]

Tom712: I actually read one of those a while ago, Beacon's Effect. It's in fact the story I referenced in the last chapter's rather… extensive end-of-chapter AN. Oh wait, crap, I'm out of character! I mean uh… Hmm, those sound like they might be interesting; and I think I even read one of them. Pity I'll never have the opportunity to do so now though…

sniperbro1998: You're… close but not quite. Anything else would be spoiling. Just make sure to keep an eye out for them in the future.

Drouppi: So yeah, I know we already talked in the PMs, but I still felt the need to give you a bit here. As such, it shall be in character; though it'll only cover the last paragraph of your review to save on space. Asari biology? Unused to reality-shattering realizations? Simple stress overload? Hell if I know; it happened, I felt like a moron afterward, and life moved on. And it's nice to see how you think going from a completely ordinary person who hasn't purposely hurt anyone in his life (fighting with my brother growing up doesn't count) to a calm, collected and efficient sniper operating on the galaxy's very definition of a hellhole is something as simple as "character development." I'd like to see YOU experience all my "character development" and find out how much you change from it! Hmph!

Alright, lots of exposition, foreshadowing and dialogue in general here, so just a heads-up to anyone that expected (or anticipated) action for whatever reason. Might, and I do mean might get some in the chapter after the next one however, but we shall see. The "first arc" of this fic isn't going to be as action heavy as the ones following it, but there are still a few scenes I have in mind that should satisfy the bloodlust of my friendly, charming, delightful and not at all violence-craving readers out there. Anyway, time for the chapter itself…

December 1st, 2182, 11:19 am EST. (The following day)

"Vwoooom! Vwoooom!" I said in an energy filled and high-pitched, somewhat childish voice while running through an oddly familiar park, holding a black and white skycar model with blue and violet racing lines intersecting over the roof; the sun shining down on my little purple-blue arms through the gently waving canopy of trees above.

"And she pulls ahead, now in first place, about to cross the-oof!" I fell down, my skycar model landing on the soft grass in front of me, having run into something – but at a second glance, this something turned out to be a someone.

"Ow…" the new person said in a similar high-pitched and childish voice to my own, and after rubbing my now sore rear from where I landed I looked up at them.

They were an asari with pale, icy blue skin and steel blue eyes, wearing a relatively long deep black dress; they appeared to be roughly around my current physical age, meaning they were probably a teenager – an actual teenager, not just an asari in the mindset of a human one at age 60. But, immediately after noticing their age, I noticed how… cute they were. Well, that was the feeling invoked by the memory at least; but in my own opinion, even at such a young age she looked absolutely stunning, and in another decade or two would be the equivalent of the hottest girl in junior high when compared to human standards.

Feeling a sudden blush form, whether from the embarrassment of running into the other person or possible thoughts of maybe becoming "close friends" with them was unclear – and yes, I felt the emotions of the memory's owner this time around; ah, to be young again.

At imagining such a thing, the "me" that was the memory's owner did my best to banish such thoughts, and I stood up and held a hand out to the person.

"Sorry…" I said in a voice equal parts embarrassed, ashamed and interested. Children's emotions were weird like that.

Taking my hand I hefted the other asari up, and now off the ground they smiled in embarrassment of their own and rubbed the back of their head just below the crest. "It's my fault, I wasn't watching where I was going either."

As they said this I bent down to pick up my skycar model, breathing a sigh of relief when it didn't turn out to be broken.

"Is that Kalara Savon's car from the Thessian Classic?" the other asari asked excitedly, and I just stared at her in surprise, mouth agape for a second, before smiling happily at being given the chance to talk about my favorite thing in the whole… well, kid's have very strong interests, let's just put it that way.

"Yeah, and this is the same car she drove when she won the Republics' Grand Championship for the last decade, too! Though the blue stripes were only added after she was declared the champion…" I ended a little shyly, as if afraid I would bore the person I ran into with weird, random information.

"No way! I only have her car from before the championship, with just the purple stripes; but I heard she's started racing in turian leagues and had an entirely different car made to compete just for that!" they replied enthusiastically, and being the child "I" was I smiled a massive smile, happy to finally find someone to share my interests with.

"Really?! I didn't know tha-" I was interrupted by a third, far more mature sounding voice calling out behind the bushes where the other asari came from.

"Miri? Miri? Miri, where did you run off to this time?! It's time to go home!"

Looking almost horrified, the person in front of me raised their left arm, an omni-tool sparking to life as they checked the time. "Crap, I didn't know it was this late! Sorry, but I have to go!"

Feeling a bit of panic set in at potentially never seeing this person who shared my interests again, I asked her a question. "Wait, before you go, what's your name, and will you be back here again?"

Blinking a couple times, the other asari smacked their forehead in the most 'oh duh' way possible. "Mirilley V'Seila, but everyone just calls me Miri. And I come here every other day; my mom has a bunch of friends she meets with nearby."

Smiling to myself, I started to respond. "Cool! My name is-"

NO!

I woke up immediately, any drowsiness I normally felt swept aside in an odd moment of disorientation as dozens of emotions crashed together, each individual emotion coming and going in an instant. It took a few seconds for the moment to pass, and when it did I sat up in bed and groaned; numerous muscles aching for some reason.

"What did I do last night, again…" I mumbled to myself, disorientation now replaced with slight confusion. Right up until the memories of my last waking moment came back to me in a sudden rush. "Oh. Right. I was told by the me that was me before the current me that I'm a mythical space elf vampire."

If you think that statement was confusing… that's because it was.

Feeling the beginning stages of a headache, and having no real choice but to accept the news with as much enthusiasm as could be expected (none at all), I focused on anything besides the newly revealed truth about myself; or rather, the body and person I now was. Have been. Became? The tenses proved to be another thing adding to my future headache, so I just accepted that it was unimportant and told myself that, as it stood, I was and am Mirilley V'Seila.

It was better for my already fragile sanity that way.

Getting out of bed, I shivered as the daily gust of cool air washed over me. It took a moment for me to realize something different today: that same gust was also felt in my nether regions for some odd reason. Looking down, I just stared as I discovered that reason.

"I'm naked… why am I naked?" I asked no one in particular. Something funny I noticed is that as the weeks went on, I no longer felt "attracted," so to speak, to my body. Well, insomuch as I no longer felt the need to "admire" my "assets" every time I saw them, anyway. Mind you, I still very much so appreciated the female (or asari, in this case) form with all its shapes and curves, I simply stopped feeling that same draw towards my own body; which was a relief, I must say. Just looking at myself in the mirror had been awkward for the first few days after I arrived here, never mind sorting through the underwear drawers and picking out what to wear.

On that topic, if the sheer amount I found was anything to go by, the original Miri had a bit of an obsession for silky, incredibly soft lingerie rather than actually practical underwear… though admittedly, they felt absolutely amazing if you discounted how most were more revealing than what the average stripper wore while on the job.

Regardless, in my current state of undress I felt reminded of my first day here, and how I woke up and what I discovered as a result. Feeling a small measure of dread at the memory, I turned back towards my bed and prepared for the worst… only to find the aforementioned bed very much so empty and lacking the expected lump…

Letting out a sigh of relief, I chuckled a little. "What, did you think you'd wake up next to a corpse every time you sleep naked?" I said to myself before instantly sobering up. "No, I'm probably not wearing anything because of… because of…" trailing off, I frowned as I finally noticed the current lack of someone else controlling my own body; an issue I thought I'd have to deal with considering the events leading up to now.

"Huh. I'm not sure if I should be happy or concerned about that."

Both, probably, I told myself mentally, nodding in agreement a second later. Only to then do a double take when I realized I didn't think such a thing… probably… maybe…

"Who was that?" I asked aloud to see what happened. To tell the truth, I'm not sure what I expected; but regardless, silence was my only answer. And when that fact became clear after ten or so seconds without a response I frowned even further, wondering if I'd just been mistaken in my assumption of it not being me. It sounded like me, after all.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid because of… of whatever the hell it was that happened yesterday, I thought, and this time I was sure it was me thinking it.

Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, following the action by stretching my muscles – aahhhhh, that feels good – I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck, followed by taking in a calm breath. "Right, thinking about my 'loss of control' on the date can wait until breakfast. Let's get some underwear on and brush my teeth first."

My "plan" made, I went about my normal morning procedure, knowing the routine would help keep my mind off the worrisome implications of having lost physical control of myself yesterday to what I could only conclude was, somehow, the original Mirilley V'Seila.

Say, where is she anyway? If she's not controlling my body and I can't hear her thoughts, then exactly what part of me does she occupy? Ach, too early for these kind of questions.

Five minutes later and wearing a pair of the silk bras and panties I mentioned – the latter garment more comfortable than it had any right to be, in my opinion; but sue me, that's exactly the reason why I was wearing it right now instead of my usual boxers – I came back into the bedroom and was about to head downstairs when I was suddenly reminded about my omni-tool. Strongly reminded at that; getting the impression that it was important for some reason.

Blinking at the unusually strong pull to pick up the device, I shrugged and went to my nightstand, putting it on my wrist. "Maybe I forgot something important I had planned," I reasoned. "Not like I have a perfect memory. Suppose I can just find out and check to see if there's anything on the schedule while I'm eating breakfast."

Oh yeah, I may have forgotten to mention that before now: my omni-tool has a list of important meetings I need to attend in the future for whatever reason. Fortunately for me, so far I hadn't had to go to any; the original Miri had cleared the schedule for a solid two months – by human standards that is – just a few days before I arrived here. Officially it was so that she could enjoy "a calming vacation away from the stresses of business." Well, that was the reasoning Aena gave me anyway. It was certainly conveniently timed for sure, and I had a feeling Agatha was involved somehow; but to be honest, I could see why the original would want a break from her work regardless of mysterious otherworldly entities. Even being far from the largest or most famous shareholder of the company, Mirilley V'Seila was still a member of Armali Council's Board of Directors; the corporation being in the top 100 companies by revenue in the entire galaxy for the past 2,000 years.

Have I mentioned how ludicrously wealthy I am now? Pretty sure I have… maybe the reason I keep bringing it up is because I still have trouble believing it myself…

With these thoughts I made my way downstairs, trying my best to get back into the routine I'd built for myself in recent days. Completely unaware of how very quickly it was about to drastically change…

December 1st, 2182, 11:42 am EST. (23 minutes later)

Cutting off a slice from my brown and purple egg, the yolk being the purple part, I ate it without a second thought; using my fork like a knife with one hand to keep on eating, while my other hand brought up my omni-tool in preparation for my usual routine of morning news. Funnily enough, before coming here I was never a morning person; rather, I was the definition of a night owl, typically not going to sleep until the sky started to lighten up with the approaching sun.

I mused over the seemingly unimportant detail while cutting another piece off of my egg, moving it around to get some of the breadcrumbs left over on the plate from the now eaten toast. Said toast was, as always, the first thing I went for; slathered in a particularly delicious asari honey butter – well, ok, technically speaking it's not actually "butter" in the strictest sense of the word, seeing as asari don't call it that; but I'm for damn sure not referring to something put on toast that looks and tastes exactly like butter as tesern!

Anyway, random thoughts aside, I polished off the egg and put the fork down; my stomach not filled in the least thanks my body's rather ridiculous appetite, today especially for some reason, but nonetheless I was satisfied with the meal. A slight grumble from my demanding stomach, however, proved that I was still hungry, making me sigh. "Aena! Could you make a second plateful?" I asked in the general direction of the kitchen.

"Yes, of course Mistress, it will be ready in seven minutes!" my VI happily replied, and I could hear her start cleaning the utensils she was about to once more use to make my food.

I really should see if I can copy Aena's VI matrix. If just one of her can do all this, imagine what could be done with two! Of course I'd have to figure out their specific roles, and whether or not I'd have to order a second mobile platform made for the copied Aena to use, but that can be figured out later. For now though, let's see what's happening in the… news?

The reason I paused like that was simple: the moment I turned my omni-tool on I was greeted with a message. That in itself wasn't surprising. I had, after all, received a few before now from some random car dealership or other thanking me and asking for more of my business in the future; but what made this message special was its heading: From me to you, we finally meet.

Huh… certainly a cryptic way to start, isn't it? May as well see what it is before deciding what to do with it, I suppose.

"Dear Miri," it started with, and seeing as only the people that knew me personally called me that instead of Mirilley – from what little I'd read in my emails anyway – it instantly attracted my attention. "I left you this to try and help explain some of what you need to know about yourself. I would explain it personally, but I have yet to reliably find out how to do such a thing outside of this message, so please, pay close attention to what I'm about to tell you. It will help you greatly in a number of issues related to your circumstances, and that I can guarantee. From," and at the final word, I felt my eyes widen a fraction, "Miri."

Well… that was… interesting… I thought dumbly, just staring at the message and attached video at the bottom of it, before eventually deciding to reread it. Seeing nothing change about the message from my first reading, and not finding any hidden meanings from what I could tell, I felt my gaze lingering over the play option for the video. Having a brief moment of clarity though, I got up and went upstairs for some privacy.

"Aena, I'll be right back. Just put my food on the table when it's done," I told the VI as I passed by the kitchen entrance, noting she was already in the process of cooking the egg.

"Yes Mistress," she replied with a glance in my direction, and then focused back on the cooking process. Shaking my head at her hyper focus on whatever task I assigned her, I smiled to myself while heading to, and once I arrived at, up the stairs.

Heh. Couldn't find a better chef, if you ask me. Hmm, now that I think about it, what were her other jobs again? Let's see: groundskeeper, maid, mail sorter, chef, visitor greeter, and… ah yes, personal assistant and driver! Wait… wait a freaking second…

As I fully processed the thought, I felt a particularly large desire to facepalm at my own stupidity. Well, facepalm followed by breaking something; or rather, multiple somethings. Personal assistant and driver. And driver. I could've had her take me to the store, come in with me to help shop, and avoided nearly dying just from A FUCKING CAR TRIP, but NOOOOO! I HAD to prove I knew how to drive! I completely forgot I could've just SKIPPED all that trauma inducing driving if only I LET AENA DO IT!

Holding in the breath I so desperately wanted to release in a roar, I almost ran for the garage, it being one of the few rooms in the mansion fully soundproofed. Barely acknowledging the door as it slid open, I waited precisely three seconds for it to close again before screaming my lungs out.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHH! STUPID, STUPID, STUPID! READ THE GODDES DAMNED SMALL PRINT NEXT TIME, YOU UTTER-FUCKING-MORON!" I punctuated the final word with an enraged right-handed punch against the garage wall. Rather than the action resulting in quite a bit of pain, as I both expected and honestly hoped to happen so that it'd snap my head on straight again, I paused in my self-directed rant and blinked at the wavy, glowing blue, almost black aura that surrounded my hand; noticing the odd sensation from the back of my skull that I'd experienced yesterday during the original Miri's brief takeover.

Biotics, I whispered in my mind, followed by glancing at the noticeable dent in the wall: a small, fist sized circle of blackened metal at its center.

Going back to staring at the biotic aura surrounding my hand for several seconds in fascination, my fit of rage at my own stupidity long forgotten, I eventually felt a sort of "ache," for lack of a better term, coming from the base of my skull; it of course being the same spot where the sensation originated from. Concentrating on the sensation, I tried to get it to stop so that the ache would disappear… and much to my surprise, after a short period of moving muscles I was completely unaware of before now, both the ache and glow around my hand did indeed vanish.

"Okay…" I muttered to myself, quickly getting more excited by the second as my old gamer mentality started to come out for the first time in weeks, "not gonna lie, but that. WAS. AWESOME! Can't believe I haven't tried playing with this before! I wonder what the max amount of weight I can lift with my biotics is? Can I use charges, shockwaves, stasis fields and singularities; or am I a more basic biotic and limited to things like throw, lift, pull and warp? What about barrier? Having an instantly generated shield whenever I need it would be amazingly useful for any number of situations…"

My downright giddy thoughts were interrupted by the sudden urge to watch the vid on my 'tool, and in spite of being alone I couldn't help but feel embarrassed at my actions; both leading up to punching the wall and the short-lived nerd-out following it. Can you really blame me though? It's space magic!

Clearing my throat and fighting off the blush trying to force its way onto my cheeks, I flexed my right hand, smelling a bit of ozone now lingering in the air. Composing myself, I strode out of the garage with a bit of pep in my step, happily whistling a random tune that sprang to mind during the short trip to my bedroom. Just as I touched the (apparently galactic standard) glowing green haptic button on the center of my door, I saw a tiny spark of electricity shoot out from my fingertips, briefly making the door's interface flicker.

"The heck was that?" I asked no one in particular. "Looked kinda like static electricity…" I mumbled, before a thought hit me. "Say, didn't that article in the codex mention biotics produce a miniscule amount of static electricity whenever they use their abilities; and that it's released via touching certain surfaces? Similar to how ships create so much of it to the point of needing to discharge the stuff at regular intervals? Yeah, I remember now. Huh. Good to know, I guess."

Shrugging at the odd piece of random information, though privately wondering exactly how it worked, I went into my bedroom, closing the door behind me. Not really having any other furniture options, I plopped down onto my bed and laid back, using the four pillows on it – being a, or at least equivalent to a king-sized mattress, meant that four was the bare minimum – as a prop. Now comfortable, I sat back and brought my left arm up, flicking my wrist appropriately to turn on the device.

Staring at the message and video once more, I took a final breath to steel myself. "Well, never let it be said I was told important news standing up," I said in some amusement, only for the feeling to fade after a beat. "Right then. Time to finally see what 'I' have to tell myself."

I tapped the play option for the video and did what I could to relax; seeing no point in working myself up without knowing what's in it.

A second passed before it started, and I was prepared for any number of ways for it to begin… which is why when I saw myself moving the "camera," as in the omni-tool, around to get a proper frame, I had to admit to being somewhat bemused at first.

"There! Finally…" the recording said, and while I know I should've expected it, hearing my own voice honestly surprised me for a moment. The reason for why I… why she said the words became apparent a second later when she sat down in a chair placed in front of the "camera."

"It's off-center…" I muttered quietly to myself.

As if hearing the statement, the Miri in the recording looked above the "camera" at something not in line of sight from my perspective. "Dammit, it's off-center…" she muttered, and aside from the initial curse it was said in the exact same pronunciation and tone of voice as my own statement, even down to the accent, oddly enough.

Or maybe that should make sense, all things considered, I mused, only for any further thoughts to be shelved as the other Miri finished fiddling with the omni-tool recording her.

"Is it… alright, it is, good." She straightened herself out, appearing as calm and composed as possible, even though she was still wearing the same light grey dress I'd picked out prior to the date.

Well, it does look good on me, I'll admit, I commented internally during the brief pause.

Looking straight at the screen, the original Miri started speaking again. "Hello, me. A pleasure being able to finally speak to you. It's unfortunate that we don't have the opportunity to truly meet each other at this juncture, but seeing as I had no idea I'd be given the opportunity I was, and seeing as your… unavailability after the fact was a bit of a surprise for me," I couldn't help but wince at that, feeling more than a little foolish for letting myself lose control so easily just from a simple revelation about what I now am, "this is the best I could come up with. Before we begin I feel I should request something, for both our benefits: please, for the love of Athame, learn to control your emotions better. Every time you let yourself go into a tangent or period of misery, or any other strong emotion of that nature, you force me to experience it as well. Now granted, there are times where I perfectly understand your reasoning; that breakdown on your first day being in my body was in fact one shared and fueled by both of us, and I am not exactly proud of that; but regardless, the event that resulted in me being able to speak to you like this should never have happened in the first place. Keep in mind, however, that I'm not complaining; I do enjoy controlling my own body, after all. Even still, I'd prefer it didn't happen again, as there's no telling the long-term consequences. Alright?" She paused then, seemingly to let it soak in.

If it wasn't for expecting some sort of grand quest or mission to be given (I blame playing one too many RPGs), I'd probably have been insulted by that. As it stood, I was mildly perplexed and even somewhat ashamed; like a kid being scolded by their parent for staying up late or eating one too many candies and breaking something valuable as a result. It was an unusual feeling to say the least.

"Now that I have hopefully made my point, there are several other topics to discuss. The first of those is something you should most likely have realized by now. Aena is meant to drive my cars, not me, or in this case, you."

"Ya don't say?" I asked the recording sarcastically, but it obviously didn't respond.

"Their systems were custom built to perform better under her control and direct connection to each vehicle's VI, which is half the reason you had so much difficulty with driving them. The other half… well, I can't really blame you for not knowing how to drive something like that when all you've ever driven is ground vehicles. Sadly, while I've found I can share many things with you in my current state, such as language, certain social methods to aid your conversations, and personal information such as passwords or clothing preference, muscle memory isn't one of them. Knowledge in how to effectively use my, and subsequently now your biotics, however, I can share." She paused again, giving me time to absorb it all.

I felt a bit of my earlier excitement make a short-lived comeback, but it was quickly buried under a new emotion: suspicion.

"Why would you help me with all this?" I asked the recording, knowing it wouldn't answer.

"You may be wondering why I would help you with all this, considering it could be said you stole both my life and body from me," the recording continued, and I stared owlishly at it. "Oh, don't look so surprised; you're easy to predict after being surrounded and engulfed by your every thought for weeks on end."

"Well… that's not creepy at all…" I muttered, privately wondering if the original Miri was somewhere inside me, laughing her ass off at my reactions to this. If the lingering sense of amusement I only now noticed was anything to go by, she probably was.

Ignoring my words – not that it was actually able to hear them in the first place – the recording went on. "The answer to that is simple: Agatha." Because of the way she said the word with such loathing and disgust (and well-hidden fear, I noticed) I could tell she shared my opinions on the ROB that dropped me here. "That thing… that… creature, is responsible for both our situations. And if I tried to permanently take control of my body again, I'm sure the creature would only find my efforts amusing before placing you back in control. It had a reason for doing it in the first place, after all, and I'm sure it would do it again if need be."

I… honestly couldn't disagree with that. Hell, I'm actually surprised she was that insightful, if perhaps a little blunt. But still, it was at least reassuring that I wouldn't be forced into having an internal struggle for control. I'd read one too many fanfics where the results of such struggles were… unpleasant.

"Now then, onto the next topic. I know you can't directly see my memories for some reason, as you can only dream them; but I can see yours. And by see, I mean truly see them; entire years of your life last, for me, a mere few hours, maybe a day at most for the eventful ones. It's actually… nice, if I'm being honest. As if I can finally experience a true bond with someone, without them dying moments later…" she said wistfully, staring off into the distance with a slight smile, before apparently shaking herself out of her melancholy and replacing her expression with the composed and neutral mask she had on before. "As such, I naturally came across your… 'knowledge' of my universe and its future, soon after your arrival. I actually spent several days combing over all the memories you have regarding it just to prove that it was wrong, or somehow placed there by that creature as part of some twisted joke. To sum it up: it… it was not." Here she rubbed her eyes tiredly, slumping a little in defeat and sighing deeply. "I wish it was, Goddess I do, but everything you knew had too many details, too many statistics that could be easily found, too many deeply buried secrets; some of which I was even aware of beforehand. To tell the truth, the first thing I did after arriving back home once the date ended and I dropped off that youngster, was to make a call to one of my contacts in the Hierarchy. And they answered. The Normandy is being built as we speak, and its crew is slowly being picked out from the best among the Alliance. Any other details my contact didn't know, but it was enough."

She paused yet again, but this time it seemed more like she was collecting herself rather than doing so for my sake. When she looked back up at the screen, her expression was determined if nothing else. "But that's unimportant at the moment. For now, I have many things to share with you about my abilities and resources, and you in turn have many things to learn about what it means to be an Ardat-Yakshi. I saw your memories and feelings on them, you know. And as such, I believe I should explain something: the… urge we feel; the drive to bond with other sapient beings in spite of the fact we know it kills them. It's not a sadistic thing; not in my case anyway. The reason I do it is… well, as strange as it may sound, because I'm lonely. Each person I bond with gives me a part of their personality, a part of their soul you could say; hence why Ardat-Yakshi don't bond with just anyone, but rather those they find especially attractive or interesting. And while yes, many of our kind do act and have similar motivations to that 'Morinth' when allowed to roam free, many more prefer a… subtler path to hiding among the asari populace and choosing their prey."

"Oh wow, whaddya know: so they are just fancier space vampires, and shocker, you're also a sociopath. Wonderful…" I muttered, rolling my eyes, but nonetheless quieted when the recording continued.

"I happen to be one of those latter kind, and do a basic amount of research on whoever I chose for a potential bond. Take the person you and I woke up next to on that first day: she was a local college student that was slowly going downhill in her classes and was afraid of losing her scholarship, and rather than try and improve, she went and got addicted to a number of drugs to relieve her stress and the eventual depression that formed later on. A true pity considering how promising she was before then, and how much her friends complimented her on her ingenuity and creativity. On and on this downward spiral went, until there were concerns she'd commit suicide; she'd even started researching drugs that could result in a painless death via overdose, according to a campus mind healer that talked to her on a few occasions. But, suddenly, this poor, depressed, drug addicted and suicidal young girl is found by a 'random passerby' and whisked away, where she's allowed to have a day filled with levels of luxury most only dream of; and given the night of a lifetime with someone that would normally be so far out of her social reach she would only be able to have fantasies about such a thing." She paused yet again, "waiting" on me.

"Wow. Egotistical, a sociopath, and you like to dress up murder as a philanthropic kindness to the downtrodden. Next you'll tell me about a secret room in the mansion's basement with a coffin inside of it, and that we're allergic to garlic," I muttered followed by a snort. On a whim I opened my mouth and used my right hand to feel my teeth. "Hmm, none of them are pointier than usual, but maybe they're retractable…"

Seemingly satisfied that she'd given me enough time to take it in, the original went on. "I don't think I need to explain what happened next."

"You got that right, you wannabe bloodsucker! You fucked her brains out! Literally! Ah, but what a way to go!" I told the recording jokingly in a tone just below a yell, feeling a bit hysterical at the moment but not caring in the least, missing some of what she said as a result.

"-which is why I bought a significant portion of shares in their company and arranged for you to have your first official meeting as part of their executive board a human week from today on Noveria."

Wait, say what now?

"You need to learn more about being a corporate leader; and according to your memories, having some influence there will most certainly be useful in the coming days. And while I'd prefer going there and handling it myself, the odds of that happening will be highly unlikely – never mind the reasons I mentioned earlier about why I won't attempt taking control unless you give it to me – which is why I eventually decided on a relatively minor meeting like this as a trial run to see how you do."

Hold up. Stop. Go back like seven or eight sentences; I missed the actually important part!

Looking for the rewind option, I was rather annoyed when the only button I could see on my omni-tool that wasn't the one to close the vid just opened up a second screen to the left of the first, showing the search bar for the asari version of "definitely-not-space-Google." Cursing under my breath, I kept looking for the right button even as the recording went on.

"I'm sure you'll be able to handle it without issue; after all, even if there are a few very obvious differences, in the end you are still me. Also, in preparation for your venturing to potentially dangerous planets and locations, especially those in the 'plotline' of the 'games', I had Aena compile a list of weapons manufacturers for you to chose from for, unsurprisingly I know, your weapons. I hope you use what wisdom you have when deciding on who to pick. Oh and one other thing: when I dropped Ceora off at her home, while she was still sleeping no less, I promised her mother I'd be back later tomorrow – which should be today, for you – to apologize to both of them for allowing the date to go the way it did. She was very understanding, all things considered, but I'd strongly suggest buying something for her to drink as a peace offering. Perhaps a good bottle of ryncol from a nearby importer considering her heritage; Aena should have the details for where to find them."

"Wait, no, go back; I still don't know who or what I'm meeting with on Noveria!" I said frantically, now reduced to using "definitely-not-space-Google" to look up how to rewind a vid on an omni-tool message, only to be increasingly angered as I got thousands of results on how exactly to do such a thing thanks to the thousands of omni-tool interfaces that existed on the market; and yet not a single one was my interface.

"Well, that should be everything important for now. This message will delete itself in fifteen seconds."

"SAY WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry if you wanted to keep this for whatever reason, I truly am, but if someone managed to hack into our omni-tool and see this message, both of us would be in extreme danger; either they'd take it straight to the authorities, or they'd use it as blackmail to bleed our savings dry. So, goodbye for now, Miri. I hope someday soon we can properly meet each other." And with that the screen went black, and a second later I got a notification telling me the message was permanently deleted.

Feeling my left eye twitch at the blank screen, I calmly got up, walked out of my bedroom, went into the garage and closed the door behind me and locked it. I also made sure to go as far away from the cars as possible. That taken care of I took in a deep breath, releasing it a second later…

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUU-"

To be continued… no really, next chapter picks up just after where this cuts off. If I'm being honest, I feel a little embarrassed about this one. See, I wanted to make this one big chapter so that it'd cover all I wanted it to, but, well… I instead got a sizeable head start on the next chapter, similar to what happened with the last two chapters (though where in that scenario I had the second one already written, I still have quite a bit more to go with the next chapter here). I blame the final editing phase for giving me the idea. Oh and before anyone asks: yes, the SI has a slight case of anger management issues. What will that mean in the future you ask? We shall see…

If you have any questions or concerns, be sure to leave a review or PM me; I'm always willing to discuss any issues you might find in my content. Now if you just want to say how much you enjoyed it, well… then review in that scenario too. My ego loves getting stroked, and it may inspire me to write even faster; you never know.

Anyway, that should be everything. Next chapter: well, it'd spoil the fun if I told you, so stay tuned my wonderful audience! I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!