*****A Cursed Existence*****
Entry 7: So Much For My Vacation
AN: Yeah, I got nothin'. REVIEWS!
sniperbro1998: …I can't answer either of those as it would be spoiling, which in itself is an answer depending on how you look at it. Would give an actual answer via PMs, but you're a guest, so I can't, sorry.
Prometheus-777: So, I think this is obvious, don't you? [Covered in a PM]
Tom712: Why thank you! What a great review! The emotion; the length; oh, and the details about what you like most! Why if this is an example of your normal reviews, I can't believe my luck-oh wait, sorry, wrong response. Ignore all that. Yes, I think it's nice too.
Huh. Still can't think of anything to say. Well, here's the chapter I guess.
December 1st, 2182, 12:27 pm EST. (45 minutes later)
After taking a nice, long, relaxing bath in my hot tub, I went back downstairs with a clear head; though I made a note for Aena to have the cleaning/repair drones scrub a corner of the garage and fix a few dents. Omni-gel is a wonderful thing, you see; it can repair all manner of structural damage, from cracks, to holes, to being dissolved on an atomic level from unfocused biotics. Yes sir, omni-gel is a wonderful thing indeed…
Whistling a random tune – one of dozens I may have heard all of a single time in my entire life, and yet somehow managed to stick with me for years, albeit with a number of changes from the original – I strolled into the kitchen looking for my resident VI manservant… okay, that sounds too demeaning; let's instead just call her my robot butler. Yeah, that sounds better; I mean who doesn't want one of those, right?
Looking around the room, I frowned when the VI in question wasn't there.
Well, it has been a while since I went upstairs. She probably started work on one of her various chores.
"Aena!" I called out, now walking into the living room. A second later one of the office doors slid open, and out popped the VI's ever glowing head, similar in appearance to a Looney Toons character I noted with amusement; the angle I had on the room's doorway not letting me see the rest of her body.
"Yes, Mistress V'Seila?"
"If you could come to the dining room, I have a few things I need to discuss with you."
"Of course Mistress! I will leave my file sorting task for later then."
File sorting? Why would… no, not really important; probably has something to do with being my personal assistant. Huh. Sounds an awful lot like a secretary, if you ask me.
Shelving the thought for now I focused on the present, nodding at the VI. "Yes, you can do that later; this can't wait, unfortunately," I responded before turning around and heading for my most definitely cold meal in the dining room. I didn't mind. I was hungry enough that the food's temperature didn't really matter.
"Oh, and Mistress!" Aena said after I started walking, and I paused and turned around again. At my gesture to continue she did so. "A small package arrived while you were unavailable. It was deemed important, and a cursory scan confirmed it was harmless, so I placed it next to your meal on the dining room table."
Tilting my head questioningly and blinking, I eventually just shrugged; while odd, if she said it was harmless, then what could it be? My curiosity was piqued. "Thank you Aena," was all I said, once more turning around and walking towards the dining room. Judging by the surprisingly light footsteps I could hear from behind my back (though I had a feeling I wouldn't even hear that if she was so inclined,) Aena was following me into the aforementioned room, diligent as ever when complying with my direct orders.
Now back in the dining room I glanced over at my usual seat by the table, naturally being the one that gave the best view of the lake, and the small metal box on said table next to my food. It was gunmetal grey and about the same size as the box a newly purchased watch or phone would typically be in: roughly three inches wide, two inches tall, and four or five long. My curiosity increased even further at seeing its strange yet fascinating pattern of black artistic swirls, and I went over and picked it up, turning it around in my palm to get a better look at it.
"Perfectly seamless… no visible cracks or openings…" I muttered, impressed at the design. "I can't even find where the lid is, or if it even has a lid."
Noticing a spot in the swirls that looked reminiscent of a fingerprint, I pressed my thumb against it on a hunch. This hunch turned out to be correct, as the "top" of the box seemingly folded in on itself from the center outwards in a fairly remarkable display, even when compared to what I'd seen of technology in the "future" thus far. The inside was lined with a black colored, soft, velvet-like material, and the actual object held in the box was something I recognized fairly quickly: a thin wristband matching the icy blue of my skin so perfectly that I could easily not even notice I was wearing it, with a series of tiny, hard to spot holes scattered throughout the device; whether for an actual reason or mere artistic value, I didn't know.
"An omni-tool… a very, very nicely made omni-tool. I don't recognize the model though…" I trailed off in thought, pulling the thin band out of the box; and only then did I notice a small, neatly folded up slip of paper on the very bottom of said box.
Placing the remarkably well-crafted device on the table, I pulled the paper slip out and unfolded it. Seeing the English lettering surprised me a little at first – over the past few weeks I'd gotten used to the wavy and near artistic letters preferred by asari – and the fact it was in excellently hand-written cursive surprised me even further; but regardless, I saw how it was made in the style of a note and read it aloud in a mutter. "'Dear Miri, I hope you appreciate this reward for finally discovering who you are. May it help whenever you feel homesick in this strange new world. Oh, and I'd suggest putting it on your right arm instead of your left. You'll thank me in the future. Ever watching, A.'"
I blinked at the strange wording, the emphasis on the initial at the end being particularly unusual… and for a reason I couldn't initially figure out, rather worrying.
That… doesn't make much sense… Who could've sent this? The wording was just plain disconcerting, almost as if whoever wrote it knew everything about my recent circumstances… wait. A. I don't know anyone with just that for their initials… except… Agatha. No… it couldn't be…
My levels of paranoia shooting up to 11, I warily looked at the icy blue omni-tool; now believing I understood why everything about it and the box it came in screamed "strange." Nevertheless, my feelings of paranoia aside, I decided to at least turn it on before deciding what to do with it; finding a convenient button on its exterior surface that'd allow me to do just that if my intuition was right. Going off of the sudden bright blue screen that popped up above the 'tool, I'd say it was.
"Welcome Miri!" were the bold white words on the screen written in English, and more specifically, also in cursive; as if to make it seem even fancier. Fortunately, after a few seconds the screen switched to the normal omni-tool interface I'd become used to, albeit with all the words in English and not High Thessian, the latter being the closest thing the asari have to their standard language. And also fortunately – though this was mainly due to how rarely I'd used cursive even before being dropped into an alien body on an alien world – everything after the welcome screen was in print rather than cursive, which just made it plain easier to read.
Looking at the screen, I found myself staring in confusion when I saw how there were only two apps to pick: Settings and Music. Figuring I could always go over the settings later, I picked the second option… and was greeted by multiple playlists already sorted and named. What made that so special you may ask? They were my playlists. My playlists. Actually, really, mine. Roughly 600 different songs in total, ranging from classical music like Tchaikovsky and Chopin, to the few pieces of rock I found worth listening to (I've always been picky like that.)
Scrolling through my favorites, a particular song caught my eye that should by all rights not exist in this universe: Leaving Earth, part of the Mass Effect 3 soundtrack. It was, quite possibly, the most memorable piece of music from the entire franchise. And for good reason: this was the song that played as the Normandy came down to evacuate Shepard… with the city of London being turned into a hellscape in the background by the Reapers. A future that may very well still happen unless things drastically change for the better…
Hesitating for a moment as I thought of the song and what it represented in the games, that being the arrival of the most genocidal race of AI in galactic history bar none, maybe secretly hoping that this was all just a figment of my imagination and I was still asleep, I pressed play. I made it all the way to the first "Reaper horn" before I paused it, followed by just staring at the 'tool blankly; too many emotions running through my head to track. Eventually I just took in and released a breath, shaking my head to similarly shake me out of my current state. "Come on, get it together; it's just music from home. Remember: try and control yourself. Losing that control at every little thing that happens isn't going to help anyone, least of all me."
Standing up I then remembered that I had an audience, so I switched the "reward" omni-tool off and then turned to my robot butler… ok, scratch that; actually saying it makes it sound ridiculous. I turned toward my VI assistant awkwardly. "So. Aena. Regarding what you just heard…" I trailed off when I noticed the blank expression on Aena's face, her usual glow gone and eyes not focused on anything in front of her. "Aena?" I asked her, starting to get a little worried. "Aena!"
That finally managed to do the trick, as she blinked (and no, I don't know why her body would have that function either) and seemed to reboot: taking a quick glance around at her surroundings before focusing on me, frowning slightly and furrowing her brow; her glow a pale green all the while, the color indicating her confusion. "Mistress? I apologize, but I seem to have experienced an unscheduled shutdown. Do you want me to conduct a system scan to locate the cause for this shutdown?"
Blinking at the statement, I was about to tell her to do just that… when I noticed both the note and the case the omni-tool came in were simply gone.
"What the… when did that happen?" I mumbled in confusion, when an idea struck me. "Aena, can you bring up the mansion's security footage for this room over the past two minutes?"
Switching from confused green to happy blue, she smiled at me and answered, "I can, Mistress. One moment please." Around five seconds passed before she frowned again, her glow once more a pale green. "That's strange. There is a two minute, thirty-seven second gap in the recording; which coincides with my unscheduled shutdown, and also with when you, Mistress, picked up the package." Looking at the spot on the table where the blue omni-tool lay, she tilted her head in confusion, and if anything the pale green glow intensified. "Did you already open the package, Mistress?"
"I did, yeah…" I answered, now staring at the same spot she was.
"Then where is the package itself? Did you discard it while I was deactivated?"
"No. No I didn't. And I don't know myself…" saying this I again turned to face Aena, seeing her glow flash repeatedly between pale green and pale yellow. Confusion and concern, I remembered, having spent the first two weeks matching the colors to her simulated mood. Whoever designed her personality and expression matrix was a damn genius, because sometimes I honestly forgot I was talking to an emotionless VI rather than a living person.
"If you wish, I shall investigate the manor's security servers for any recorded breaches in their firewalls."
Taking a moment to think it over I eventually just shook my head in the negative – it was strange how many gestures of that nature were also prevalent in other species in the ME-verse, but I never cared enough to try and find out why. "No, that won't be necessary; I believe I know what happened. Besides which – and this isn't me downplaying your abilities, far from it in fact – I doubt you'd find anything out of the ordinary other than the footage being gone."
A moment came and went where Aena just stood there, seemingly wanting to say more but not doing so; and after a few seconds passed I just shook myself and decided to try and move on from the topic. "If you have any further questions, they can be answered at a later date. For now, I need to get a few details from you regarding the changes to my schedule, as well as certain information requests that I made yesterday and… forgot about. Also, I'll need you to drive me to my usual foreign goods importer, and aid me in finding and purchasing a bottle of ryncol; and not the synthetic stuff either, I mean the real, genuine, straight-from-Tuchanka, krogan made ryncol. Think you can do that for me?"
Now that we were discussing something less downright strange, Aena's glow shifted to her normal bright and happy blue, and she smiled pleasantly. "I can indeed, Mistress. When would you like to leave?"
"As soon as I'm done with my meal." A sudden gust of cool air on my back reminded me of an important fact I'd forgotten until now, and I had to force down the embarrassment I felt at not remembering such a detail. "And as soon as I get dressed in something besides just my underwear. In the meantime, you can explain and remind me of the details for those topics I mentioned."
Aena nodded and, doing a quick calculation (emphasis on quick,) she then sent my omni-tool – as in the one I didn't just receive from an otherworldly god-like being – a large and most likely detailed message without her body even moving. She is a VI, after all. "What would you like to know first? I compiled a thorough list of the 50 best reviewed unaffiliated arms manufacturers and independent gunsmiths from the surrounding clusters, ranked by reliability and quality; and the changes to your meeting schedule were finished while you slept. I also searched for and found the relevant information articles regarding the native to Earth human animals 'dogs' and, as per your instructions after your arrival here last night, 'cats' and their biological compatibility with asari dominated environments. Following that, I ordered the custom creation and subsequent delivery of two human 'genuine cowhide' leather coats from a purportedly renown human clothing company. The information on the human animals is in the data packet already transferred to your omni-tool, and the coats shall arrive here in two local days, barring any unforeseen delays; the company that was contracted to make them guarantees a full money back policy in case the transport vessel is intercepted by marauding organic waste byproducts, otherwise labeled 'pirates'."
Blinking at the… unexpected additional news, I only then remembered that I did indeed tell her to do all that before I left for the date yesterday. A moment later and I was smiling to myself at having done so.
Personal assistant indeed! And to think that I only sent her that message on a whim. Ahhhh, genuine leather; I can feel the quality already! Hmm… though I wonder if they're going to be modeled like the classic Indiana Jones' one or Arnold's coat from Terminator, or maybe even something completely new… I wonder… should I buy an outfit like Selene's from Underworld, or is that too close to what asari prostitutes wear? Then again, commandos have those leathers of theirs that seem fairly skintight from what I remember… bah! I'll just wait until they arrive before making any further decisions on the leather front.
Nodding to myself, though still privately anticipating the coats' arrival, I thought on the rest of what she said, soon determining what I wanted to know first. "Alright, let's start with the… wait, what did you say about me telling you to look up cats as well after I came back home?"
Flashing pale green for a moment and blinking, Aena answered me, "Soon after your return here, you told me to do a number of things, one of which being the addition to your initial message from earlier to research 'cats' just as thoroughly as I did 'dogs'. Did I make a mistake and misinterpret your orders, Mistress? If so, I duly apologize and will strive not to repeat such a mistake," as she said this her glow changed to a deep purple, it being her 'apologetic color', and she looked down at her feet as if unworthy to meet my gaze.
Chuckling to myself at the honest question and almost amusing levels of sheer devotion she showed – programming has certainly improved from my day and age – I waved it off. "No, no, not at all. I just had trouble recalling what happened after the date ended and wanted you to clarify what you meant by it," I told the VI, or more accurately, my VI, and she switched back to her usual bright blue and happy smiles as a result.
So, Miri… guess you liked the idea of owning a cat. What did it for you: the lovable cuddliness, the colorful fur patterns… or the higher than average intelligence and predatory instincts? Or was it a combination of all four? I asked mentally, thinking about the biggest shit-eating grin possible, unsure what would happen. The result and answer was an impression of a huff and someone being unwilling to look me in the eyes.
Ah. It was all four wasn't it? Thought so.
Ever been silently glared at, then pouted at, while inside your own mind, by yourself? No? Let me tell you then: it's a weird feeling, that. Then again, I've always had the habit of talking to myself to stave off either boredom or loneliness… suppose the only difference now is that I'm actually talking to myself.
Getting back to the issues at hand, and promising myself to read through the pet information later in the day, I again thought over what I wanted to know. While doing this I also took a bite out of the second helping of – now cold, sadly yet expectedly – toast on my plate. "Now then, where were we… Let's start with the changes to my schedule. For instance: who will I be meeting with on Noveria?"
I swear I could see the gears turning in Aena's mechanical head as she brought up the information, simultaneously highlighting it on my omni's screen, in spite of the fact I still had it "off."
Okay… I have the sudden urge to learn how to do that to other people's omni-tools… strange, near magical techno wizardry is cool now; though I guess if I ever want to effectively use my tech mines and armor, never mind the omni-blade itself, I'd first need to learn how. Do I want to create the custom class Sentinel Adept? Yes please!
The brief period of imagining myself covered by thick, glowing brilliant gold or sapphire blue armor plates while crushing cars and buildings with my mind was interrupted – very rudely, I might add! – by Aena continuing her explanation. "As displayed, and using standard human time and calendar for ease of coordination as you requested, you now have a meeting with the Synthetic Insights' representative of Noveria at precisely 12 pm on December 8th in Port Hanshan. Also, the messages you sent asking for a meeting with a representative of both ExoGeni and Binary Helix while you are on Noveria have been confirmed: ExoGeni for 3 pm on the 9th, and Binary Helix for 10 am on the 10th; both also in Port Hanshan." She paused then, waiting for my response.
…I feel that those names should be important, but for the life of me I can't quite remember why…
A moment passed before it was like a fog was lifted, and images and audio (otherwise known as memories) from over half a year ago, as in the last time I played through Mass Effect, were suddenly made available in vivid detail; even down to the mediocre graphics that were the peak of performance from my poor man's laptop. Alongside these memories was a feeling of smugness and superiority, as if it was "I told you so" personified, and I had a pretty good idea as to where it came from. However, as I was honestly having problems remembering them, I was willing to give credit where credit was due.
Uh… ok, wow. Thank you for helping, Miri; it is very much so appreciated.
You know that smug feeling I mentioned? Well now I could feel a part of myself preening at the compliment, shifting from "I told you so" to "But of course!" as if this was only to be expected.
Oh really? So not only are you an egotist, a sociopath, a mass murderer and a business tycoon, now you're a… what's that Japanese term? Dere… dere… yandere I think? Or was it tsundere? One of those, right?
Predictably, I received no further help in remembering things after that, and the only feeling I got was one of being glared at.
Fine, be that way. Though I should probably learn myself how to recall stuff like this using asari memory bullshit, shouldn't I?
I received no response. Apparently, I'd annoyed me… other me? Original me? No, that makes it sound like I'm just some copy of the previous Miri… ah to hell with it. I'd annoyed her enough to where she was remaining silent (or at least, no longer sending any "impressions") for the moment.
Now that that little diversion was over with, and I thoroughly remembered the details about the three different corporations, each of which having played a role in the games, I mentally ticked them off.
Let's see: Binary Helix is the Rachni Queen, Peak 15, and Saren and Benezia. Synthetic Insights is Lorik Qui'in, the garage pass and the scandal that can remove Administrator Anoleis. And last but certainly not least: ExoGeni, which is Feros, the Thorian, and everything else related to that mess. So I now have the opportunity to involve myself in two of the campaign missions for the first game when the time comes… even though I specifically wanted to avoid messing with the first game's timeline… You know what Miri? Go fuck yourself, and I mean that with all it entails.
She apparently didn't deign that worth a response, which suited me just fine.
Focusing back on Aena, her having stood patiently by while I thought it over, I nodded. I then took several large bites out of the second and final piece of toast on my plate, the bread soggy but still tasty irregardless. "Alright, thank you for telling me. Now then, what about those weapons makers?"
"Would you like to hear all 50 of them, starting from the one least predicted to be to your preferences?"
Thinking it over, I frowned. "No, I can look those over later just to be sure. For now just show me the top 10, I'll decide from there."
As requested, a moment later saw ten of the several dozen business names separated and moved to another screen, while the remaining 40 and the screen they were on shrunk down.
Okay, I REALLY want to learn how to do that now. Something to study in my spare time I suppose. Anyway, let's see here…
Looking over the various names and brands, I soon arrived at a conundrum: I had no idea who, or rather, what these companies were, as not a single one was in the games.
I mean… I know she said "independent" and "unaffiliated" but this is just ridiculous! Nathax Grur's Shooting Shop and Gun Maker? Alimora Conglomerate Munitions Foundry? Haliens' Battle Gear? Just… huh?! Oh look, a human one! *phew* Combine Weaponry… well, points off for the boring name; I mean combine what exactly? Makes no sense! But… *sigh* at least it's in fucking English…
Opening the file attached to the business' name, I saw the relevant information displayed at the top, like how long ago the company was founded; the company's motto (if they have one that is;) the founder; current owner, whether it be a single person, multiple, or another, larger corporation; and, of course, the company logo at the bottom right of the screen.
Alright then, founded on… November 7th, 2182? Huh. Certainly new to the world of business then. But, Aena must've had a reason for placing them in the top 10, so may as well keep going. Company motto… "Combine Weaponry: We combine the new with the old, the strange, and the innovative." Oooook. Not sure if they were trying to be clever or something, but at least that explains the name. Oh, and it looks like the founder and owner are one and the same. Ben Calvert. Hmm, sounds similar to some noble of old I read about a few months ago, but I suppose he wasn't the only Calvert to ever exist; I mean how many Smith's or Anderson's are there? Heck, even here in Mass Effect you have David Anderson, but before coming here I personally met people belonging to three different Anderson families, so the same rule should apply to Calvert. Still – wait a second.
Looking at the owner's name more closely, I noticed this time around what my first examination didn't catch. How could I have missed that? It's not Ben Calvert, it's… Ben'Calvert vas Tasi? A quarian? With a name like that? Odd… very odd indeed…
Shrugging it off, though privately wondering if there was a story behind it, I "scrolled" down the webpage – or whatever they were called now. It didn't take me much longer to find what I was looking for: the actual weapons on sale.
No idea; no idea; no idea; my memory could be better, but I'm fairly certain I've never seen any of these in the games… then again, they do seem a little makeshift. Maybe he has to build them from scratch… which makes me wonder why the hell I'd want to buy any of his guns in the first place. Aena, don't fail me now…
I kept going until I found a vid clip, apparently a demonstration for one of the guns. The quarian, a male as expected and who I assumed was the owner, his suit black and dark grey, visor a light and hazy blue, was holding what looked like an assault rifle with a few very… questionable design features. Like, say, for example, the barrel only extending around four inches out from where the trigger was, or having a large hole smack dab in the center of the gun where the barrel just cut off, while also attaching an obnoxiously large something on the front that looked like a grenade launcher… except it was lined up with the tiny barrel; the monstrosity also had what I could only guess was a tubular grip, likewise obnoxiously large, attached underneath it where a grenade launcher was supposed to go.
I don't need to be a gunsmith to know that that design is highly impractical… *sigh* but, as they say, never judge a book by its cover. Besides, if it comes down to it and the gun explodes in my face, and I survive, I can just get a real gun from one of the major manufacturers and buy this guy's business out from under him… or maybe find a way to tear said business down and burn its wreckage with him still inside for selling me something that faulty…
Shaking my head to clear away the invasive and strangely violent thoughts, and also wondering where, exactly, they came from, I finally decided to stop insulting the man's Frankenstein gun and just play the clip.
"Thank you for thinking about purchasing-" he started his sales pitch, making me blink for a second when it was made in unaccented (to my American ears, anyway) English rather than the usual heavily accented way most quarians spoke no matter the language; and I just sighed and resisted the urge to rub my brows at potentially being forced to sit through the full video.
Fine, I'll just wait this out and… hold on a second… are those fast forward and rewind buttons I see? Blinking again, I tuned out the quarian's rambling in favor of examining the newly appeared options on the bottom left corner of the vid screen. Tapping the left one resulted in the vid rewinding at a steady pace, and I watched it go in silence, my mouth opening slightly in mild shock. They fucking are… so Miri actually removed those buttons for her recording… why that utter bitch…
Shockingly (not) I felt the impression of snickering in the back of my mind, and I growled lowly in response.
"Is something the matter, Mistress?" Aena asked me, and only then did I realize that I had audibly growled.
"Er, no, it's nothing," was my answer, and I went back to paying attention to the vid, noting it had rewound itself back to the start and was paused there. "Alrighty… now that I know this works, let's skip all the unnecessary crap and self advertisement and get to the actual demonstration…"
Fast forwarding past the first part, I kept going for a few more seconds, right up until the quarian finally pulled out the gun he was holding in the thumbnail, or whatever aliens called it; I'm human on the inside, dammit, so I'll call it what I remember it as.
"-the design is actually very modular, with removable iron sights in case of HUD failure or simply not having a HUD, and-"
"Ok, skip, I can watch it in full later; I want to see it in action so I can determine if I'm buying it or not, not learn how to make it myself…" I muttered, fast forwarding it again until the camera view switched to a small shooting range, three pairs of dented targets sitting at the opposite end. The quarian was still holding the mutant gun, but now he was adding what looked like some sort of cylinder into the part of the gun that should've been a grenade launcher. "Was that a battery? Looked like a battery… probably something he mentioned in his ten minute lecture…"
"And here we have the basic 'Three Target System', in line with standard Citadel range conditions. Now please: observe."
Finally!
The quarian then raised the rifle to his shoulder, aimed downrange at the leftmost target, and fired it in several quick, three round bursts; bright, purple tinted specks shooting out from the barrel. The target on the receiving end, meanwhile, had large chunks of it seemingly erased with every burst fired, making me gape.
"That's the fire mode best suited for unarmored and unshielded opponents. The easily replaced and removable underslung power cell, as demonstrated, automatically added the 'warp ammo' effect to every shot due to it being in burst setting; and it of course also drastically increased the speed and stopping power of each round when they passed through the variable eezo coil," he said, gesturing to the huge thing mounted where the real barrel should've been, it being in front of the pistol sized barrel, but on the other side of the gap in the middle. "Now for the second target."
Paying much more attention than before, I watched as he flicked a switch just above the rifle's grip and a second one on the "variable eezo coil," followed by again putting the rifle against his shoulder and taking aim. This time, rather than the controlled bursts, he let loose one long and constant stream of rounds, said rounds (for the brief time they could be seen anyway) an electric blue in color. The target, which was apparently shielded, held up all of half a second before the rounds tore into it; though instead of eating parts of it away as before, only half of them penetrated once the shield was down, while the other half left even further dents in the already abused target.
"As you can clearly see, while not as good as burst fire and warp ammo at damaging soft targets, full auto and disruptor ammo are excellent at dealing with shields and, while perhaps not quite as important, the circuitry of automated turrets, drones and mechs. To attain such a high fire rate, however, the eezo coil reduced the power of each shot to counteract heat issues, and the power cell is instead put to use operating an advanced coolant system lining both the barrel and coil. Now for the final target."
Again flicking the pair of switches, he took aim on the only remaining target; Armor, unless my memory was mistaken. Instead of a burst or rapid fire, he fired a single shot… and made a two inch hole in the target's "head." A second shot made a similar hole on the left side of its chest, right where a heart would be on a human, and he repeated the process on the right side as well. When he went to fire a fourth round, however, a series of three low-pitched beeps came from the gun, and the battery he put in at the start popped out from the bottom tube by a couple inches, small wafts of steam coming from it. Acting like nothing was wrong, the quarian carefully pulled the battery out and placed it on a nearby table, still holding the rifle.
"Unfortunately, single fire and armor piercing ammo are the most power consumptive, so you should keep an eye on your battery level when using that firing mode; however, when fully charged, a single battery can last for up to 14 rounds before needing replacement. Just be sure to allow a short moment between shots for the battery to cool down unless you're willing to possibly damage it in exchange for a brief increase in fire rate. But, in case of emergencies…" he pressed a series of buttons and switches around the grip with his left hand, and within seconds what seemed to be a positively gutted Shuriken SMG came out of the frame, looking like it was just a barrel, trigger and grip held together only through gratuitous use of omni-gel, "it can still be used for three to four shots before overheating; however, it should be noted that to save on weight, only the rifle frame itself has a built-in cooling system, so any attempt to fire more than four shots from the emergency weapon is not recommended."
He then put the thing that could charitably be called a pistol back in the rifle's frame, followed by picking up another, fresh battery and placing it in the underslung tube, making sure to display the now once more fully functional instrument of death. "This model is the Elite variant of the design and uses more advanced targeting systems and lighter, higher quality materials, though the cost can be prohibitive for the average consumer; while the Common variant replaces the armor piercing and warp ammo with incendiary ammo, and uses more standard materials that don't stand up as well in combat trials, never mind almost doubling the weight, but is far more affordable, and just as versatile as the Elite variant. I am currently in the process of designing a second weapon that incorporates many of these design features, but if you wish an early model of it-" pausing the vid, I turned to Aena with what had to have been an utterly unreadable expression on my face.
"Aena, out of curiosity, how exactly did you find this quarian?"
I don't know if it was my completely flat tone or the expression that did it, but Aena actually looked surprised; not answering immediately while her blue glow died down for a moment, her expression matching my own in how emotionless it was. She soon recovered however, her glow returning to its usual vibrant color and smiling; and I did my best not to show any change in expression at having found out that yes, I can in fact cause my own damn VI to have a small system crash just by acting as robotically as possible.
I found this fact very much so amusing after all.
"Combine Weaponry's reviewers, while few in number, have all given the company's products high ratings, regardless of race; though most of their customers are quarians according to the Citadel Bureau of Accurate Product Review. But, after going through a third party group who claimed to have purchased Combine Weaponry munitions, I learned that they are actually just as effective as the reviewers claim them to be."
The Citadel who and what and where now? Um… ok, I'm… I'm just going to pretend I know what that is and move on.
Aena continued after a beat when I made it clear I had no intention of saying anything. "A noted issue the third party had with their assault rifles, all of them Common variants, is that the overly complicated nature of the rifles has the potential of causing problems while in the field with untrained or poorly trained wielders. Another potential issue is that due to the unique construction process," otherwise known as being hand built from scratch, "replacement parts are difficult to come by, especially in the case of the coolant system being ruptured."
"I see," was all I responded with, deep in thought.
Hmm… odds are that the reason it hasn't sold more is because it's a quarian doing the selling; well, that or no one wants to switch to a new weapons design considering the old, reliable heat sinks are still around. Never did understand why thermal clips became so popular so quickly in-universe. I mean the galaxy's a big place; surely someone out there kept the old model guns and never made the switch, right? I know I wouldn't; improved fire rate or not, once you're out of thermal clips, you're out. And even if you can let them cool off after an hour or so, they gradually decrease in heat capacity with every use; comes with being built to be disposable. At least with heat sinks you only need to wait a few seconds for it to cool itself down, and then you're back in the fight as good as new.
"Is something the matter, Mistress?" Aena asked, flashing pale yellow in concern.
"I'm fine, I'm fine…" I waved her off, before snapping my fingers, shooting up out of my seat and grinning, my sudden change in behavior making the poor VI blink. "I've got it! Buy three guns of both variants; take two of each and use one for running combat tests, one for spare parts and to see how it's put together, and the final one as a control group to compare to the ones used in the tests so we can figure out how long they last while in use."
Switching back to blue, she gave me a nod, "Yes Mistress, the order has already been placed."
"Good. Oh and while you're at it, see about buying the most effective e-war and antivirus hardware and software upgrades for yourself; either military grade or better, even reproduced Prothean tech if it's available, price isn't an issue. If we're going to Noveria, we'll both need to be at peak condition."
I swear, her blue was bright enough at that that I had to squint to see her face. "Of course Mistress! I will be sure to purchase only the best!"
Was that… excitement? Huh. Well, VIs are capable of imitating emotional inflection from what I remember, and she's certainly a good example of that. Anyway, there's still the final issue that needs handling…
Not wanting to say anything else to Aena at the moment, I sat down again, focused on my remaining food and scarfed it down, noting when I finished that it was enough to satisfy my hunger. Looking to the right of my plate, I was reminded about the "gift" I'd received, and making a snap judgement I slipped it onto my right wrist. Perfect fit, I thought absently, finding that I was right with my earlier assessment regarding how it was a near flawless match to my skin tone, only showing up as an easy to miss bulge going around my wrist.
That taken care of, I saw that Aena still remained standing behind me; so I turned to her, suppressed a burp that threatened to come out thanks to my recent meal, and nodded decisively. "Right then, I'm going to get dressed now. As I said earlier, you'll be driving me to my foreign goods importer, and following that, a residential district that I'll give you the location of. Oh and I want to take Quicksilver instead of Flash for this trip."
Aena nodded back at me, and dismissing her with a gesture I made my way towards the stairs. I made it a whole three steps before pausing to think about what exactly I'd just said.
Quicksilver and Flash? Huh? Wait… silver… the luxury sedan? So that must mean Flash is… seriously? The super fast exotic sports car? What, were you going through a montage of ancient human pop culture TV shows when you were naming them?
All I got in answer was a sort of "Hmph!" impression. At least that was the only term I could think of that described it, anyway.
Deciding to avoid antagonizing my asari passenger – or is she the hostess, and I'm the passenger? – any further, I went back to my current goal of getting dressed. Because while I'm sure it wouldn't exactly hurt my interactions with other asari (or anyone in general, really; asari are one of those rare exceptions where everyone finds them attractive) if I went around dressed like an underwear model on her way to a shoot, I'd like to avoid the stares, thank you very much. I already got enough of those as is during my two relatively brief excursions into the outside world.
I just hope Ceora's mom isn't the shoot first, talk later type… then again, she came off more like Liara's dad, Aethyta, than anything else, so I should be fine… as long as Ceora didn't take the way the date ended too badly, that is… I swear, every time I try and get involved with a girl, nothing good comes of it. Maybe I'm just meant to be a loner…
Just after having this somewhat depressing thought, in the process of walking into my bedroom and heading for the clothes closet, I felt… something being sent my way from the, er, other me. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but the best way I can describe it is agreement, understanding, apology and weary acceptance all rolled into one.
Heh. Guess I'm not the only one with relationship issues, am I? I thought, smiling wistfully at the reminder that, where I'd never had a serious relationship before, for close to four centuries now Miri wasn't even allowed the option of having one. It put things in perspective to say the least.
One person that's never experienced romantic attachment in their life, another that has to avoid it entirely for their sanity's sake. And because some mysterious jackass with nigh on godly powers wanted to be entertained, he, she, or they decided to make these two people one and the same just a few years prior to a galactic extinction level event. And to think I used to believe my life was simple…
I didn't get a response for a moment, and so I kept on walking. Opening the closet door though, I then received the perfect memory of a scene from a movie I hadn't watched in close to a decade now, said memory making me huff and grin in amusement at how apt it was for my current situation.
"Nope. We're definitely not in Kansas anymore…"
Woof… well, that's done I suppose. Is it weird that this feels like it's a lot longer than it truly is? Maybe it's because of all I managed to fit into it without it ending up being twice its current size… Anyway, multiple things happening here all at once, so good luck in finding all the various hints dropped. Still debating where, and more importantly, when to start the next chapter, so don't be too surprised if I take a little longer to update this than the last few times.
Hmm… oddly enough, I still can't think of anything else to say; besides the short note above that is. Oh well, must not be anything important to talk about then. I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next time!