Disclaimer: This author in no way profits from the writing of this story. All characters, dialogue, or other referenced material from the Mass Effect trilogy belong to BioWare.
Author's Note: This story does not necessarily follow any particular timeline and may not be considered chronologically accurate.
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"I'm really not an expert, and frankly I'm not sure why Commander Shepard asked me to be the one to do this." Samantha touched a finger to the tip of her nose, slowly shaking her head as Cass and Vadix watched from their seats.
Cass felt the need to reassure her, despite her own misgivings about this lesson—what were they even doing, anyway? "I'm sure the Commander trusts you, that's why."
Traynor gave her a small smile, dropping her hand and standing up straighter. "Yes, well. Whatever the reason, we'd best get on with it." The woman glanced around, then gestured as though for something unseen to move forward.
A light blue hologram glided into place beside her.
"Luckily, Liara offered to lend me Glyph so at least we'll be able to see the graphics better."
The circular virtual assistant bobbed once. "After scanning the room, this appears to be the best presentation location," it said in a gentle electronic voice. Then it turned toward the wall at the head of the table and opened a projection.
"Thank you," Samantha murmured before looking back at her students. "Dr. Chakwas thought, in the interim, it might be helpful to review some basic anatomy and physiology in order to prepare for your class with her. So, if there are no questions, we'll just jump right in."
Cass glanced at Vadix, taken aback by the unforeseen lecture topic. He looked as surprised as she felt.
"Now, because of medi-gel, the only real concern we have is if someone isn't breathing or if they're losing a lot of blood. All minor injuries should be treated with medi-gel as soon as possible, and then a medical professional will take it from there. The latter issue, loss of blood, is beyond the scope of this lesson. For the former, a basic principle of first aid can be represented by the acronym ABC: Airways, Breathing, and Circulation." As she said the words, each appeared on the wall behind her. "These three aspects should be considered when a person isn't breathing.
"For A, airways, you'll need to check the airways of someone who isn't breathing. If it's blocked, clear the passage.
"For B, breathing, if the airway is clear and they're still not breathing, then you'll need to perform rescue breathing.
"And last, for C, circulation, we need to keep the blood circulating the body to ensure that oxygen is being carried throughout, or else there may be permanent damage after breathing is resumed."
The communications specialist paused, sighing as though she wanted to check that she was still breathing. Cass was glad for the small break as, although it made sense, so much of this was entirely new to her. Never before had she worried about what she would do if she came across someone who wasn't breathing. The thought was nerve-wracking.
"The issue we face, as a diverse crew, is that different species have different requirements for each of these aspects. Our team is comprised of asari, human, krogan, salarian, and turian members, so these are the ones we'll review today. We'll get into just a few of the things to consider when performing first aid in the field."
Glyph changed the screen displayed behind Samantha to an anatomical representation of a woman, her skeletal structural and cardiovascular system represented on one half, the other covered by muscles and tendons. Several lines were painted over top, drawing attention to certain parts of the body.
Samantha verified the picture behind her and continued. "First, the asari. Their airway is most likely to be blocked at the back of the mouth, near the beginning of the throat. If you look in their mouth and see nothing, then the airway is most likely clear. If it's not clear but you can't see the blockage, well," Samantha grimaced, "there isn't much you can do about that in the field."
"It is thought that their biotic capacity is a main factor in the differences between humans and asari, the most notable of which is their ability to meld their nervous system with another being of any gender or species. This melding does not require physical contact so it can be difficult to identify, if not for two specific indicators: the dilation of the pupils and the direction of the scales."
"Wait," Cass interrupted without thinking. "I knew their skin was similar to scales but you're saying it has directionality as well?"
Nodding, Traynor confirmed this, looking rather excited despite her earlier reticence. "Yes, and direction can be an indication of health, among other things. For example, in a healthy asari who is not in the middle of a meld, the scales will flow up the body, from toe to head. However, a healthy melding asari will have scales flowing toward the heart: up the arms, legs, and torso and down the head and neck."
Cass thought about this for a moment, trying to wrap her brain around the concept. "Okay, then what about an asari who isn't healthy?"
"Excellent question. An asari who isn't getting proper circulation will have no directionality of scales: they essentially stand on end, microscopically speaking. So, regardless of the direction, they will feel wrong to the touch."
From the corner of her eye, Cass saw the turian tip his head forward, thinking intently. Then he spoke, "That means, for the sake of these ABCs, the best way to check an asari's circulation is to check their scales."
"Exactly!" Samantha beamed.
The redhead felt an unexpected surge of jealousy, the other woman eying Vadix with altogether too much smiling.
The reaction was completely uncalled for, and she shoved it away.
She had no right to feel that way. He wasn't even hers.
Oblivious to Cass's emotional response, Traynor resumed speaking. "Whoops, my apologies. I've gone a bit out of order it seems. We skipped the B for the asari."
"That's quite alright," the turian responded warmly, dipping his head again, this time in a submissive gesture.
Again jealousy flared through Cass and she struggled to maintain her outward composure. All she wanted to do was plant herself on Vadix's lap and kiss away all thoughts of other women. All thoughts of anything other than her, really.
She bit her lip, looking steadfastly away from him and toward the screen. While Samantha had talked, the VI had shifted its focus, highlighting the nervous system that seemed to be the cause of this directionality. It was, in all honesty, such an intriguing physiological response. Cass had never slept with an asari, mostly because her own anatomy didn't particularly agree with it: after all, how was she supposed to get any physical pleasure out of a purely emotional connection?
It hadn't seemed worth the investment any time the opportunity had presented itself.
Now, however, she wondered. Like suede or velvet, rubbing in the wrong direction usually meant more friction. And more friction, well, that usually made the rubbing all the more enjoyable.
The human felt a sharp elbow dig into her side.
Cass looked sharply to the side. Vadix was watching her, his head cocked to the side and a question in his eyes. His expression was somehow both concerned and laughing. Or at least that's what she thought it was.
She scowled and focused on the lecture once more. Who would have thought she'd get turned on by the thought of asari scales?
Samantha had moved on to the next species on her list: humans. The wall behind her held two projections now, one male and one female. Again, each was split into two halves with the various internal systems represented. At the moment, the heart and its messy river of veins and arteries was highlighted.
"Like the asari, if a human has stopped breathing but their airways are clear, chest compressions should be administered. Unlike the asari, whose heart rate is much lower, the rate of compressions should be between 100 and 120 per minute, or about two per second."
Vadix, like a calm adult, raised his talon to ask a question. Cass rolled her eyes. Suck up. "How does that not, you know, break the human?"
Their teacher looked alarmed. "Actually, the chest compressions can cause damage to the skeletal structure, especially when done properly for an extended period of time. It's unfortunate, but if we're comparing a few broken bones to a heart that stops beating, I think the preferred option is obvious."
Now the turian looked alarmed. "So, the breakage is expected? Even desired? It sounds…barbaric."
"Maybe." Samantha shrugged. "But like I said, if the choice is being injured or being dead, it's not a hard decision to make."
The man appeared to be sizing up the pair of them, the human women. He seemed duly concerned about their fragility but said nothing more.
With the go-ahead from Traynor, Glyph shifted to the next slide, replacing the two human outlines with two much thicker ones. "An incapacitated krogan can often be the most difficult to assess as their airway is essentially invisible without medical equipment. In a field situation, in order to check that a krogan's airway is clear, you will need to use manual verification."
Both Cass and Vadix blinked at the screen, the verbal explanation combined with the visual representation both inadequate for comprehension.
"Use your hands," Samantha clarified, giggling slightly as she pressed her fingers into her neck to demonstrate. "Even if you could get the krogan's mouth open, you wouldn't be able to see much of their airway to check that it isn't blocked. Instead, you need to press both the sides and the front of their neck, starting at the jaw and going as far down as their armor allows. There should be no obstructions at all."
"So," Cass jumped into the natural break, "you basically just have to feel all around their neck to make sure nothing is blocking their airway?"
"Yes, exactly," agreed Traynor, smiling at her as warmly as Vadix had smiled earlier. She was rather pretty actually. "Though there is one other difference between the krogan and the other races. When it comes to circulation, their natural armor is too hard for normal chest compressions to have any effect. Instead, you would turn the person on their side and press steadily into the softer areas between the krogan's largest front and back plates. This also eliminates the need for rescue breathing.
"Rather than employing the speed and quantity of compressions used for the asari and humans, the best method for a krogan subject is long and complete; forcing all of the air out will encourage their lungs to reinflate and sort of kickstart the pulmonary system once more."
"Ouch," the redhead muttered, rubbing the imaginary bruise on her side if someone were to do that to her.
"I agree," Vadix murmured to her without turning from their instructor and the screen behind her. The side comment was unimportant in every way, but it made her smile.
Again the pictures on the wall morphed, this time into two much skinnier and lankier shapes with bowed legs and webbed fingers, small horns protruding from the crown of their heads and curving in toward each other.
"What you have to worry about with a salarian who isn't breathing is dehydration. When performing rescue breathing—which should be two breaths per minute, just like the asari and humans—you will also need to rehydrate the subject periodically, especially around the mouth."
The pause at the end of this section of the lecture lengthened, the students darting glances at each other.
Cass was the first one brave enough to ask the big question. "Um, how exactly do you rehydrate their mouth?"
"Well, there are a couple ways to do it. The best way is to wet a piece of cloth and place it over the person's face, as close to the mouth as possible while still allowing space for the rescue breathing to be performed. If that's not possible, applying a bit of medi-gel can help too."
Both Vadix and Cass breathed a sigh of relief. "That's a lot less intrusive than I was thinking it might be," she whispered.
"I don't think I want to know what you were thinking," Vadix murmured in response.
Then Samantha expounded even further. "Of course, a make-out session with an unconscious body is always an option as well, but that's only as a last resort."
Nearly choking on her current lungful of air, Cass felt her body heave forward as she clutched the chair arms before she could look up again, her heart slowing from its split-second race.
Specialist Traynor was grinning wickedly at her.
The wall behind her shifted once more, replacing the salarian outlines with top-heavy individuals.
"Then we have the turian. Much like the krogan, normal chest compressions aren't effective due to their built-in armor. However, unlike the krogan, an unbreathing turian should be placed on their stomach before compressing the back in the same way: pressing all of the air out as completely as possible. "
"Why is that?" Cass asked. "Why press on the back instead of the chest?"
A faint blush bloomed across Samantha's dark cheeks. Odd that, Cass thought. But then she explained. "Well, partially because a turian's lungs are actually closer to their back than their front, as well as the fact that the armor is slightly less obtrusive there. But the other not-so-medically-based reason is that a side effect of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, on turians is that it almost always causes sexual arousal."
Now Cass understood the reason for blushing. She felt her own cheeks pink at the idea as well. What would that even look like? she wondered, having no certain knowledge of alien anatomy.
"Actually, male turians have very similar sexual organs to human males," Samantha said in response to Cass's unsaid question.
Shit, she swore at herself. She must've accidentally asked it aloud. Cass looked over at Vadix, sure he would make assumptions about her thoughts which would likely be entirely too close to the truth. But she couldn't see an immediately noticeable difference. The man simply continued to look ahead, displaying nothing more than academic curiosity.
The dark-haired woman continued as though the question weren't inappropriate in the slightest. "The main difference is that a turian's penis remains enclosed in the body until a state of arousal begins, at which point it will emerge and extend away from the body. Also, the ultimate length of the phallus can reach up to half a meter long as the mating process—which can be somewhat aggressive and even violent in nature—does not always guarantee close physical proximity between the man and the woman. Additionally, the female turian's vagina is placed farther back than a human's, which essentially requires that sexual contact be made from behind."
The color in Cass's cheeks deepened as she imagined this "mating process". It wasn't an unfamiliar position to her, but the vague, almost animalistic description of it was both a turn off and a turn on.
She couldn't help but picture Vadix plowing into her from behind.
Half a meter of space would be completely unnecessary.
"Wait, what about quarians? How do you deal with their suit?" Vadix asked out of nowhere. It was like sex hadn't even been mentioned. They could have been discussing the lack of variety on the meal menu for all his interest in the conversation.
Samantha looked at him seriously before answering. "If you come across a quarian who isn't breathing, besides verifying that their enviro-suit is still working, you'd best start praying."