Chapter 3: Just when everything was back to normal

"You're ready to get back to work?" Jaal asked while Ryder took a sip of her sweet coffee.

"Hell yes," she didn't need to think twice about it. She was tired of sitting on her ass doing nothing while Cora had all the fun. "Tomorrow is the day," she said excitedly.

It was the best news she had in weeks when Lexi told her she's cleared for duty. This unknown virus stole enough time from her already. She was ready to get back out there.

"How are you feeling?" Jaal asked with a concerned look.

"I'm fine. Just have headaches but that's okay." Ryder didn't have to read minds to know what he was thinking. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"See what?" he was clearly not on the same page, being lost in his thoughts.

"I was delirious," she explained. "That must've been…uncomfortable to see." She looked away. Ashamed that it happened. She never wanted to be in that position again. The truth was she didn't know what to say to Jaal.

"You…remember?" he was surprised.

Everyone knew that her memories were foggy. But lately, she started to remember things. She thought a lot about when she got delirious. Especially with the time that Jaal was present.

"Bits and pieces of it," she shrugged as if it were nothing. "Not all of it. No." She buried her face in her coffee and was unsure if she should say what popped in her head. Her mouth decided for her. "With some things…I don't know if it really happened."

She could kick herself. Why did she say that?

"Is it because you were delirious?" Jaal seemed unsure if that was the right question to ask, but curiosity got the better of him.

"Yeah… I guess." She placed her mug in the sink. Her mind raced to change the topic somehow. "Did I explain to you what a buss is?"

She was worried that he wouldn't follow, but it wasn't long before he answered, "No. But Liam did."

"Oh, that's good."

"Pathfinder," SAM spoke and she saw no reaction from Jaal so it must've been through their private channel. "You have a meeting with Cora soon," he reminded her.

Her eyes widened. "I have to go." She left before Jaal could ask what just happened.

Ryder hated it. So many time wasted. If they weren't caught in the Archon's trap she wouldn't have wasted so much time. Of course, there would've been a trap. Why wouldn't there?

Ryder should've been prepared for anything. But she wasn't. It was stupid of her.

She made her way to her quarters and checked the time on her omni-tool. Cora would be there in a couple of minutes. Her desk was messy. Datapads was all over her desk. Four empty mugs sat on her desk as evidence of a late night.

"Did I have that much coffee last night?" she asked. Ryder was there but her mind wasn't present.

"Yes Pathfinder," SAM startled her as his voice echoed in her head and she almost jumped.

"Crap SAM," Ryder didn't even bother speaking through their private channel. "You have to stop doing that." She took a few deep breaths to recover, "I was just talking to myself."

"I detect an increase in your heart rate."

"You think?" she answered sarcastically. "It's because you startled me."

"My apologies Pathfinder."

"Okay, time to clean up this mess," she said to no one in particular. She grabbed her datapads and placed them on a neat pile. Then she took the four coffee mugs and went to the Galley.

When Ryder got there Jaal was gone. He was probably in the Tech lab. She made a mental note to not only spend more time with him but with the rest of the crew as well. She needed to catch up with them.

The meeting with Cora went as smoothly as expected.

"So you've done all that there's to do on Voeld?" Ryder asked when she scanned the datapad with her eyes that Cora handed to her.

"Most of it, yes," Cora confirmed. "A lot has happened. On here you'll find every copy of the reports I did."

"Woah Cora," Ryder gasped. "This is really thorough. Thank you."

Since the first time, her feet made contact with the cold planet she never had any love for it. She couldn't place her finger on it that made her dislike the planet so much.

It wasn't that she hated the cold. She actually loved it while the others froze their asses off. It wasn't that she thought it hadn't any beautify. It was a beautiful planet. It was just her least favourite planet in Andromeda.

"I hope you like to read. There's a lot of information there," it was hard not to notice Cora's growing smirk.

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"Just read the reports, Ryder."

"Alright."

"Lexi are you sure?" Ryder asked. Even she could hear the panic in her voice.

Lexi did a series of tests to make sure she was in the clear.

She shot Ryder a sharp look and she immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, I just…" Ryder fiddled nervously with her hands. "We didn't see this virus coming, and I need to be out there."

"I know."

Ryder didn't share all of her doubts with Lexi. According to all the tests Ryder was back to normal. She couldn't help this uneasy feeling she had ever since Lexi told her where this mysterious virus came from.

She couldn't explain it, but deep down she knew this will come back to haunt her. She just didn't know how yet.

Lexi kept working with Harry trying to find more information about it. As far as they could tell Ryder was the first person from the Milky Way species who experienced this.

This just caused Ryder to have a growing ache in her stomach.

Her first day out there was great. Being able to do her job again. Connecting with people. At first, she focussed on some small missions. They didn't take a lot of her time but it was necessary to do it.

After dealing with the kett base on Eos Ryder was in a hurry to get back to the Tempest. They fought hard and long against them. But at the end of the day, it was worth it. There were one less kett base and no matter how small of a difference it made, it felt like it counted.

"Can this thing not go any faster?" Ryder was not only irritated but frustrated as well.

"You're already going fast," Peebee commented. "Why are you in such a rush?" a curious question rose.

The Nomad was eating Eos' dust and she knew it. Ryder bit the side of her cheek, "I need to pee. Like yesterday. Are you happy?"

That was uncalled for. Ryder was irritated the whole time and she didn't know why. This was very unlike her.

Peebee didn't seem to catch on to how irritated Ryder was, "Didn't you just go before the mission." It wasn't a question, but Ryder decided to answer it nonetheless.

"Yeah…" Ryder forgot about that. That was weird. She drank a lot of fluids lately, but she was thirsty the whole time. "I still need to go," her grip tightened on the steering wheel.

"How would you know that?" Vetra asked. "That's a bit…" she didn't seem to find the right word.

"She told me," Peebee said as if it was the most natural thing in the galaxy. "And I quote…" she made air quotes with her fingers, "…Peebee gear up. I'll be there in a minute I just need to go to the toilet."

Ryder never removed her armor that fast in her life before. She panicked and almost thought she wouldn't make it in time but luckily she did.

She felt a flush of relief when she emptied her bladder. This was beginning to become a problem.

She would go to bed…much earlier than she always did. Lately, she was exhausted all the time. Nobody realized it, at least not yet, but she was slacking. Slower at missions. Tired. It was hard to focus on her work.

She would wake up early in the morning her bladder so full that walking was uncomfortable. There was no reason why her bladder would be that full. And it wasn't like this happened once in a blue moon. It happened every night.

So she started to restrict her fluids. No water. No coffee. No nothing after a certain time. Which was really hard to do since she was so thirsty all the time.

In the morning her throat felt raw, uncomfortable. It was so uncomfortable that she had difficulty swallowing. She couldn't wait to grab a glass of water. That first swallow of water gave her such a relief. But one glass was never enough. Sometimes she needed to drink 3 or 4 glasses.

When Ryder was done using the bathroom she went to the galley. She drank water until her stomach couldn't take more. She felt uncomfortable full, but yet hungry too.

I just need to lay down for 10 minutes, then I'll feel better.

That's what she did…except it wasn't just for 10 minutes. She had no idea what woke her up, besides that didn't matter. She snapped her eyes open. She was hot, not feverous, but still hot. It felt like her heart beating out of her chest. Almost like being awakened by a bad dream.

She didn't recall dreaming anything. Just closing her eyes, but instead of blinking, it never opened.

It was dark outside. "Oh crap," she said as she tried to move so fast out of bed she fell on the ground. "SAM," she said as panic arose. "How long did I sleep?" Ryder was afraid of the answer.

"4 hours."

4 hours!? That was longer than she thought.

She felt even more exhausted. "Why didn't you wake me up? I…I have work to do."

Amber Ryder was never the most organized person but right now she was a mess and it got more and more difficult to hide it away. She felt messy as her damp shirt stuck to her skin.

"You were tired. And you didn't ask me to wake you up."

"I didn't?" Ryder said as a headache began to make its way to her.

"Ryder," SAM started. He almost sounded concerned. "You should go to Dr. T'Perro. Your blood sugar is still high."

"SAM," she raised her voice, "we talked about this. I'm fine."

SAM told her before that she had high blood sugar but she didn't have the time to deal with it. If she did then Lexi will bench her. She can't. Not now. She couldn't-

Her stomach growled and interrupted her thoughts. "SAM, did the others eat?"

"No Pathfinder."

Before her feet could reach the Galley she smelled the different wonderful flavours that made it's way to her nose.

"Ah, Ryder," Drack said. He stood before a steaming pot with hot contents. Ryder couldn't tell what it was, but judging by the smells it must've been delicious. Or she's just really hungry.

When everybody took some food she squeezed next to Liam in the booth. When he saw the amount of food in her bowl his eyes widened and his eyebrows reached into his hairline.

Ryder didn't miss his reaction, "Spit it out." She knew what he was going to say but she needed to hear it.

"You're going to eat all that," he nodded at the direction of her bowl.

"Yeah. "Problem?" she challenged him.

"No," he looked guilty. "It's just you never eaent that much."

She shrugged, "Well, I'm hungry." She felt more eyes on her food. "I had a long day, alright?" her voice had a bit of a bite into it.

That was a lie. She wasn't just hungry because it was a long day. She was hungry all the time. It seemed that being thirsty all the time and going to the toilet 100 times a day wasn't enough. The hunger needed to be added as well.

After dinner, she was still hungry but she didn't want more eyes on her so she decided to wait for it off. If she was still hungry later she could sneak into the Galley and get a snack.

They were at the Nexus. The Tempest needed to be checked if everything was still in working order and Ryder wanted to see what new armor and weapons the shop keepers had.

She dressed in her normal casual wear. Her black trousers with her black leather jacket. Something was off though.

Her pants threatened to fall off and her leather jacket was too loose. It didn't fit perfectly like it used to. She needed to make sure that this wasn't her imagination.

"Uh, SAM?" she said as she looked in the mirror. "Is it just me or did I lost some weight recently?"

"It would appear so, yes."

That didn't make sense. Lately, she ate a lot more. She avoided using her biotics as much as she could. They made her even more exhausted then she felt. She was out of breath faster. If anything she should have gained weight.

"Perhaps you should see Dr. T'Perro," he suggested.

"SAM," she was calm. "I'm not going to her because I lost some weight. I'm allowed to lose weight."

"There is other-"

"I said no!" she snapped. "Look the other…" she searched for the right word but her mind was blank," …things…," she knew it was the wrong word but she couldn't really call it symptoms. "…are fine. I'm fine. I've never been better."

Ryder tossed and turned in her bed. She fell asleep early, but that wasn't a surprise to her anymore. She woke up being confused.

She sat straight in her bed trying to recognize her surroundings.

"Pathfinder, should I turn on the lights?" Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Eyes sweeping the room for clues.

Where did this voice come from?

It took her a moment to realize it was from SAM. Relief came over her in a flood.

"Yes thank you, SAM."

The lights were too bright and it took too many blinks to get used to it. She needed the bathroom. It felt like there was a river in her bladder. Of course, she was thirsty too. She could drink all the drinkable water in Andromeda.

A wave of nausea overwhelmed her. If she laid here for five minutes would it be better?

"SAM," she knew it was stupid. She shouldn't delay it. She should just get up and drink some water. Now. And not wait. "Tell me when 5 minutes has past."

Those five minutes took so long to pass yet it wasn't enough. She fell asleep but woke up so many times that she almost thought SAM forgot to let her know.

"Pathfinder," her eyes shot open immediately, "5 minutes have passed."

She thanked him and pulled the covers away from her. Sitting up straight she felt dizzy. She counted to 3 a couple of times until she was ready but she never felt truly ready.

Carefully she stood up from her bed. Her vision went dark immediately. She waited a few seconds, although it got better it never return to normal.

As she made her way to the bathroom she clung to the cold walls.

When she was done with the toilet, she didn't have the energy to go to the Galley, so she drank some water from the bathroom sink. She splashed some water on her face. Her blue weary eyes stared back at her in the mirror.

With each step back to her quarters she could feel her stomach complaining. She drank too much water and she knew it wouldn't be long before she would need the toilet again.

"Pathfinder," SAM said when she slipped back into her covers, "Will you tell Dr. T'Perro about your symptoms tomorrow?"

What did SAM talk about? Her mind raised trying to recall what needed to be done the next day. They would arrive at Elaaden the next day. Among the things Ryder needed to do she wanted to check up on the Outpost.

And then she remembered. She needed to go for her checkup.

"Oh crap," that was something she really didn't feel like doing. She knew Lexi will have a million questions. "Can't I cancel the checkup?"

"No Ryder," SAM said firmly. "You cancelled on her last time. Dr. T'Perro said next time she'll take no excuses."

"Well that's tomorrow's problems," Ryder said as her head fell heavily on the pillow, "I'll see what happens tomorrow."

Ryder had no intention of telling Lexi about these so-called symptoms.

Anybody can lose weight.

Anybody can use the toilet a million times a day.

Anybody can be hungry and besides she's a biotic.

It didn't mean anything.

"You're late," Lexi said crossing her arms across her chest.

"I know. I know," she let out a huge yawn.

Critical eyes scanned Ryder and it made her feel naked somehow. "You just woke up," Lexi made her conclusion. "You went to bed early. Why are you tired?"

"I'm not tired," Ryder said too fast. "And how do you know what time I went to sleep?"

"I wanted to come and talk to you but SAM said you were already asleep," Lexi explained. "Is something going on Ryder?"

"Ryder you should be honest with Dr. T'Perro," SAM said through their private channel.

"No SAM it's nothing."

"What's nothing?" Lexi enquired and Ryder immediately realized she spoke the words out loud instead of their private channel.

Ryder sighed. She felt weird giving voice to them, but she didn't see another way out of it. "I have been having these weird…symptoms?" she said unsure. "I don't think I can really call them symptoms. Everybody is sometimes tired. Hungry all the time."

Lexi grabbed a datapad and made some notes. "Besides being tired and hungry, what other symptoms do you have?" Lexi was serious. She didn't think this was nothing.

"Going to the bathroom a lot. Being thirsty all the time." Ryder thought back making sure she mentioned everything. "Last night I was nauseous and dizzy."

"Ryder's blood sugar has also been high lately," SAM added.

"Really SAM?" Ryder knew Lexi won't be happy to hear that.

Lexi sighed and rubbed her temple with her hand, "I understand not coming to me with the other symptoms, but high blood sugar? Ryder, you should've come to me. You know better than this," she scolded.

"I lost weeks Lexi," she defended herself. "I was worried you would bench me again," Ryder was honest. "I can't afford to lose more time."

Lexi said nothing to that and it was impossible to guess what she thought about this. "Any other symptoms?" Lexi looked up from her datapad. "It doesn't matter how small you think it is, it might be something important."

"I've lost some weight recently."

Lexi activated her scanner without saying a word. She frowned when she looked at the results. "Yes, you did." She pointed a finger toward one of the beds, "Whatever you planned for today is cancelled. You'll stay here. In bed," she ordered.

"Why?" Ryder asked.

"Ryder these symptoms aren't normal." Lexi placed a reassuring hand on Ryder's shoulder. "We'll find out what's going on."