70

The frigate Normandy-SR2.

I woke up already on the Normandy, in my Geta platform. Yeah, God loves a threesome. That's the way it is with my blackouts. But I had to do it. Didn't really want to attract lightning to me.

I got up from my bunk and immediately saw Chakwas resting on a chair with her eyes closed, Chakwas and Tali lying under anaesthesia and, for some reason, with a black blindfold over her eyes.

- Dr Chakwas," I said, and the Doc immediately woke up. I walked over to Tali and started looking at her, trying to figure out what was wrong.

- Oh, Legatus. Good morning. No," she corrected herself, glancing at her watch. - Evening. You've been here eleven hours after you and Tali were delivered by Garrus, Thayne, Mordin, and Samara. You had to be rescued right in the middle of the storm. And it's not over yet, by the way. Fortunately, your shuttles are designed to fly in storms and thunderstorms.

- Couldn't you have waited for the storm to subside? - I asked, as I didn't expect that from them.

- This storm will last another three days. We can't wait that long. But Shepard will stay on Tuchanka for now; they have some kind of shuttle malfunction.

- What kind? - I was surprised, considering the shuttle was built somewhat based on Mako. We tried to make it as strong as Mako and reliable as the car "Victory".

- The rock fell. About three tonnes," Doc explained.

- I see. What happened to Tali? - I got to the real question.

- She's not well. She inhaled poisonous gases and dust. And worst of all, the dust is radioactive. But what's even worse is her eyes. We had to remove them," Chakwas said sadly.

- What?! You mean... Do you mean Tali doesn't have eyes now?! - I couldn't even realise what was happening to me. Whether I was surprised or angry... And I knew I was angry about something with Chakwas, who had nothing to do with it.

- We had no choice. She got radioactive dust in her eyes. By the time we got here, she had necrosis of the eyeballs. There was nothing we could do.

- I see," I said sadly, as disappointed and frustrated as my voice modulator would allow. - What does she want?

- Besides her eyes? We removed one of her lungs, so we must transplant one. She was gassed, but Mordin could save one lung, so thank him. So she's going to wake up soon.

- Okay, there's no problem with that," I said, realising that I would have to fly to Red October to transplant Tali's eyes and lung because I couldn't let Tali remain invalid. I just couldn't. She didn't deserve that fate, even though it had turned out so stupidly. I felt guilty about it. Not catching up, not being able to shoot the thing before it got to the quarian... Damn, how fucked up do I feel right now? It's like... the fear of losing her...

- Oh, well, I'm gonna go get some dinner. Will you follow her? - Chakwas said, getting up from her seat.

- Sure," I didn't bother the Doc. She's barely on her feet anyway; she seemed worried about Tali. - Enjoy your meal," I wished Karin, who thanked me and closed the door behind her.

I walked over to Tali, pulled up a chair, and sat beside the Quarian. Somehow I hadn't noticed she was so beautiful before. Scrolling through my memory, I realised she still forgot to remove her mask on the ship, even though Shepard had repeatedly asked her to do so. But I still had frames from my memory of Tali without the mask. Still, her face was beautiful. Pale, greyish skin, slightly pointed ears that sometimes made me compare her to an elf, strange lines on some parts of her body that, according to the database, used to be home to viruses but now were like moles on the Quarians. And then there were her eyes. Glowing, the only thing visible through the mask. They say the eyes mirror the soul, and I was well aware of that here. Even when I'd been a prisoner on the first Normandy and talked to Tali, I'd seen her emotions through her eyes, which still glowed with kindness, even though she'd seen me as a geth. And now, because of me, she has no eyes at all. All right, Legatus, take it easy. You're gonna fix this. You don't have to feel so guilty. It's fixable. I hate to imagine how much pain she was in when her eyes rotted away. And I hate to think how scared she was alone on that roof, surrounded by the storm. When I passed out, she was alone. With no one to comfort her when she was already in pitch darkness and was left to flinch with every lightning strike. Damn it, how dare I do that? I'd left her alone, and she must have been scared. I'm such an arsehole!

On the other hand, I had no choice. I could attract lightning to us, and that could kill us both. Yeah, I guess that's what I should have done. But I still felt like an arsehole.

- Hello? Anybody? Hello? - Tali suddenly woke up and started calling for someone. It's understandable; she couldn't see or understand anything. And then she suddenly tried to take off her blindfold.

- Whoa, whoa, whoa, Tali. Don't touch it. Calm down," I grabbed her hand and returned it to the bed, trying to calm her down.

- Legatus? What... What's going on? Where am I?" she began to spew questions.

- You're on the Normandy, Tali. Just calm down. It's all right. You're safe.

- Why-- Why can't I see anything? What's on my face? Is that--is that some kind of tissue? - She wouldn't stop.

- Tali, it's just-- well--

- Legatus, what's going on? - she said angrily, demanding an explanation.

- You... You had to have your eyes removed.

- WHAT?! I mean, what do you mean?!

- Tali, it's okay.

- WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S OKAY?! YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND! - she began to yell, turning her head towards me in a voice-orientated manner.

- Tali, you'll get them replaced. I'll take care of it. Shepard, I was able to replace them. You're going to be okay, Tali. I promise," thankfully, it worked. Tali had stopped screaming, but her breathing and heartbeat left a lot to be desired. She still couldn't accept that fact.

- Legatus. You... Are you really going to help me? Is this... Is this fixable? - There was hope in her voice. A sincere hope.

- Yes, Tali. I'll fix it," I said.

- You promise? Do you mean it's true? Are you telling the truth? You're not just trying to make me feel better?

- Tali. I promise you that I will fix your eyes. I-I can't lie. I can, but I never do. So it doesn't get worse.

- A liar who says he's not lying is a liar squared," Tali said, trying to change the subject, which I was very glad about.

- Yeah, but I'm not a person. I'm a machine," I pointed out.

- No, Legatus. You're not a machine at all. You're much more human than anyone I've ever known. You're no different than Shepard, Garrus, Liara, Rex or anyone else. And you're far better than any Quarian I've ever known. Except for Quarian women, of course," she laughed a little at that joke, and I was glad she was trying to be funny.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel like a guy," I said.

- Yeah, a guy... Honestly, if you were a Quarian, I'd pair the costumes with you... Uh... I... Did I say that out loud? - Yeah, I'm kind of freaking out myself. No, I wasn't expecting that in that shy little head of mine. Well, that's unexpected.

- I thought you were shy," I said to the poor Quarian, who was already turning grey with embarrassment.

- Oh, Kila..." she pleaded, realising that she had said it out loud, not just to anyone, but to a geth, even if it was me.

- Oh, come on. I won't tell anyone.

- Just you dare, Legatus. I've got a shotgun," she started to threaten me jokingly.

- Now, now, be careful. Who are you gonna put the suit together with?

- LEGAT!

- That's it, I won't do it anymore," I gave up because her shotgun was too powerful, and she's biotic like no other.

- Legatus, can you... Can you give me some water? - she asked.

- Yes, of course," I answered without thinking and stood up from my seat, letting go of her hand.

- No, no, no, no, Legatus, stop! Come back!" she said prayerfully, and I took her hand without bringing her water.

- Hey, hey, hey, calm down. I'm here. I'm with you," it was too late. Her breathing was already laboured, and by all accounts, she was reading fear. And yet only a moment ago, she'd been laughing.

- Legatus. Don't go. I... I'm so scared... It's so dark... There's nothing here.

- Now, now, Tali, calm down. I'm not going anywhere. I'm with you.

****

The frigate Normandie-SR2.

I sat quietly in the sick bay, still persuading Chakwas to go to bed. It was difficult, but I had the upper hand. Tali, thankfully, I could also get her to bed, though I had to sing a lullaby in Quarian. Lucky for me that Kherd had one, and I have a "great" voice. I can put anyone to sleep. I've already made a nice semi-darkness in the infirmary. I have a sleep analogue, too. It's when I go into the Virtual and work in my office.

- Legatus? - Shepard's voice suddenly rang throughout Virtua, my office. I immediately stepped out of the Virtual and opened the visual sensor.

- Captain. You're back already? - I wondered since it had only been eleven hours since my personal awakening, which was far from a few days.

- Yes. Fortunately, Krogan had a shuttle to fly in the storm, and we left ours for them to use. Also, we brought Melon back. Took him to the SUVs. Thankfully, it was a negotiation.

- Negotiation? - I was surprised. What do you mean?

- Grant came out, challenged the chief to a duel, calling him a "Sucker," then won, and now the entire Weirlock clan is part of the Urdnot. Oh, and Rex joined us.

- Our cokes are finished," I said, realising another fridge was needed. Two krogan are a curse for a kok-work. - How did you talk him into it?

- Remember that krogan that Tali threw biotics at?

- Yeah," I answered. It was a good moment.

- Well, she killed him. A rock fell on him afterwards. It happens. So, technically, Tali became the leader of the Gargol clan.

- Is that even possible? - I asked since I needed to familiarise myself with Krogan's tradition.

- Well, she killed him with biotics, which is more honoured and not forbidden among Krogan. Plus, she didn't kill him from the back and just when he was "prepared for the consequences". So Tali defeated him fairly, and the fact that it was from the first blow didn't matter. And this clan was a pain in the arse for Rex.

- Not thinking krogan could be a pain in the arse," I joked.

- All right, then, aspen stake," the Captain corrected herself.

- That sounds dirty, especially coming from you, Captain.

- Oh, fuck you and your jokes, Legate. Urdnot will now be run by a shaman; he's adequate too. And Rex has told everyone he's gone to get the cure for the genophage. I hope you weren't joking about him.

- I don't like jokes about politics," I said firmly.

- Good," Shepard said, then looked at Tali. - How's she doing?

- Not so good. They removed her eyes and a lung. We have to go to Red October. That's where we built the Normandy.

- Yeah, I remember. What happened to her?

- She was dumped in a nest of those things. Her mask broke, and she inhaled poisonous gases. I put a breathing filter on her, but her eyes were still uncovered. The radioactive dust got into them, and then the necrosis of the eyeballs began... I had to remove a lung too, but Mordin was able to save the other one. Fortunately, it's all fixable. I've rounded you up. It shouldn't be too hard to fix her. We just have to get there.

- All right. We'll get there," Shepard agreed, and Susie had already sent the order to the Joker.

- Oh, and one more thing, Captain. You can sit with her. It's just that she can't see anything. Just darkness. She's... scared," I asked the Captain, relaying Tali's request.

- Sure. I'll just take off my armour and be back," Shepard said, quickly leaving the med bay. Now we had two Krogan and one Salarian. Oh, this is going to be tricky.