14

Tali came out of the confinement cell, went up the stairs, and found herself in the hangar. Just like half an hour ago, Rex and eight quarians were sitting on the boxes playing poker.

— Hey, Rex, how's it going? — Tali addressed him, causing all nine individuals to turn to her. Nine men staring at one girl... Tali felt uncomfortable for a fraction of a second, but remembering that Rex, although a mercenary, still treated women well, she calmed down.

— It varies! Sometimes they're dumb as hell, and sometimes they wipe the floor with everyone! Beginners are lucky! — Rex chuckled heartily, deafening a few nearby marines.

— I see, have fun, — Tali replied and immediately entered the elevator, which, fortunately, was on this floor. Arriving on the floor above, Tali got out and walked to the table. In fact, it was already 11 PM, and everyone was asleep, but Kaidan and Garrus were sitting there as if nothing had happened. Kaidan was just telling a story about his biotic school. Tali quietly sat down next to Garrus, put her elbows on the table, grabbed her head with both hands, and exhaled everything that had accumulated in her. As the guys wondered what was wrong with her and were about to ask, Tali started first.

— Garrus, give me a drink, — both were stunned by this statement. Tali herself came and asked for a drink. Usually, they had to persuade her while flying to Rannoch, but now…

— Tali, what happened? — Kaidan asked with some concern.

— Garrus, I know you have something turian, so be a friend — give me a drink, — Tali repeated, staring at the table.

— Well, I'll be right back, — said Garrus, stood up, and went to his cabin. Five minutes later, he returned with a half-liter bottle of turian brandy. He handed it to Tali, who drank half of it through a straw, and then simply laid her hands on the table and rested on them.

— Tali, so what happened after all? — Kaidan asked again, still curious.

— Eeeeh... That geth... — Tali didn't even raise her head, continuing to speak downwards. However, she could be heard clearly, — I... I just don't know what to think about him. He's so... Eeeeh, I don't even know what to call him. Unique? Alive?! Such words suit him well. But…

— But it's a geth, — Kaidan calmly finished for her.

— Exactly! — Tali raised her head, meeting Kaidan's gaze. — He's a geth! A geth!!! But damn it, he tries to make jokes! A geth making jokes! And he demands proper respect for himself!

— What do you mean? — Garrus didn't understand, being quite surprised by this conversation.

— Literally. He demanded that I say the magic word. Can you imagine?! Saying "please" to a geth to talk to him. Ha-ha, if Admiral Han'Gerrel saw this, his mask would surely burst from outrage. But! This geth is not only brazen. He is also... polite.

— What?! — Kaidan didn't understand, being an advocate for turning the geth over to the Council for spare parts along with Ashley, and now he heard that this geth was polite. — What a statement!

— Yeah, I was surprised myself. But when he offended me, he apologized. And then I offended him, calling him a murderer. And you know what? I had to apologize!

— Apologize?! Tali, are you nuts?! It's a machine, understand?! Ma-chine! And you talk to it like a human?! — Kaidan's outrage knew no bounds. — How can you talk to a geth on equal terms?

— Hey-hey-hey, calm down, Kaidan. What's gotten into you? — Garrus immediately tried to defuse the situation, knowing well that Tali didn't like talking to Kaidan and, even more so, Ashley.

— Nothing!!! — Kaidan flared up, then abruptly stood up and went to his cabin.

— What's up with him? — Tali asked, watching Kaidan stomping across the deck, showing that "I'm very angry!!!".

— I don't know, although... He was on Eden Prime, so it's probably because of that. Yeah, that's right. It was a massacre there — lots of corpses, a colony on fire, the whole thing. And the geth are to blame for it all.

— Well, not exactly the geth, I mean... Ah, never mind. I'll tell you later, — Tali said and reached for the bottle of brandy, but Garrus immediately took it away.

— Uh, no, Tali, you can't. Shepard allowed me to bring this onto the Normandy on the condition that I wouldn't get you and Liara drunk. I don't even know why, but I don't intend to disobey her under any circumstances, — Garrus said as if cutting it off, then looked around and took a swig of everything that remained in the bottle. — Voarrrghhh... That's good, uh... — Garrus shook for another five seconds, then turned to Tali. — Alright, Tali, good night.

— Good night, Garrus, — Tali replied, watching as Garrus got up and went to his cabin. Meanwhile, she decided to visit Liara, who definitely had paper and pencils. Even though technology is advanced, paper is still important. And it's just what archaeologists need, like air.

****

— Hey, Liara, can I come in? — Jane asked as soon as the door opened, and stepped over the threshold of the room where Liara lived.

— Oh, Jane. Of course, come in, — Liara replied, getting up from her seat.

— Hmm, finally calling me by my name, — Jane smiled, rejoicing at this small victory. Finally, Liara calls her by her name. Now only Garrus and Rex are left.

— Well, you asked for it, — Liara said, approaching Jane even closer. In a second they were standing just a step away from each other. Jane stared into Liara's eyes for a couple of seconds. Those blue eyes, looking into which, Shepard sometimes forgot why she came... And now she was looking right into them and staying silent. — E-eh, Jane.

— Huh? Oh, sorry, just a bit sleepy, — Jane tried to justify herself, but it didn't work out very well.

— So why don't you sleep? — Liara half-jokingly asked.

— Just because. No other time to talk.

— Ah, so it's about that, — Liara immediately understood why Jane came and instantly turned away, starting to look for something on the table among a pile of datapads. But Jane herself didn't quite understand what Liara was doing right now. — Here, I found something about your... visions from the beacon.

— Oh, really? — Jane was surprised, as she had completely forgotten about asking Liara about it as soon as she came to her senses after Therum. — And what did you find?

— Two cases. The first happened on Illium. They found a beacon, and a salarian police officer touched it. After that, he ended up in the hospital. He kept losing consciousness, and when he came to — he rambled. He spoke of machines, butchers, destruction from the sky, death with four eyes... basically, after three days he fell into a vegetative state. His son signed permission for euthanasia, so they just killed him.

— Wait-wait-wait, is euthanasia even allowed in Citadel space? — Jane was puzzled.

— Not really, but this is Illium. They even have debt slavery there, let alone euthanasia.

— And nobody tried to understand his words?

— No. That's the thing — everyone thought it was quite understandable. This salarian used to live in the salarian colony of Sur`Dem. It was attacked by batarians, almost everyone was killed, only that salarian and a few other residents survived. And the batarians were not ordinary. It was the gang of the pirate Jah`shat, who was a big fan of using robots. So, they didn't attach much importance to the salarian's words...

— And you did? — Jane immediately asked.

— Listen, Jane. I saw your visions. Maybe they are not complete, maybe they are meant for Protheans, but what I managed to see... Well, that salarian also saw your visions, but the beacon burned his nervous system. It's a miracle you didn't end up in a vegetative state. I believe that's how you humans express it.

— Yes, exactly. And you don't agree? — Jane tried to shift the conversation to another topic.

— Actually, it's a pretty good comparison. You humans are indeed an amazing race. But that's not the point now! There was another similar case, this time with an asari.

— Azari? — Jane was surprised again.

- Yes. Planet Trinsa. The Azari colony of the fourth ring. They found a Protean beacon there, too. An archaeological team found it, but when one Azari touched it, she immediately lost consciousness. Then she began to behave strangely. She was sent to Thessia, put in the Psychology Research Centre. There, the Azari went completely insane. Saying things about death from the heavens, planets on fire, iron demons. However, she was more adequate than the Salarian. She tried to talk to people around her, agreed to experiments, and in her sleep she painted on the walls and sang in some incomprehensible language. All in all, it didn't end well. After a year in the centre she took her own life. She threw biotics at herself.

— Wow... Well, that's something. I... — Jane didn't know what to ask, but after a few seconds, she came up with a question. — Do these two have names?

— That's the thing. The salarian was mentioned in the press on Illium, but his son asked not to mention his name. As for the asari... I found her in my mother's records... Although I had to hack her computer to do so.

— Oh, so you're a hacker too?

— No, it was Tali who hacked it, although I had to persuade her for a long time. After all, hacking a matriarch's computer... You definitely won't get a pat on the head for that.

— Hmm, I see you've really embraced our culture, — Jane said with a hint of joy in her voice.

— Yes, you have many sayings that are so easy to use, although turians use them much more often. Oh, I almost forgot, there's something else here, — Liara immediately started looking for something on the datapad and found it after a few seconds. — Here. These are the drawings the asari made on the walls of her room.

Jane took the datapad and saw a strange picture — on the white wall, black lines formed some kind of creature. Most likely, it was a head, as there were four eyes. At least, that's what it seemed. There were four uncolored circles on the background of a triangular head filled with black shading. Jane also saw shoulders here, but it was impossible to make out a mouth or nose. In the second picture, the commander was horrified. On the white background, she saw the image of the Reapers themselves, also drawn with black shading. The other pictures were either four-eyed heads, Reapers, or some letters that covered all the walls.

— Damn... Why doesn't the Council do anything about this, knowing what they know? — Jane asked, puzzled.

— Most likely, they don't know. In my mother's records, it says that the Council of Matriarchs concealed all of this. And that was 700 years ago, in Earth time. Most likely, my mother was able to delete all data related to this case from the Matriarchate Archive. It's the largest asari archive, but Benezia had full access there. So the Council is unlikely to find out anything.

— Well, that's unpleasant. So, I'm not the only one like this.

— But you're the luckiest. Unlike... Damn it! I completely forgot, there was another case, — Liara immediately turned away and began rummaging through a pile of datapads. — Of course, it's unusual, and I'm not completely sure if it's our case, but this story about the krogan who...

— Liara! — Jane said a little angrily but as gently as possible, and immediately grabbed the girl's hand, turning her toward herself. Liara's slightly scared face was now just inches from Shepard's. — When I said there's no other time to talk, I didn't mean all these stories. I meant something else entirely.

— And what did you mean? — Liara still asked, not understanding. She often heard about humans' love for hints, which often couldn't be understood the first time, and it was even more difficult for other races to notice them at first.

However, Jane's answer was different. She let go of Liara's hand, but immediately put her other hand on her ribs, gently but quickly pulled her closer, and after a second, pressed her lips against Liara's. At first, Jane did it carefully and reluctantly, afraid that Liara would reject her, and she herself had too little experience in this. But to Jane's great happiness, Liara didn't resist. At first, she was completely stunned, but after a few seconds, she began to respond. Liara wrapped her arms around Jane's back, and Jane placed her other hand on Liara's neck.

And from that moment on, the world ceased to exist for Jane. Every touch of Jane's fingers to the tips of Liara's head crests caused involuntary purring in the latter, which was immediately transmitted to Jane. Her heart was already beating at the limit of its strength, blood pulsing in her temples, and with her whole body, Jane felt the difference in temperature between their bodies. This contrast was complemented by touches to Liara's perfect figure. And although she was clothed, the sensation of the unevenness of her ribs was still incredibly pleasant.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Jane couldn't stand it anymore and took a step forward. Liara didn't resist or didn't have time to do so, but as a result, she was now pressed against the table. Jane continued to push, causing Liara to bend under her and simply lay down on the table. She tried to stop herself with her hands, but instead, she knocked a few datapads off the table, which flew to the floor. The sound of glass shattering could be heard, but no one cared. After a few more seconds, Jane lowered her hand, which had been fiddling with the tips of Liara's head crests, and quickly found the zipper of Liara's suit. Jane immediately grabbed it and pulled it down. Reaching halfway, she stopped and began to stroke Liara's back. It was an indescribable feeling. Liara's smooth, cold, slightly scaly back was very different from the strong and rough synthetic skin on Jane's palms, the temperature of which was clearly higher than 98.6°F. Suddenly, Jane pulled away, but only to press her lips against the beautiful blue-skinned woman's neck.

— Sh... Sh... Sh-Shepard... — Liara whispered, not even understanding why. But a few seconds after Jane took Liara's leg and placed it on her waist, Liara began to try to speak more insistently. — She... Shepard... Jane... No... Don't... — but Shepard was no longer listening. She was already completely absorbed in her secret desires. Desires directed only at one Liara.

Suddenly the door to the room opened, and Tali walked in.

— Liara, do you have any sheets of paperrrr...?