But I tried a little exercise that turned out to be fun, making essentially "vanity plates" for a couple of fics I've written. I just GIS'd some screengrabs and used the pixl online image editor and they turned out pretty decent, aside from pixl's less than stellar font rendering.
Just Like Old Times
"Don't forget to introduce yourself to EDI, the ship's new artificial intelligence."
Tali looked over her shoulder at the Cerberus agent, contemplating what she just heard. Introduce yourself to the Cerberus A.I. that controls the ship and everything on it. Including even Shepard, maybe. She couldn't even bring herself to look at the Commander. She turned and the door sealed shut behind her, leaving her in a short deserted corridor.
The cold, sterile hall held no memories for her. When Shepard had said they were returning to the Normandy, she knew it wasn't going to be the same vessel, but she had assumed it would at least be an Alliance ship instead of a Cerberus privateer. She was alone, her marine escort all but wiped out, the lone survivor light years away on his way home where she should have gone. Instead, she was trapped on an enemy starship with the one man she trusted above all else their willing ally. She cursed her foolishness at agreeing to come aboard at all when in her heart she knew that man had died two years before.
"Welcome aboard, Tali'Zorah nas Reyya," a female voice said from a panel across from her, snapping her back to the now. A holographic sphere made of swirling dots materialzed and pulsed with the vocalization.
"vas Neema," Tali corrected the dots.
"I apologize. Our records of you are out of date. I will update them immediately. May I direct you to your quarters, or would you like to proceed to Engineering?"
She felt like a fool for leaving the briefing room without asking for directions, but wanted to leave before Shepard could offer to show her. She was angrier still that the virtual abomination had already started gathering intel on her. Worse, it had been listening the whole time and clued in she was lost. She weighed the options given. "My quarters, please."
"Please follow the indicator lights on the deck to starboard, and turn left to the CIC. Yeoman Chambers will attend to you."
Tali sighed deeply as soft blue lights in the floor tracked to a newly opened hatch. She followed through what appeared to be a lab and research facility where a one-horned salarian paced back and forth in front of a bench full of instruments. He muttered to himself and paid her no attention, but she felt relief at the sight of another non-human. She continued left through another hatch that opened into the CIC.
It was the Normandy, but not the Normandy. It had the same basic layout, with the central command area ringed with outward facing crew stations. The corridor to the cockpit stretched out of view. It seemed cold and sterile, brightly polished and perfect, without the scrapes and dents that showed people lived there. It was as soulless as the computer that controlled it. Against her better judgment, she scanned the room for a familiar face and found none.
Second
"They work for Cerberus," Tali pointed at the two humans standing next to Garrus. "Not for the Commander."
"C'mon, that's not fair," Jacob replied indignantly. "Shepard's the skipper. Period. He gives an order, we follow it. End of story. You act like we're all waiting to put a knife in his back."
Miranda held her arm out in front of him. "I'll handle this, Jacob."
"No, I want to hear," Tali said. "I want to know how loyal you will be when your Illusive Man orders you to eliminate Shepard when he's through being of use to you."
Jacob scowled. "Tali, you don't know what the hell you're talking about."
"Don't I? Maybe it's you who do not know." Tali turned to the recruits at her end of the table. "Those of us who were on the Normandy, the real Normandy know plenty. We saw first hand what Cerberus is capable of. Unspeakable cruelty. Unbelievable treachery. The rumors you've heard don't do justice to the truth."
She looked at her two human friends who wore the uniform of her enemy. "Do I know what I'm talking about? Joker? Doctor? You performed the autopsy on Admiral Kahoku did you not?"
Doctor Chakwas looked down at the floor and nodded."Yes. I did. And on the others. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself."
Joker glanced across the table to see Jacob and Miranda glaring at him. He adjusted his ball cap and cleared his throat. "I think I'd to talk to my lawyer before answering any questions."
Tali looked once again at the turian. "Garrus? How many Cerberus agents do you think you've killed?"
"Personally?" Garrus thought for a moment. "Sixteen, between Binthu and Nepheron. Shared with the rest of the squad, I'd estimate we're responsible for perhaps sixty or seventy deaths in their organization, assuming they were not mercenaries in Cerberus' employ."
Jacob frowned at Garrus' emotionless tally of human lives. As he told the turian in the armory that morning, he had never heard of Cerberus operations on those planets until Shepard brought them up. He didn't ask what the results of those missions were, but to hear Garrus casually throw out numbers like that made his stomach turn cold, regardless of the reason. Was it because it was an alien that pulled the trigger, he wondered? Or because of all the people on the ship, he knew Garrus Vakarian would never fire a shot that would put innocents in danger?
Miranda, on the other hand, did not blink an eye.
"And you?" Garrus asked Tali politely.
Tali looked down. "I don't keep count."
"Thirteen," Miranda said levelly.
"I figured you'd know," Tali told the Cerberus statistician, "And I don't regret a single one. I know Garrus doesn't either."
"That much is true," Garrus confirmed.
"Then why the hell are you standing with them now?" Tali yelled, her voice tinged with an equal mix of anger, disbelief, and the pain of betrayal.
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Am I getting any more writing done? Nah, not really. But at least I'm having fun... I recommend it to anybody else stuck staring at a block.
Modifié par ElectricZ, 21 février 2011 - 03:57 .
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