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[TheMajonese]

Chris half expected Naomi to follow Kurik. She would be the first standing laughing at the pool edge if a turian was drowning in it. But instead of wandering curiously around the place and causing trouble whenever she touched something that she wasn't supposed to, Naomi just moved straight to her room and completely ignored the other team members. 

 

With a sigh Chris entered his own bunk and placed his gear on the bed. Something felt wrong and he knew that it was the fact that he couldn't talk to his sister about his impressions of the vorcha and what they've seen so far of the planet. He knew that it would take at least a few hours for her to calm down again. While Chris was thinking of something he could do in the meantime, he heard Cadi.

 

A bit confused he left his room. "Something important?", Chris asked the blue-haired woman curiously. Then he realized that his sister was still missing. "Hey, Naomi! You coming?"

 

The door of her bunk was still open but it took a few moments until she caught up with her brother and Cadi. She had taken off the helmet, causing her long and now rumpled hair to fall in her face. If she hadn't glared at him like that, Chris would have laughed at the way she looked. "What do you want?", Naomi wanted to know from Cadi.

[Kel Riever]

"Important?  I suppose I would call it an opportunity," Cadi answered, leading the way.  She gave a look over her shoulder to Chris, though her hair hid her expression from Naomi, and he could tell she was up to something.  Cadi then told Naomi, "This isn't so much about what I want."  Cryptic as it was, Cadi let the mystery of what she was up to lie.  Both Naomi and Chris sensed she wanted to show more than tell.

It was obvious that Arcadia had set something up with Saba, from the dialogue they had overheard before.  Cadi didn't put her full back to either Chris or Naomi, but she was guiding with a purposeful stride.  She went out of the complex wing, to a side hall that seemed much less well populated and had the feel of a work area.  Far down the hall, there was a window to the gray outside, with an emergency airlock.  But long before reaching that end, there was another airlock, reinforced in fact, that Cadi came to about ten meters from the entrance to the Stormhammer wing.  She punched in a code, and cycled the lock.  "The airlock is for precautions.  The area beyond is enclosed and pressurized."

Arcadia waited for the two to enter, cycled the lock, which really only meant the hall door was sealed before the hatch beyond was opened.  Pushing the heavy, reinforced hatch aside, Cadi went in and beckoned the twins to follow.

Inside was a huge space, almost like a hanger.  High above, the vaulted ceiling provided a cold light that shone down onto a rough, and somewhat dusty work area.  There was shelving, the occasional light chair or table, but it was quite barren, seemingly removed of nearly all of its important content.  What stood out from the place as the three entered the corner at one end, was that the walls and ceiling were made of reinforced alloy, the kind you would expect to find used to make the hull of a military grade vessel.  The floor was smooth, solid rock, native to the mountain range of the complex.  Far down at the other end was a massive garage hatch door, the kind that could fit one of the huge earth moving vehicles that they spotted on the way in, though none was in the hanger.

One item of content that very much defied the definition of 'unimportant' however, was a white suit of what at first appeared to be armor, pinned to a nearby wall.  On closer inspection it was not so much a suit of armor, but a heavy pressure environment suit, reinforced for things like combat.  They were the kinds of things a person might expect to find in a mining operation like this.  Not effective for mobility, nor for any kind of standard operation.  But the heavy armor suit used by industry, for moving heavy objects, surviving accidents of incredible magnitude, if survival was at all possible, and fully pressurized for external use.  Nor was the suit pinned to the wall; it was held up by itself, powered by some sort of core that let it maintain its position, even in its 'off' mode.  The suit was white, with several warning labels and symbol decals decorating it. 

Arcadia watched as Naomi and Chris took in the place.  "So, this is it.  Saba has assured me the place can withstand anything any person could imagine doing to it.  I'm inclined to believe her.  You can do anything you want here, shoot weapons short of a Cain, and of course, use whatever biotics you would imagine."  Cadi then took a long glance at the twins, to see if they were beginning to catch onto her meaning, or at the very least, if she'd stirred any further curiosity.   

 

[TheMajonese]

His sister already opened her mouth but Chris quickly turned to Cadi, showing Naomi his back. "Ahm...that's great...", he began, just so that he could say something. He didn't need long to understand why Cadi had led them here. His face showed amusement but there was a somewhat sad look in his eyes. Since he felt as if it would hurt Cadi, he held back the laughter that wanted to break out. "That sounds...cool..." 

 

Chris knew that Naomi was waiting for him to give her the wanted attention to say whatever she had on her mind. And he had a very good idea of what she had on her mind, so he continued to babble like an idiot. "Well...I don't know what they would need such a hangar...on a planet like Parasc. It looks more like a military bunker than...ahm...something...you would need for mining operations, you know?"

 

He could literally feel Naomi's glare burning his back until he heard a disdainful "Pff!" from her before she turned away and began move through the area. 

 

When Naomi was out of earshot, Chris lowered his voice a bit. "I think I know what you're trying." With a sigh, he shook his head. All of a sudden he looked very tired. "And I really appreciate it...but it's probably not going to work. It's...very complicated..."

 

His face turned slightly red. "Yesterday, on the ship...well, Naomi made clear that she would leave stormhammer after we get this job here done. So...I guess I'll be gone as well. Remember when I said to you, that I think that both Naomi and I need this? Being part of this team? Now I realized that since we joined Stormhammer, Naomi has become...more...difficult to handle...And then I realized that I might have been wrong about this, maybe it would really help if we just leave."

 

Now the colour of his face reminded Cadi of someone who had eaten something extremely spicy. "I wasn't sure if I should tell you...but then I...ahm...I might have accidentally overheard your conversation with Reith a few hours ago. To be honest...I doubt that you can do much about her."

 

The sound of something hitting the floor interrupted him. They saw Naomi walking over a chair that she had kicked at in frustration.

[Kel Riever]

Arcadia listened to Chris, and he saw in her gaze some sort of calculation.  And then some sort of flare.

"Well, then, I suppose you wouldn't mind if I get a few parting shots in, since I'll apparently never see you again."  She leaned in close to Chris then and whispered.  "You're a good man, Chris.  But its time the bad girls had a talk.  And I want to hear what Naomi has to say."

With that, Cadi turned to the suit, and she started taking off her armor.  In a provocative way, with her back turned, she called aloud so Naomi could hear.  "That chair, are you kicking something that can't fight back to feel better?  Or are you trying to show someone a little of what you think you can do to them?"

Naomi and Chris saw that Arcadia had apparently no problem disrobing in front of anyone.  But she also was doing so in front of the white suit that was in the room.  She set the sections of her suit aside one by one, and turned to face the twins, getting down to nothing but her underwear.

[TheMajonese]

Chris wanted to tell Cadi to stop. He really did. But two things kept him from saying anything. The first one was the fact that he had no idea what the hell Cadi was trying to do now. He couldn't help but stare at her, completely dumbfounded and unable to move. The second reason was that there was no way to deny that he actually liked what he saw- until he realized that Naomi was seeing it as well. "What...? Wait, wait...!", he stammered, trying to prevent the inevitable.

 

His sister didn't even need to say anything; when she turned around, Chris froze where he stood. She spotted Cadi, then looked back at her brother. For a few seconds they both stared at each other. "It's not...wait a second...!"

 

But Naomi didn't seem to hear him. She clearly just needed to see Cadi in underwear next to her brother to jump to conclusions. Her face had lost any colour which highlighted the look in her green eyes even more. Chris had just enough time to jump behind a table before the biotic shockwave could reach him. Instead, the energy hit a chair with such force that it was flung against the wall where it broke to pieces. "Hey, you want to kill me?", he shouted from beneath the desk.

 

Heavily breathing, his sister turned to Cadi and pointed at her. "What the f*ck is going on?", she yelled, her trembling voice unusually high.

[Kel Riever]

Arcadia lifted an eyebrow just before she had to leap to the side to avoid the same shockwave.  After looking over at Chris to make sure he was all right, she slowly stood and faced Naomi.

Then something wicked flashed across Cadi's expression.

"Oh, I was just getting out of my armor to put on that mining suit so we could have it out, you and I.  I thought it might do you some good to blow off a little steam."  Cadi stepped backwards from the suit with her eye on it.  It looked like she was moving slowly to see if Naomi would give her the chance to get in the suit and fulfill on her proposal to spar.  

But it was too late before either Chris or Naomi realized that Cadi was backing towards Chris, who also was still distracted with what had happened.  Cadi spun quickly, catching him off guard, and placed herself against the taller Chris.

Then, while keeping her eyes on Naomi, she reached up with her hands, grabbed Christ by the neck and side of his head, and...

...and well damn if Arcadia didn't lock lips with Chris.  All while watching Naomi with the most evil stare.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Lauren walked along side Kamau into the dining area, picked up her tray and got a serving of what turned out to be a bowl of nutrient slop. She made a face and looked up at Kamau.

 

"I think you were right, and I don't think my seasoning can fix this," she  said.  "Perhaps it is meant to be consumed in a rapid fashion. No that might not be pleasant."

 

The  person serving the food spoke up. "This provides all  of  the vitamins, minerals, protein, energy and fats that one needs to survive. As you can see, the environment is not welcoming to agriculture and fresh ingredients. We make due and so  will  you."

[Cknarf]

Spoiler

“Spirits…” Kurik pulled at the stretchy, black material with his talons. “Not happening.” He tossed the provided swimwear aside. Instead, he ditched the top half of his armor, and exited with a neatly folded towel.

 

The lack of vorcha wasn’t much of a surprise, as he had grown used to the creatures scattering in his presence. Then again, he was usually shooting at them…

 

Kurik approached the pool with caution, stopping several feet from the edge. At 6’4”, drowning was very unlikely. Still, He wasn’t taking any chances. He poked at the water with the tip of his foot.

 

“Hm.”

 

This went on for a couple minutes, before he finally sat down on the edge, and let his legs dangle. He kicked a little bit, before sliding into the water. It hardly reached his waist.  Taking a deep breath, he waded toward the marked off area. The water gradually became deeper as he advanced, eventually reaching his skin.

 

“Okay…” Kurik briefly studied the safety floats, and the rope that was threaded through them. Carefully, he lifted the rope, and ducked under it.

 

So far, so good.

 

After about three more steps, the incline was far less gradual. An unprepared Kurik barely managed to take one last breath before losing his footing, and slipping under. Being a less than buoyant turian, he slid the rest of the way down on his back, to the bottom of the pool.

 

I fail to see the appeal.

[Kel Riever]

Kamau looked at the lone vorcha in the kitchen.  "Yes, well, some of us will have to adapt a bit more slowly.  Thank you, for almost everything the body needs."  He brought his bowl over to the table and sat down with Lauren.  "I wouldn't be surprised if it tastes like Tasty Wheat.   Cayenne, please?"

After a healthy sprinkling over his food, Kamau handed the cayenne back to Lauren.  "Thank you."  The vorcha who'd served them looked around for anyone else, and spotting no one, disappeared through a door into the back kitchen.  In confidence to Lauren, and in a low voice, Kamau said, "This place, it is so ordered.  I have no doubt it works in its own way.  What disturbs me is that if something were to throw it out of place, these asari have hired outside help to handle it.  But can we?  There are hundreds of vorcha here.  No matter our training, we are vastly outnumbered unless we can rely upon the Brigade.  And do you think they can perform their duty if push came to shove?"

~ ~ ~ ~

At the bottom of the pool, which was almost four meters deep, it was evident that Kuric would have to find his way out on his own.  There was a ladder built into the tiled side, and thankfully the water was clear so that he could see it.  But he would have to jump for it as the built in section was clearly meant to be used when the pool was filled...and by someone who floated more than they sunk.

Above, there was a break in the water.  Something silvery parted the surface and desceded.  It was a pole, and though the water distorted the view beyond its surface, Kurik could see a figure, a human perhaps?  And likely a woman.  He did not expect his companions nor from what he could see, did the figure of the woman remind him of anyone he knew.  Still, a pole descended the water within reach, and the woman above had knelt so that she might get it to him.  Certainly, Kuric could use any help he could get.  Taking the pole he could at least pull himself up to the ladder and begin climbing out.

 

[Cknarf]

"Your assistance is much appbpbpbb." Kurik leaned forward, to dump out the water that had accumulated in his collar area. "Apologies." He coughed, and responded with a far less formal expression of gratitude.

 

"Thanks."

[TheMajonese]

It was one of those things where Chris didn't know if he wanted it to last much longer or not to have happened in the first place. But after a few seconds that seemed to be much longer than they actually were, he took a step back. It was as if someone had punched him in the face, but instead of pain, he felt...he had no idea what the hell he was feeling right now but it wasn't too bad after all.

 

"Not sure if that was a good idea", he said breathlessly, his face still close to Cadi's. Worried that the next shockwave was already on the way, he quickly turned his head to Naomi.

 

But his sister didn't move. He could read it in her face that she would have turned the whole hangar upside down if Chris and Cadi hadn't been here as well. It was obvious that Naomi tried very hard to remain calm. She didn't want to loose her temper in front of her brother. "So that's why you didn't want to leave?", she asked in disbelief.

 

"Naomi! You know that's not-"

 

"Maybe...", she said without looking at her brother. Naomi moved to the hangar's entrance and opened the door. For a few seconds she just stood there before she suddenly spun around and pointed at Cadi. "And I don't know what you're trying to do...but...you...what...? AH, F*CK THIS!" She flung her arms in the air. Her voice was still much higher than usual. "I shouldn't bother you two any longer than necessary. But right now there's a turian who might be drowning and I don't want to miss that, so if you'd f*cking excuse me...!"

 

Chris searched for Cadi's eyes and shook his head to show her that it was better if she'd let Naomi go. "She wants to hate me for this. She can't but I know that she wants to." Then he shook his head and began nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't worry she'll be fine. But it's my fault, I should have told you everything right when we joined stormhammer. Naomi...can be a problem sometimes. I'm sorry, I should have warned you about her. It probably doesn't matter now, since we plan to leave the team anyway..."

 

Now he realized that the blue-haired woman in front of him was wearing nothing more than her underwear and he quickly turned away, his face becoming red again. "I know that you wanted her to blow off some steam by provoking her...but you could have just asked Naomi for a sparring. I mean...why did you thought you would need this...ahm...mining suit for that?" It would have been really cool though.

[Kel Riever]

Arcadia looked at the mining suit.  "It was something to see if she could go ahead and give me everything she had in a fight."  She brushed aside her long, blue hair and Chris could tell she had regret, though he could tell it didn't seem to be regarding him.

For a while, without words, Cadi began to gather her regular suit of armor and don it, piece by piece.  "I have tried everything to keep you and your sister, Chris.  I like Naomi and if there is a hate I have, it is that I hate when you tell me you both will leave regardless of what I do."  She paused to sigh heavily, and Chris could see that Arcadia was clearly bothered.  "You are too good, Chris.  I don't know when she starts following you, instead of you following her but I hope that time comes soon."

Cadi had to sit in one of the chairs that wasn't destroyed to slink the inner lining for her armor up her leg.  "Naomi...I more than like her.  I believe in her.  Goading her hasn't worked, nor kindness, nor anything more I can think of doing.  She does not like me in return.  And I cannot but take it personally, for it is personal to me.  This is how I see it.  I cannot separate my responsibility from what happens to either of you."

Chris could see the warrior woman struggle for her own part.  She was clearly silent with the great majority of her concerns, allowing them to burn within her rather than let them out.  He saw her glance up at him once more, as if she thought there was more to say, or perhaps to see if he would say anthing, but then the regret returned and she silently went back to getting her armor on.

[Kel Riever]

Down at the pool, Kuric surfaced to find a woman with long, wavy brown hair at the other end of the metal pole.  She was wearing a maroon bikini and seemed to be in good shape.  Around her neck were some sort of military tags, and she seemed amused, since nothing awful had happened.

"Don't apologize to me.  You're the most interesting thing that's happened here since I arrived.  I mean, almost drowning is one way to get attention, but I have an idea that you're probably going to either get some sort of lessons or try a different way to make a statement."

Once Kuric was out of the water, he found himself hit by a towel thrown at him by the woman.  Then she leaned back in one of the reclining patio chairs nearby.  "You have to be from Stormhammer, because you're not from my outfit and I know you aren't a vorcha or an asari.  My name's Liz.  What's yours?"

[TheMajonese]

At first Chris tried to avoid looking at Cadi to give her some time to get back into her armor but he eventually turned in her direction because he didn't want to speak toward the wall. But he didn't even know how to put the things he wanted to say into words.

 

"I know her for more than twenty-nine years now and yet I sometimes have no idea what is going on in her head." He sounded somewhat amused. "You...probably can't imagine how much your efforts to keep us here means to me. But I doubt that there's anything you can do. Naomi needs her mother...and so do I. She still might be somewhere out there...and now that I think about it, it would just feel so wrong to sit around with stormhammer while and do nothing to find her. Sorry, but I think Naomi is right about this..."

 

Seeing Cadi like that really made him feel bad about everything. She did so much for him and Naomi, even though she hardly even knew them and still it was to no avail. He wanted to comfort Cadi but he didn't even know what to say. "Maybe...it won't even take long. Maybe Naomi and I can find mom in a few weeks and we can come back to you...and stormhammer..." But his face didn't really show any confidence in his words. Even though Chris would never speak it out loud, he believed that his mother was dead.

 

With a sigh he walked to Cadi and placed one hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we're still here! And don't we have a few hours left before we have to go? We could go back to the others, have some fun, eat something, I don't know. Or do some workout. Or...do you play handball?" Pointing at the armored suit, he added: "We could as well steal that thing and do something cool with it. I always wanted to break things that I'm not supposed to..." It was a poor joke but right now Chris couldn't think of anything better than that. At least the smile he gave Cadi was honest.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Lauren appeared concerned with what Kamau had said. "I'm not sure. I don't really know how the Asari have been able to maintain control over the Vorcha population. Their explanation of nurture over nature is an interesting one, but this is unnatural.

 

"The only thing i can think of is that they put something into the food of the Vorcha to suppress the adrenaline responses. That would be successful in creating a more docile species. The Vorcha  have to eat, and if the Asari are the only ones  providing food, it would be successful. However, if that food supply were disrupted for any reason, it is my opinion that the Vorcha  would  revert to their old habits.

 

"I believe that the Vorcha have a naturally high level of adrenaline and that keeps their minds from focusing. You know the joke, Kamau. 'Vorcha, plan? If the Vorcha started planning we'd all be in trouble.'

 

"So I think they suppress the natural adrenaline levels so the Vorcha can be taught the Siarist meditations. The question is, since the Vorcha are so short lived, do they take them off the adrenaline suppresors? I will have to do a medical scan of the Vorcha to find out and compare it to a normal vorcha. This may help us figure out what happened in the mine.

 

"I'm rambling. To answer your question, Kamau, I don't know. I think Koehler's Brigade is going to look after themselves, and I don't trust them. Something happened down there, and we weren't told the whole story."

[Cknarf]

“My name is Kurik Trudas, and I am in fact part of Stormhammer.” Kurik first dabbed at his face, before wrapping the towel around the back of his neck, and tucking it into his collar to absorb any remaining moisture. And then, surprisingly, Kurik took a seat in the chair next to hers. He still sat in the usual back straight, hands together, eyes forward Kurik fashion, but appeared ready to communicate.

 

”I assume you’re one of Koehler’s?”

[Kel Riever]

At the pool

"Yes," Liz said, watching the turian sit down like he was ready for class.  "Let me just take a dip and then let me ask you a question."

With a nod, Liz got up and walked to the edge of the pool.  She hopped in, submerging for a few seconds, before popping back up and grabbing the edge of the pool.  "Wow, that's pretty cold for a heated pool!"  She pulled her hair back and pushed water from her face.  "Okay, I suppose I'll get used to it."  Liz then pushed off and tread water for a bit.

"I hope you don't mind me saying so, but your outfit seems a bit...disjointed.  I don't see you have any set uniform.  You walk around like you're, well, like no one is giving you direct orders.  This planet, I mean it isn't going to challenge you, so that's the good news.  There's just a bunch of pacified vorcha here.  But why don't you have some sort of command structure?  Is it because your group is so small?"

[Kel Riever]

In the dining hall

"Yes, I understand what you mean," Kamau replied.  "I am not sure this Brigade is all they claim to be, either.  And yet they are our back up if we run into some sort of trouble.  It does not make me feel comfortable."

Kamau had enough of his meal, and Lauren noted that he did seem to force his way through most of it.  "On the vorcha, I am not convinced an unnatural cause is responsible for their docile state.  Of course, you are correct, this must be considered.  But the asari of this world have been managing them for many decades, perhaps many centuries.  This would be a large secret to keep, particularly since there would be many people who would have suspicions about the methods to keep the vorcha in such a state.  I am not an expert in probability but my intuition leads me to believe the chances are high that it would have come out by now.  If the entire planet of vorcha were in this state, large shipments of chemicals would have to be shipped here to maintain that state."

Leaning back in his chair and pushing away his bowl, Kamau hypothesized, "This is my theory.  The vorcha do adapt, and I believe that the violent nature they exibit typically can be changed if other, more substantial adaptations happen in the species.  Nothing is set in stone, as they say, not with the vorcha.  Yet it would take a disciplined approach, severe perhaps.  Over time, the success would build on itself.  So perhaps initially, more work was done with the vorcha, perhaps by more asari.  Over the years, as the population became self sustaining in its passivity, the need for observers and guidance lessened and so now there are very few asari overseeing many vorcha.  There is little threat from the outside, it would also seem, so a stability has been created.

"But I may be incorrect in that this family, running this company, may not be representative of the other groups across the planets.  Or perhaps this is their nuance, and they are more on the extreme side of the way things are.  Whether this is true, whether there is some sort of medical control of the vorcha, it matters less than what could happen if such a balance were disturbed.  The situation here is delicate.  Obviously the asari have confidence in the status quo.  Yet I, for one, do not."

[Cknarf]

“I wouldn’t say that Stormhammer completely lacks a command structure. Although we may have a bit more freedom compared to other companies, there are still people that I must answer to.” Kurik rotated a bit to face the pool.  “But the chain of command is rather short. It is very different than the… organization I was previously affiliated with.”

 

As Kurik spoke, he watched the human effortlessly keep herself above the surface.

 

Perhaps I should try again...

 

Kurik set his towel aside, and approached the pool.

 

“Since we are few in number, command interacts with us directly, providing a sense of equality, I suppose, within the company.” Kurik sat on the edge, firmly gripping the ladder, just in case. “I no longer feel... expendable, as I did under my last employer.”

 

Kurik let himself slide over the edge, and of course, he sank like a rock. Fortunately, he was able to maintain his grip on the ladder, and find some footing on one of the rungs.

 

“What can you tell me about your organization? I can’t say I’ve heard of you, which I find quite surprising considering your apparent size.” Kurik lowered himself a little. "And why do you believe Stormhammer has been called upon, if Koehler's Brigade already has such a large presence here? I highly doubt a handful of contractors will make much of a difference."

[Kel Riever]

"Why, looking for a better outfit to join?"  Liz was teasing but Kuric got the sense that she was playing either the serious offer or the joke as an excuse depending on his reaction.  "The Brigade is large enough, though of course nothing like the companies that span multiple planets.  At any time there are about forty of us, add on five to seven support staff at any time.  And why has Stormhammer been asked?  You'd have to ask Teklia to get an answer, as if she'd ever be upfront with the likes of us."

Liz took a few side strokes, circling Kuric a bit, before treading water again.  "I think it has to do with your commander, Reith.  They say he's dependable to a fault.  The dirty rumors are that it got him thrown out of the Alliance.  If you're going to shoot your mouth off, you better be important, visible, and correct enough that nobody can get rid of you.  It's the second that Koehler joked was his problem.   Getting rid of a general?  Could be a problem.  A Colonel like Reith was?  Maybe.  Bust him down, nobody cares about a major.  Koehler has always said nobility has no place in our business."

Kuric felt like Liz was enjoying displaying her knowledge.  She all but confirmed it by saying, "It sounds like I know more about your commander than you do.  Tell me, why does a sinking mercenary give two damns about his outfit?"

[Kel Riever]

In the garage

"I wish I knew what was going on in Naomi's head," Arcadia said, and Chris got the feeling she was speaking of more, but he couldn't be sure of what.  Cadi stopped putting on her armor and looked up at Chris above her.  "My offer to you is if I can help, if there is any way I can help, I would do whatever I could to help you two find whoever you need to."

Arcadia's blue eyes were staring into Chris, as he became aware.  He felt her soften under his grasp.  She glanced at his hand briefly, but instead of moving away, she placed one of her hands over his.  "We do have a few hours, even considering my obligations.  If we are not going to see each other again after this, then perhaps we should do whatever we want."

Chris was certain of the invitation in Arcadia's gaze as she stared back at him.  "If you are going to make your sister mad," Cadi said, "You might as well get the benefit of having a reason."

[Cknarf]

"The fact that you have to ask such a question tells me more about your organization than I will ever need to know." Kurik released the ladder, using the edge of the pool for support instead. It wasn't swimming, but hey, at least he was trying.

 

"Stormhammer compensates me far better than the Suns ever did, and while I may lack confidence in my unit at times, I have yet to feel as though there is a target on my back, and that, Liz, is a welcome change."

[Cainhurst Crow]

Menos sat in his quarters, bored already with the situation. This planet was just so grey, everything was grey, evne the interior was so dull and lifeless that it might as well have been grey. Combined with the lack of noise and activity, Menos couldn't help but feel his mind reaching for things to do. He tried to connect to the extranet, but there was no signal he could connect to on his own. He had a number of games on his omnitool he could play, but that might waste battery life. And he frankly did not trust the asari here enough to ask them for a connection to the extranet, not if he didn't want to bomb his omnitool after and purge its data.

 

Luckily, menos had a means of keeping himself busy, a analogue means in the form of his playing cards. He shuffled them as he prepared for a simple time wasting game. Fortune telling, using his playing cards as a medium, had been something he'd picked up a year and a half ago. But ever since, Menos liked to bust it out every once in a while as a means of amusing himself. He shuffled his deck, setting it down as he drew his cards blind, setting them face down until there were 5 cards. Each 4 were suppose to give small and vague details, and the last card was suppose to be the actual setting of the stage for the future.

 

He began to flip his cards one by one, a frown etching on his face with each card he did so.

 

6 of hearts, a sudden wave of good luck or good fortune. 4 of Clubs, dishonesty or deceit, a warning about blind acceptance. 2 of diamonds, a change of partners or business, an uncertain change in relationship. Ace of Clubs, good fortune and unexpected gains, but with the low quality of the cards fleeting and short lived.

 

Menos reached down and flipped over the last card, going silent and a little pale as he looked at it.

 

The Ace of Spades, a card that symbolizes misfortune, difficult endings or challenges, and death. Menos stared at the card as he swept it up, putting the cards back into the pile as he laughed it off.

 

"Stupid cards...trying to lay out something that dumb...like any of its real anyway..." He said as he tried to brush it off, though something in his gut made him a bit queasy about the whole thing. He worked to shrug it off, getting up as he headed out of his quarters to find the others, and get those fortunes out of his mind.

 

"Maybe some of the others would like to play this dumb game..." He said aloud as he went to find someone else there.

[TheMajonese]

A bit aimlessly, Naomi went through the complex and didn't really pay much attention to her surroundings. She was playing with her brother's knife, threw it up a meter before catching it again. Since the knife was spinning, it sometimes happened that she grabbed it at its blade instead of the grip. And sometimes she missed completely and it dropped to the floor. But at the moment Naomi didn't care.

 

She was still angry and she still had no idea why. The only thing she could be sure of was that at least Cadi had planned something by bringing the twins to that hangar. It was hard to say if Chris had been aware of anything, but at least the blue-haired woman had wanted something from her. There had to be a reason for this...and for her teasing...when she and her brother...

 

The knife hit the floor again. If I ever see them together again, I'm going to kill her..., she thought in frustration when she picked it up. Or him...or both...that would be best... But Cadi had probably caught Chris off-guard as well. There was no way he would agree to something like that...no way...

 

When she looked around Naomi realized that she was heading back to the area of stormhammer. The pool wasn't too far away and now that she was already here, she could as well see if there was anything interesting going on around the pool. Upon entering the swimming hall she was surprised to find it completely empty. Except for the two figures on the other side of the pool.

 

She curiously moved closer and when she realized that the figure at the edge of the pool was a turian, she began to shout. "Haha! No way..." Naomi quickly came closer to see how Kurik was doing. "Hey, please tell me he didn't already try to swim on his own!", she said to the woman in the water, sounding very excited. "Don't tell me I already missed the best part!"

 

 

 

For a moment Chris stared at Cadi and when her words finally reached his mind, his hand snapped back as if he had burned his fingers. Oh crap... He suddenly realized that all of his conversations with Arcadia had been about his sister. Now Cadi's words wiped away all somber thoughts about his and Naomi's future and instead made him think of what had happened just a few minutes ago. And that he had actually enjoyed it.

 

"You...ahm...might be right about this...but...ahm...", he said, trying not to look too embarrassed. Again his head looked like it would glow red in the dark. What the f*ck is wrong with me? His reaction was more the one of a schoolboy, not the one of a man who usually didn't have to do very much to attract women's attention. But then he usually knew what was going on and wasn't taken by surprise like that. 

 

"I mean...you...! Okay then..." But after pondering about this for a few moments, there was no reason not to accept her offer. At least none Chris could think of. Which wasn't very much right now. "Guess your right...", he eventually said with a grin. "But...here? Right now? I'm sure we could get somewhere...more comfy." 

[Cknarf]

Kurik looked up to Naomi. "If you wish to see a demonstration, I must ask that you grab that long pole, as I will likely need assistance."

 

He pointed to the big 'ol turian retrieval stick on the ground nearby.

 

"My life is now in your hands, Naomi."

 

Kurik took a deep breath, and pushed off from the wall.