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"So, you're finally awake." The first voice that came to him was one oddly familiar. A human it sounded like, waking up to see a solid blue wall and a cold steel ceiling. He felt like he had been sleeping in the back of a truck, groaning as he felt his body stiff and uneven, the armour upon him looking oddly different than it seemed before. Heavier certainly, his staggering gait caused by the new weight as he stepped back against the wall trying to not fall over. He saw a forcefield now before him, a small room with only one bed and a toilet seat left available, looking past the blue screen to see a black human in blue officer garb. "Wh-where...where am I?" asked FG. "Back on the Citadel," said the human. "Detective Davis, C-Sec Investigations, we met before?" "We...ohhhhh...yeah you uh...took me up to see that other officer. Why am I here?" "We found you dumped out on the street, one of our officers roaming saw you in the docking bay area and you came up, got reported missing about two weeks back." "I was...missing? When?!" "Your friends reported you, the Centurion Eagle? Said you disappeared a few hours after we met." "I don't...I don't remember what happened, I-...I remember a train, I think I was...somewhere in the warehouse area, I can't...then it just goes dark for me." "Well the good news is they also have your work ID so you're no longer restricted to just the Citadel. You just hang here until they come by and collect you, then you're free to go." "I uh...kay, I just-sorry I'm all...I'm really confused, I just can't remember anything...but-NNNGH!" He stumbled back as a strong vision came burning through him, a shot of blood and twisting of bone that sent rippling fear throughout his entire body. Screams came calling back from the darkest pits of his imagination, or perhaps it was his memory becoming all too vivid. The voices echoed away as he stared at the human blankly. "You alright?" asked Davis. "Yeah...I just...was I drugged or something?" "We checked, not a drop of tox in you. Don't remember you having a hermetically-sealed suit before though, did you have that before?" "I...I think...I mean it IS my same suit but...hermetically-sealed? What's that?" "It's when you can't leave the suit, like ever, it's sealed your body perfectly inside and the only way to open it is by more...extreme measures to pull you out like-" "H-HOLD ON! Did you say SEALED my body inside?! But that...that makes no sense, I could take this off before!" "Welp now you can't so I dunno what happened to you." "But that...but...what am I gonna do, what am I gonna USE when I have to go?!"

He shouted this whilst pointing at the lavatory like a petulant toddler, the detective smirking as he rubbed a hand over his lips. "Thankfully these kind of suits you have are very advanced, they have colostomy pouches where the uh...contents are broken down biotically, through a small acceleration field. Damn expensive to have, must have cost you quite a bit." "But I...what would I even need that for?!" "No idea, we're trying to piece together your movements, your friends managed to tell us WHEN you disappeared but that's it. Do you remember anything?" "Nothing I can remember." Other than the weird visions and creepy-ass nightmares, thought FG. But I'm pretty sure we don't put dreams in our testimony. "Alright well...you seem to be alright, if not mentally stressed but that's understandable from being...well I wanna say kidnapped but we have nothing to go on. Are you sure you don't remember anything?" "I...I think I see a hospital...on a mountain somewhere...but I can't tell if it's a dream or a memory. I'm sorry. I just wanna find somewhere to lie down, properly even, I mean no offence but this uh...this cell is not quality for me." "We are in the process of making it a travel inn for you." "No no this is BETTER than a travel inn I will say that much, I mean it's clean." "Hahahaha, alright. Your friends should be here soon, they said they were arriving shortly." "Alright...hey um, did that officer recover yet?" "Not yet no, but he's doing fine thanks for asking." "Alright." A few hours later, James soon saw his friends appear from the side of the forcefield, waving over to him as they walked right up. Leiah kept up the girlfriend act even if most of her relief was genuine. "JAMES! OH, Keelah James I'm so glad you're okay! What happened to you?!" "I don't know I...I really don't. Can we just go home now?" "Yes, please, I...I thought something terrible happened to you...oh I'm so happy to see you..." The forcefield went down and she immediately hugged him, tightly clasping his body against hers as he embraced in return. His worries started to melt away within the company of friends, and in truth he felt a lot more warmth coming from Leiah than he did from the rest of the group, as Areh said: "The hell did you go?!" "I...don't know, listen, I'll...let's just go back to the ship alright, I need to lie down for a bit." "Good, awesome, great plan let's go." "Haaaaang on."

Lirem stopped Areh from moving with a grab for his shoulder, the quarian shrugging him off fiercely in response before turning towards the raptor. "I'm the leader of this group and I say what we do. You ain't going off without my permission." "I don't NEED your permission Lirem." "Sure you don't. James are you alright?" "I just wanna lie down," replied FG, "like somewhere that has a proper bed?" "Alright. We have to discuss our next mission too, you'll have to talk to the boss once you rest up a bit, alright?" "Wait what mission?" "You don't remember? ...look we'll talk later on the ship, let's go." "Finally," said Areh. As they made their way out of Citadel Security, the raptor noted even more than usual the frosty attitude between the band members, not saying a word until they reached back aboard the ship. Just before they departed however, a package came for James Campbell from a turian female, calling: "Scuse me sirs!" "Huh?" The turian had sky-blue markings upon her face, definitely not the assassin that James remembered well as she offered the package, a small one that had what felt like a book and a small tube inside of it. Yet somehow she looked familiar to him. "Phew, glad I caught ya, I have a package for a Mr. Campbell?" "Uhhh...yeah?" "Here ya go, from a mutual friend." "Um...wait, is this a bomb?" "No, it's from officer Drumarien." "Wait, what?" "He told me to tell you this. He said 'I hope you finally got your work permit. Here's a commemorative gift for finally leaving the Citadel legally for the first time'." She handed him the package before leaving with a salute, winking at him as she strided off back towards the Citadel. James slowly walked back into the ship as he went straight for his room, with Leiah waiting for him at the door before hugging him once more. It felt much more comforting than the last time she hugged, her hands wrapping around his waist firmly. "Here...this one's real." "Wha-um...okay." "Sorry...I...I really was worried about you. You've been gone for like two weeks, I thought something horrible happened to you." "It's fine, um...listen, I'm sorry." "It's not your fault, do you remember anything?" "I...I can't...maybe after a good proper sleep I might, I'll talk to you later alright? I just feel really off right now." "Okay, I understand, you must have been through something bad, your eyes look terrible." "Really?" "Yeah...really bloodshot, or...is that something normal for your species?" "Uhhhh nnnnnoooo...kinda the same as a human really, other than the scale itch which I don't have thankfully." "Heehee, just like a varren." "Right." "What's that by the way?" She pointed at the package he held under one arm. "Oh, someone gave me this from that police officer I met, said it was something he wanted to give me." "Not a bomb is it?" "Naaaah. So uh, what's up with those guys, the band I mean, they seem kinda weird since I got back." "Uh...I'll explain later, some things...happened, why don't you go sleep and I'll see you when you wake up? That way we can get you all nice and fresh for our mission." "Ohhh right that uh...mission, what was it again?" "You remember, the terminal I hacked at C-Sec and the-" "OHHH yeah, right that...wait something happened on it right?" "Jeez you really are out of it, aren't you?! Go to bed already get some sleep!" "Alright alright I'll see you later." "Later!"

Heading off to bed to get some proper rest, despite having already woke up in a jail cell not so long ago, James laid out and just tried his best to relax. He tried to remember what had occurred leading up to when he lost consciousness. The C-Sec infiltration he remembered, Dahnus he talked to at the hospital certainly, and then the fight with Roy. His heart sank slightly, but then he remembered nothing else after. Piecing the memories together, he realised that Roy wasn't behind what happened to him, since he would certainly not be still alive if he had been. The suit was odd for him, the larger steel design being not exactly heavier but somehow more cumbersome to walk in, mainly for its thickness. His arms were still feeling as weighty as before, so it felt like he had a weight on his back always which was in turn because of the strange protruding length up behind him. He imagined it was some sort of huge rifle clasped to his back, but then why would it be inside the suit? Clearly a lot of answers were needed, and he decided to settle with at least one for now. The mysterious package from officer Drumarien. After a small nap for at least half an hour when the ship flew off into space, the raptor got up and opened the package carefully. Inside was a datapad with a recording logged onto it, as well as a sealed hypodermic cylinder containing some sort of light-green liquid, the top being a breaking tube to allow injection into the skin harmlessly. He turned on the datapad, showing a familiar-looking face. Dahnus Drumarien sat waiting in his bed, still in hospital but looking a lot better than before. The colour, if one could say such, had returned to his cheeks, his wounds still healing but certainly no longer looking pallid. He nodded towards the holder unseen, waiting to give instruction. "I heard you got found somewhere in the lower districts and...I can't say I'm surprised that you ended up in much trouble again after even obtaining your work license. But whatever happens, I have something to ask you. I don't know what you plan on doing, but considering you will be leaving outside of the Citadel's reach I am unable to account for your actions, but I am also unable to protect you. "However...if you ever meet the assassin again, use this antidote I have provided if she manages to strike you. It will allow you to still retain your neural capacities despite some of the pain of toxins that will come running through your system. Her poison knows no bounds for how lethal it is, the antidote being its only weakness. Use this and you shll be immune to her poison for at least an hour, plenty of time for it to kill off inside your system. This is NOT commercially available. Tell no one about this. And I shall keep quiet about you. "If you manage to kill her...make a recording to prove it and then come back to me. This is a personal request, and one that is strictly off the record. That is all. May the spirits protect you."

The datapad logged off with a nod from Dahnus, leaving James with the mysterious vial of antidote wondering what exactly was his obsession. Was he perhaps tired of being caught by red tape to catch an assassin and instead asked a lone mercenary? Or was it something more? He knew he would have to face her again, especially when concerning their missions ahead. Yet a part of him had rather hoped he would not have to see the assassin again. As he put away the antidote into a safe place, his omni-tool suddenly beeped with an alarm signal that startled him, stumbling back onto the bed and quickly bringing it up. A message came reminding him to "CHECK LATEST RECORDING FILE", which puzzled him greatly. "Huh? I didn't set a note for that...when did I...you know what I can't remember a lot of things I probably forgot something." He checked through the tool's functions until finding the recording, bringing it up as he watched and waited. The moment the screen sparked into life floating above his arm he immediately regretted it, a hot white fear paralysing him briefly to the bed. Something came swarming out of the darkness on the monitor, a table in the background of some sort as the face of a monster came slowly through. His own face, but with eyes completely black. Long white fangs like that of a cobra curved along his chin, slowly transforming into a monstrous grin. "Is this on?" "Y-y-yes," said a voice terrified behind the recording. "Good. Now stay there or else I will make your death last longer than these walls. ...hello James Robert Campbell. Hmhmha ha ha...finally you can see your face the way it truly deserves to be." The raptor backed up on the bed stricken with fear, panicking slightly as he tried to keep his arm away to repel the monster's vision. The one who originally recorded it was trying not to shake too much with his own breathless sounds of horror, the raptor panting: "H-hoh god...oh...oh f-fuck no...n-not you, not you god I remember now. I-i remember." "Do you like my eyes? Yours rather, now bereft of life and cold as the blood that now runs through me. Did you know that when I possess you, you are technically dead? Or rather inbetween life and death? Your body still fits like a glove for my...purposes." "The fuck you want from me!? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"

He asked this knowing it would not answer as the creature walked slowly towards the table, the focus showing it had a salarian scientist strapped down and panicking at the armoured raptor above him. Long dreaded claws scraped across his face, dripping small rivulets of green blood across his sallowed face, wracked with fear and suffering about to come down on his head. _ "You are aware of the new armour fitted onto your body I presume. It is, according to this scientist here, a fully capable suit that provides...what was it again?" "A-a-a...a...p-please, don't kill me-AAAAAAAAAARGH!"_ The salarian's eye was slowly scooped out from its socket by the long thin claw, neatly without much scarring around the face. The scientist was shrieking and sobbing from his one good eye as he begged and pleaded for no more, his eye left laying upon his stomach staring up at him blindly. _ "I will only make you suffer if you do not repeat to him what you told me. Now, tell him!" "A th-th-thin s-s-self...regulating...thermal layer of armour. H-hoh it hurts...wh-why are you doing thi-NO, PLEASE NOT MY EYE!" "SAY IT!" "A thin...layer of...self regulating thermal armour...c-comfortable to wear for your size, contains...appropriate waste disposal, meaning you will never have to take it off. Ever." "In turn, you will notice the odd protrusion now on your back." _ The demon turned round to show the same length, the shape now looking more and more familiar as James flinched back with horror, grabbing at his back desperately. "Yeeeeeees. It is precisely what you think it is. Now you and I shall never be apart. Forever." "WHAT!?! WH-WHAT DID-WHY!? WHY WON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE GOD DAMMIT?!" "That wasn't a very nice thing to do you know." Scissoraptor waved a long clawfinger with a little tut-tut-tut mockingly. "Do you know what happens when I get left alone, all alone in a contained box inside an office like some useless paperwork? ...I get clingy. VERY. Clingy." The demon snarled with a twitch of rage in his dead black eyes, clearly offended by such a thought as he walked right up to the viewer, the one recording almost flinching with terror from the way it shook. "It took me quite a while to return to you I must say. The alien officers were...very uncooperative. I'm sure I left at least five dead...one was rather difficult but...we won't concern ourselves with that. Do you see that woman there?" He pointed over to the dead human female on the floor, her body torn with wounds all over including a few gunshots to the face. Dirt-blonde hair pooled like bleached blood from the back of her head. "She was very helpful to me, a human officer who had a most terribly distraught relationship with her mother. I told her I understood everything, mothers can be such...troublesome people. Oh...I forgot, you wouldn't know such a thing would you James?" "You...y-you fucking freak...g-god dammit..." "Alien souls by the way are VERY strange to taste. Most unusual...but not unpleasant. There still remains doubts, sorrows...regrets. The doctor here..."

He panned the camera towards the salarian, who was forcefully restrained and gagged, struggling to get out of his chair. "I'm sure he will be an interesting delicacy for me. Shall we have a taste together?" James could only stare with horror at the doctor screaming and begging for his life, as the raptor's own body slowly cut open the alien's neck. Thickening green blood slowly began to drip down his body like a waterfall, the screams turning into gurgling gasps and chokes. Soon the Scissoraptor simply shoved his hand into the throat and twisted out the larynx, ripping it straight from the salarian as he slumped, his half-blind face staring eternally at the viewer. Then something even more disturbing took place. The demon slowly began to absorb something, or was trying to at least, breathing in a thick deep breath that made it shudder with a hungering bliss. Somehow, the recording could not pick it up, but it was certainly something being extracted from the salarian's body judging by the last post-mortem convulsions. Soon it stopped, the sounds of a horrifying scream turning breathless within the air, as the raptor's form sighed with a deep relief before slowly turning back towards James. "Ohhhhh...now he was interesting. He had regrets. Doctors always do, that one patient who they could never save. He failed to heal a child, and it forever stained his soul. Trauma itself adds a very fine taste of bitterness to a soul. Especially when it involves children." "You...you fucking asshole..." "I am sure by now you are trying to insult me uselessly with your profane common tongue, James. But let me tell you now. I will never be apart from you. I will always be close to you, almost against your bare flesh. Of course you'll sadly never be able to use me as a weapon with your new suit, but it is a sacrifice I must make to prevent any attempts of you...misplacing me in the far and deep regions of infinite space." "Ohhh I'll find a way...I'll find a way to get rid of you even if you can't hear you fucking piece of SHIT!" "I must say...I should thank you for giving me the chance to explore strange new worlds of wonder and ruin. It is a rare opportunity for me to address you in such a way, so I shall thank you for...giving me the best thing I have ever wanted. A way to cross over into other worlds, into other creatures...and to taste new souls. In fact, once I have fully consumed you piece by piece I will even be able to manipulate your powers. Don't worry...I will take care of you...and just to make sure, I will ALSO make sure your little sodomite shall join the same fate as you." "NO! YOU'RE NOT GETTING HIM! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HIM!" "I can feel your hate and fear from the past even...you have no way of fighting me James. Even with all of what little courage now lies within your broken twisted heart, you cannot stop me. Your precious little sodomite isn't here to save you, and I will make certain that he shall pay for his insolence when I have fully devoured your wretched soul. No one...defies me. ESPECIALLY not some pathetic little dreamer who thinks he can wish upon a star and abolish my existence as if I were NOTHING!"

The creature sighed with disgust before clearing his throat, stiffening himself up before walking up towards the one recording, asking: _ "You still have the information on the Delta-Six murders?" "Y-yes, sir." "Good...is there a way you can add them as an addendum to this recording?" "I...I-i-i-" "Your brother is only down the hallway, and if you cannot give me what I desire then I will make certain that he knows that every second of his agony is because of you...now. Can. You. Do it?" "Yes, yes I can j-just please don't kill my brother, n-not my baby brother!" "Good. If you TRULY want your brother to survive...perhaps we can make a deal. Either your soul...or someone else's that you can give me." "Wh-wh-what?!" "Just something to consider, we'll talk of this later if you truly love your brother so. As for our dear viewer, enjoy the little film reel I made just for you...I'm sure you will recognise my handiwork...or rather, OUR handiwork. Allow me to say thank you. Thank you for bringing me to this place where I may feast upon all these creatures. I will be sure to give the same pleasure to your most dearest love one day...we shall meet again, James Robert Campbell." _ The recording cut off only to be replaced by a series of brief video images and news reports profiling the 26 murders that had been noted on the Citadel. Video transcripts, security cameras, news and noted people making statements from the Citadel Security, desperately trying to hunt down the killer. Even though James noticed that it was not his own body that was committing the murders, the last words of the Scissoraptor echoed in his head as voices came hurtling in from every new video. "We do not know at this time-" "W-WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" "Six murders so far matching the same-" "T-take my money please don't hurt me!" "-mother of two was killed in Zakera Ward as the latest-" "I HAVE A FAMILY, PLEASE G-GOD NO!" "-Sec do not have any comments at this time-" "-timeline of events show the murders started three weeks ago-" "-ten-" "-twelve-" "-fifteenth victim was found yesterday-" "-twenty-second-" "DADDYYYYYYY!" "-officer found severely wounded after encountering Delta-Six, saying-" "GARY NOOO! THAT'S MY SON YOU SON OF A BITCH, THAT'S MY SON-" "DROP YOUR WEAPON! I SAID DROP IT!"

In the noise of guilt dragging him deeper within the abyss, he clutched his head and tried to block out the screams, the voices pointing all towards him knowing he had brought this demon here. People were dead, people who would never walk again, family lives ruined and torn apart by this force of evil. The numbers came flashing up with names provided alongside as part of comprehensive report stolen from C-Sec. Twenty-six people dead because of him, all of whom were not criminals, or thieves or anything that would allow him to justify it. He knew, that he could not excuse himself in any way for it. The raptor sobbed deeply into his bed, weeping and curling up in abject misery over hearing the voices play back in his head. The cries of those lost and others who had lost them hungering for him, hungering for justice or pleading for mercy, only to find that neither would come. He didn't know whether he wanted to fight or just wanted to curl up and stop living, knowing he deserved such. The only thing he could focus on positively in the haze of messages given to him, was the last one on the recording. It was Dahnus, the one officer who lived. Somehow, he was not sure why, but the sight of the officer on the recording with gun transfixed upon his face gave him an odd sense of hope. That even one had managed to survive the onslaught of this demon he had brought, the one he trusted to keep safe and away from the people of the Citadel, made him slowly resurge back with a rising heart. Slowly, but surely. He tried to get up after at least an hour of worry, fretting over his suit constantly for what it now was to him. A prison, locked against the one thing that he would never want again. As he tried to remember the turian officer's words, the sounds of arguing came from somewhere down the hall, four voices differing in volume and fury. He softly turned round the corner to investigate, seeing it came from the games room that also doubled as the recording studio for the Sole Calibrators, the band being the sole occupants now arguing over something. "You don't know nothing about this!" said Lirem. "LIKE HELL I DON'T!" argued Areh. "You just go laughing it off in your room with your big krogan buddy, and I'm trying to keep this band together!" "BULLSHIT, YOU'RE THE ONE FORCING IT APART!" "I WASN'T THE ONE THAT SENT PROMISES WE CAN'T KEEP TO THE HORIZON PEOPLE!" "Who's stopping you from completing that promise!? YOU ARE, THAT'S WHO!" "I DON'T HAVE TO DO IT!" "YES YOU DO, THAT'S THE POINT OF BEING IN A FUCKING BAND! _" "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BEING IN A BAND YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" "_DON'T YOU CALL HIM THAT!" roared Jax. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" "GO AHEAD, THEN WHAT!? You won't have a guitarist to do your fucking song you love so much, OH WAIT, it's just the two of you that matter!" "I'M NOT THE ONE THAT'S ACTING LIKE A BITCH WHO WON'T DO STUFF HE'S ASKED TO! People been askin' that fer years and YOU are a spoilt brat!" "I AM OLDER THAN YOU YOU SACK OF SHIT!" "I'M FOUR-HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY YOU FUCKING DUMBASS, YOU'RE LIKE THIRTY-SOMETHING!" "THIRTY-SEVEN, AND I SERVED IN THE HIERARCHY SO YOU FUCKING LEARN SOME RESPECT!" "HAH! I don't give fucking respect to a Turian soldier, you sure don't bother pulling up rank unless you think it actually works, which it DOESN'T!" "YEAH!" cried Areh. "You don't care enough about being a soldier that's the whole reason you started up this band, don't pull that shit on us!" "Well CLEARLY I have to," said Lirem, "because I have here two fucking jokesters who act like kids thinking they can just post whatever they want and be SUDDENLY DISAPPOINTED when they don't get what they want!" "Because YOU won't do it, I'm not gonna get flak for this, you will because you won't play Rachniphobia because of some bullshit with your dad an-" "_DON'T EVER MENTION MY DAD YOU FUCKING SPASTIC SHIT! _"

Silence came dead from inside the room. James peeked inside to see the two turian brothers on the left side of the room, and Areh and Jax on the right. Areh balled up his fists, looking towards Lirem as Jax stood utterly astonished at what he just said. The quarian at first looked away, clearly shaking with anger as Norem slowly walked up towards Lirem, tapping him on the arm. He said nothing, but gave an immensely disapproving stare as the turian in orange walked up to Areh softly. "H-hey...um, listen I-" "Shut up." "Huh?" "...j-just SHUT UP!" Areh suddenly slammed his fists into Lirem and forced him to fall over, knocking against Jax's drum set in a great clattering noise before the quarian started screaming, with Jax trying to calm him. "I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING, A REAL CHANCE FOR US ALL TO BE SOMEBODY BUT YOU'RE TOO STUPID TO EVEN SEE IT! YOU'RE THE FUCKING RETARD AROUND HERE!" "AREH-" "SHUT UP JAX, SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU WERE THERE WITH ME! YOU WANTED TO DO THIS, THIS WAS YOUR SONG DAMMIT!" He ran out with fury, shrieking behind his mask as he went crying back to his room, his screams turned livid as the sounds of chaos and things been slammed against the wall were clearly heard from his room. James went hiding out of sight the moment that happened, watching Jax slowly leave as both turians decided to stop, not leaving just yet as Lirem said: "...don't." "Huh?" asked Norem. "Just don't. I don't wanna hear it." "I won't...but you know he's right." "I said SHUT UP NOREM! Fuck nobody's on my side today, all I want is to fucking move on but no one wants to let me! What about my problems, what about US?!" "Don't you dare drag me into this." "What?!" "This is your problem, not mine. I have no reason not to play at Horizon, but you do, so if you want to go disappoint our entire fandom and half the galaxy because you can't grow up, then fine. But know that if you do, you're gonna be the reason this band won't exist anymore." "...fuck you. I wish we never left the military." Lirem made his way back to his room sneering with hatred, stomping with head low as James slowly made his way round, noticing Norem was picking up the pieces left from the argument. Jax's drums would have to be dealt with by the krogan himself, the rest of the props now being placed back to where they were. He didn't bother looking up when heard James walk in. "Bands always have creative differences." "Yeah, sure." "That didn't fool you huh?" "Nnnnnope. What the hell happened?" "It's just personal things, nothing for you to worry about." "Norem. If I'm gonna be on this ship with you guys I wanna know. I can't just be sitting around ignoring you while all you guys are screaming at each other, I noticed you guys were being shitty back when you got me out from prison-" "You were not in prison, you were just in an overnight cell." "POINT IS, I want to know." "And I say it's none of your business." "Listen, I was fucking kidnapped." "...what?" "I remember now, someone kidnapped me and someone got me back out, I dunno what happened but I got taken away somewhere and I don't know why! So I am REALLY not in the fucking mood to deal with this secret-housewife bullshit that you keep playing up to me, especially when I'm here living amongst you and I've done a lot of shit for you. Now tell me what the fuck is going on!" ".......for the love of-...fine. Just...fine."

Norem slowly stood up and decided to drop the secrecy, crossing his arms firmly towards FG. "You wanna know what happened? Areh went and posted on our fan forum about us being at the Horizon Charity Concert. Problem is, none of us were consulted about this." "Ah huh...okay that sounds kinda dickish." "Thing is, he explained that he did that in order to force Lirem to have to go, in order to honour our word to our fans. He ALSO posted that we would be playing Rachniphobia, which as you remember, is the song that my brother hates." "And...why does he hate it? Like, I heard it, it's a nice song, hell it's a great song! What's his deal with that song?" "It's not the song itself...it's what it represents. Lemme explain, sit down." James sat on a chair as Norem did the same, between the various mic stands and prop holders in front of the huge TV where mostly there would be games playing on good days. "My brother and I, we were always together, like every step of the way, I'm two years older than him so we were at that age on first meet that you just...click and understand each other. My father was a typical turian military type, all proud and five stars and full service sort of guy, but mom was just retired and staying at home, she'd done her duty, she wanted to settle down and having kids is the best way to do it. So we were born. And like anyone else we got signed up to the military. "Thing is, me and my brother also had a talent, like we were real great with music. And we started when we were ten, saved up creds for some guitars and really went to town on it. Heh, mom loved to bring us round to her friends' parties and we'd rock the place out, she loved that we had something that had us stick together, built up a brotherhood between us. Dad was...not the same sentiment, he thought it was just time-wasting, he saw no point in it. Then we got sent off to the military." "Ah huh," nodded FG. "But we kept our music up, we ended up being real great morale for the troops. Heck, they loved us, we put on shows and made duets, even duels, it was awesome. We still kept up being good in combat too, Lirem was a suppressing fire expert and I was a sniper. Got into a few scrapes but nothing life-changing, not like the First Contact War or anything thank spirits. But then came the time when we could either continue being in the military, or leave. Both of us chose to leave, because we saw that we made a lot more people happy by playing music, instead of gunning other people down." "Hah, fight not with guns but guitars." "Right, exactly. Mom wasn't...exactly forthcoming but she understood...but she wasn't able to speak against my father. He despised us for it, told us how ashamed he was of pursuing such a childish career when we could have been making a real difference with our lives, by fighting as soldiers. I wanted to try to be reasonable, but Lirem wouldn't have it. He screamed, he swore, he shouted up and down like you saw there. We left with bad words between him and father, and he never saw us again. "For seven years we went out on the road, trying to make music and trying to make a living. At first it didn't go too well, bad breaks plus not a lot of interest had our hearts really down and out. Then we met Areh, and his friend Jax. That kid was the best thing that ever happened to us." "Really? What does he do exactly?"

"He's our sound man basically. He got the synthesiser, he's our technician, and he's a songwriter alongside me. When me and Lirem were together we rocked out but that was it. But with Areh, he gave depth to our music, he gave a whole backing along with Jax who gave it a rhythm, something more solid and more stabilised. We stuck together for a good long while, and we did sorta better. But then came our big break, the movie that we were gonna make the soundtrack for." "The killer Rachni movie?" asked FG. "Yeah," said Norem, "a B-movie but better than nothing, the guy heard our stuff and since we were cheap we decided, why not. We made the soundtrack and hit it off, it was a huge success. People thought the movie was dumb but crazy fun to watch, but the soundtrack was...incredible, they said. Rachniphobia, which plays at the climax of the movie when the heroes are all locked inside a storeroom with rachni all crawling in to eat them, was the biggest hit we ever had. And all because of Jax finding that perfect drumbeat." "Wait, it was Jax that made the song?!" "Yep, sure was. The only song he ever wrote because he got that drumbeat down and Areh thought it was perfect. They built on it together before bringing me and Lirem into it, and that's how it was. The song slowly crawled up the charts, until for the briefest week in the galactic charts...we were in the top twenty. Top twenty, in the entire GALAXY. Can you imagine that?!" "Woah really? Holy shit, that...that's incredible!" "We reached the highest peak we were ever gonna hit, and Lirem was so happy, so excited because he KNEW that he made the right choice, he wanted to go home and show dad that we made it, that we finally made what we wanted to do and that was to make people happy with our music! ...but then we found out. Two months before we even hit the top twenty...our father died of a stroke. We only found out a month after we hit the top charts." "...ohhh shit." "We never found out because we were so busy on the jetsetting lifestyle, we never even got to be at the funeral. Mom couldn't find a way to contact us and, honestly, I don't think she's ever forgiven us for it, even if she wanted us happy. Lirem beat himself up for it more, he hated himself, despised himself but also hated dad moreso. The two never got on well so this was the end of it, just one final fuck you from dad he called it. Not even getting the chance to show his recognition and what his life was worth, to the one person he wanted to show it to. To prove it to." "And that's...why he never wants to play that song again?" "Yep. That song represents nothing but failure to him, for no matter what he wanted to do, he always wanted his dad's approval. He was too arrogant, too forceful to take anything as is, always wanting more. My brother's a selfish asshole. And all Areh wanted to do was to help him move on, by making him play that song for the people of Eden Prime, the people who suffered a fate far worse than he ever did, the massacre at the hands of the Geth. But he just can't see it...he just can't forgive himself." "Jeez...that's a hell of a story." "I warned you James. This is some deep shit we're getting into. Speaking of which, I assume you're well enough to hear about our next mission?" "Y-yeah...I'm...I just wanna keep moving right now. I...I feel like if I just stand still I'll keep-" "Sinking?" "...right." "I know exactly how you feel." Norem patted him on the shoulder in sympathy, not knowing what was truly bothering him but being respectful regardless. "Well we contacted the boss and he'll speak with us in about a day so, sit tight until then. And uh, avoid Areh or Lirem if possible, neither of them are really responsible for what's gonna come out of them." "I got it, thanks. You need anything?" "Nah I'm good, I'll deal with Lirem, you just focus on the mission up ahead, we'll all get caught up when we talk with Tulan." "Okay...thanks for telling me about this." "It's fine, I'm not on my brother's side here anyway, just...I'm done with his bullshit. I know what Areh did was really stupid and I hate that he didn't tell me...but I think this might be the sort of thing that might wake my brother up from his own misery." The raptor nodded without saying anything, not wanting to take sides as he went back to his room. Leiah had fallen asleep, thankfully unaware of the argument that had passed through the ship as James softly envied her ability to sleep through such chaos. He tried to sleep properly, wanting to take some time off from thinking about everything in order to find peace within dreams. Even if he knew that there was always nightmares coming just round the corner.