[Rannoch, Kassali] hanging out

Ru’yah was exiting the public transport, dropping of a load of quarians and two geth platforms at the city centre intersection. It was places on a bridge construct high above a plaza in the centre of Kassali, the capital of Rannoch. The only really populated big city really, at this point. This was the heart of quarian settlement on Rannoch, the centre of administration and the big spaceport. And it was the heart of whatever scene was going on among young quarians who were trying to make this planetside lifestyle theirs. Those that never had a pilgrimage and therefore were slowly beginning to chance customs and traditions, those that were not seeing themselves as outcasts anymore but trying to find their own new quarian identity. Teenagers in suits. Teenagers who barely knew life outside the Flotilla or Rannoch from more than holovision or the extranet. There were no aliens allowed on Rannoch at this point for quarantine reasons. Quariantine was the term the news used.

A few booths with food and drink suspenders were set up, operated by geth or quarians, shoppers and businesspeople were going from A to B, the marine recruits were coming and going, upright and their muscular chests in tight suits.

The orange clad slender girl sighed and leaned onto the guard rail, observing the shuttles come and go from the many docking platforms that lined the huge bridge construct.

The city was still too big it seemed, built for so many more, millions more. But from here the colorful quarians and occasional geth platforms or drones made it look occupied in a relaxed way.

"Your drifting too far right."
"No I'm not, I'm almost straight on!"
"Sweetie, watch the shuttle!"
"I saw, I saw!"

In the sky a older model craft puffed along with the few other craft alongside it, colored a faded rusty red with a single blue strip on the side. Two Quarian's were barely visible behind the sun-shielded screen, the one at the wheel gripped the wheel far too tightly to keep it from wobbling dangerously. It dipped suddenly, tilting to one side before righting itself again as it came in to land.

"Keelah! Slow down when you dive down!"
"I got it, I got it!"

The rectangular craft slowed to a crawl, angling itself to match the dock and halting mid-air with a lurch. Thankfully it touched down with just a minor scrape against the dock. The top squeaked as it popped open to release the two inside. The first one out was the driver, a small girl with a silvery sash tied loosely about her waist and a similar colored hood. She took a glance around, she wasn't around here often but Kassali always fascinated her.

"Alright, I'm heading into town" the second quarian said, quickly stepping out and already heading down the Skybridge with a handbag. "I'll send you a messege when I'm done!"

"Bye mama! Have fun!" RX called out after her, and waved her goodbye. She let out a long sigh, and took a second glance around. "Now, where is Ru'yah..."

Ru'yah was looking up just in time to see an older aircar drop from the traffic lane at an awkward angle and aim for the docking platform in a wibbly wobbly manner. Was that driver drunk or running a fever?

Eventually, the car docked and Ru'yah saw two females exit. Ah, looked like driving lessons by mum. Ru smiled, remembering her experiences with manual control in sky or hover cars... luckily the traffic in Kassali was not very dense but the young girl only know Illium or the Citadel from holovid shows... there were enough wild car chases in shows though to give her a basic idea. Probably a bit of an exaggerated one.

Anyway, that girl now stood kind of lost, while her mum seemed to have gone somewhere... oh, could that be RX?

Eh, Ru'yah somehow had expected a ... flashier ride? She didn't even know why.

But she had her suit ID turned on and if the other was also, she would be able to ID her... she turned into the direction of the silver clad girl (awesome sash!) and indeed the HUD was giving her a positive!

"Hey, RX!" She exclaimed, walking towards her, offering her hands. "I am Ru, nice to meet you! I observed your descent." She laughed and added: "Your dresses look awesome!"

Her internet name caught her ear, drawing her attention quickly towards the orange-dressed girl coming towards her. RX instantly knew who it was, who else would know her online ID? She waved to her, her smile hidden behind her mask. Though she wished that Ru'yah could see it, but then again it would be best for her not to see the hesitation as she decided whether or not to take the very excited girls hands.

"Hiya Ru! It's so nice to see you at last." She said, and accepted the friendly girls hands with hesitation. "You saw all that, did ya?" she giggled nervously, "I'm not exactly the greatest at flying yet, I'm learning well though!"

Upon closer examination, RX's sash had seen a lot of wear and tear with small rips and tears in the soft fabric. It had stories of its own to tell, one end waved in the soft breeze. "You like it? My grandfather got it on his Pilgrimage, said it would make a good souvenir. He passed it down to my dad, and from dad to me. I love it! It's my most treasured possession."

“Yes, I saw all of it, I promise not to blow your fighter ace cover on the extranet!” Ru'ya giggled
Ru’yah took a closer look at the fabric, not daring to touch it. Quarian possessions, they had had so few and now they had so much space and still didn’t accumulate lots of possessions. It was picking up only slowly as a more and more individualistic consumer behavior kicked in over the years. But used skycars, inherited clothing… still not unusual, some would even say typical.

“Wow, that’s great, where are they from?” Ru asked about the fabrics. “I have a few small items from my parents’ pilgrimages as well.” Mementos of her mum.

“So, where should we go, the entertainment suite? It’s a short walk downtown.”

RX laughed with her, genuinely happy spending time with this stranger she met over the extranet and likely never would have met otherwise. Such a strange thing to think about, yet here she was.

"Thanks" she replied, "I don't know how I'd go on!" she joked around. Ru'yah's questions kept coming and she kept on answering with no trouble at all. "Ah, well, Father said that it had to have come from the Citadel. But it must have been made by Asari. Grandfather got this for a steal. Whatever it's made of it's soft and tough!"

But RX wanted to know more about Ru, and she quickly took the opportunity she gave her to turn the conversation around back at her. "Oooh, what kind of items?" She asked, "maybe you can tell me on the way there?" Her eyes drifted past Ru'yah for just a moment then refocused on Ru'yah. A small group of marines distracted her while they walked by...

The skybus dropped a load of marine academy students, most of them male and of course Ru’yah immediately caught RX’s drift. “Oh, look, look,” she said in a hushed voice, poking her companion in the side.

A group of their young soldiers were walking on the other side of the street chatting with each other, unaware of the surroundings, bulging breasts working under a shiny skin tight black suit, arms looking even larger with all the attachments. Everything about them was picture book, right down to the narrow waists and the muscles of theit backs, as they slowly overtook the two girls. Ru’yah wondered how much they worked out to maintain this shape! She let out a sigh involuntarily, it was a bit warm in her suit.

Behind the guys came a girl in tha same uniform…. Ru’ya’s shoulders slumped. Of course she did not look like her, not remotely. Why would an yof those boys ever take note of someone like her if they were surrounded by such female students all day? Only in her dating sim she was playing secretly, Link Up…

She death glared at the female marine behind her visor and eventually came back to reality.
“Items… uh,there are my dad’s tools. A lot of custom made things he put together on his journey and there’s … these.” She rolled up her hood to expose her shoulder pad. “Parts of my mother’s suit when she was on her pilgrimage. I am tall enough to carry them since last year! She told they were obtained on Omega!” Nothing as beautiful as an asari piece of clothing, but she kind of whispered the name of the old space station in awe.

“Is that really asari? Wow! I would so love to meet one, you know?”
Slowly they made their way to a ramp, leading into a more narrow business district with booths and shops.

RX giggled, watching Ru'yah gaze at the marines quietly. She must have been enraptured in them, as she swore she saw her mask steam up just a little bit. But not for long, as she turned back just as quickly.

"Oooh, that's really amazing!" She said, enjoying every detail she mentioned about the things she had inherited from her parents. Especially the suit, an Enviro-suit is a very personal thing to most Quarians and it's very heartwarming that her mother had given her a part of her enviro-suit. "Omega? ooh, I've read a little on it. I wana go there someday."

"This? I believe that's what Papa said it was made by. I wouldn't take it as entirely true, he loooves to tell stories." She explained to her, gesturing wildly to emphasize her point on the storytelling. The bridge wasn't too busy thankfully, just comfortably populated. Geth and Quarians walking together... She looked back at the group of marines and giggled.

"Hey, I think one was looking your way." She elbowed Ru'yah playfully.

Ru’yah was shocked. “You want to go to Omega? Why? They kill people there, they will rip your suit open, it is horrible there!” Mum had told her a bit about hiding in tunnels, running from vorcha (creatures who consisted only of mouth and fangs and claws!) and nasty people trying to beat you up or harm you for fun. Don’t you ever go to Omega, Ru!

Yeah, like as if she was going anywhere.

“Whoa, who, where?” Did her suit just turn more reddish? No, just a cloud…. she turned to try and get a look at the guys who had just been walking bye. Was that a prank? She shoved RX a little bit, laughing “No, they wouldn’t, they never do. Look at those girls over there… just, just, look at those legs, it is so depressing….meh.” She shook her head. “But you are going to tell me about your boyfriend now, how did you meet?”

RX was taken aback, as if she had just insulted her mother or something.

"Wh... what?" She stammered, looking genuinely surprised at this rather well known information amongst most people. RX was not most people. "I... I never knew they were so violent. I mean, I heard a little bit but not something like that. Keelah..." the thought of being forcefully ripped from her suit was enough to make her shudder and push thoughts of going there out of her mind.

RX laughed as Ru pushed her.
"Oh c'mon, don't discount yourself!" She assured, "you're fairly pretty! I'm sure someone will notice one day." She patted her shoulder with a hidden smile.

RX sighed softly with content, just thinking about him sent her heart aflutter. "Well, it's kinda a funny story... I met him when I accidentally hit his aircar. Well, his mothers aircar. We exchanged contact info and... well, now we've been together for 3 months now. Kal is so sweet..."

“You think so?” Ru’yah replied to the ‘pretty’ comment and arranged her hood a bit. “You look good yourself and you have asari dresses, that’s so rad!”

Maybe she would tell her about Omega in more detail some time but now boys were much more important!

“Aw, really? I mean, you banged into him?” giggle. “Wasn’t your mum mad or something? But if he took it in a cool way I guess he’s really sweet. How old is he, how does he look, what does he do?” Did you link… noooo, that was impossible to ask although Ru’yah sure was very curious.

Down the street the holographic signs of the games suite were spinning and flashing, a mother was pushing her baby in a bubble on a hover platform along, shoppers were carrying things, a lot of kids of various ages were coming from or were going to the entertainment centre

Ru’yah’s HUD was picking up lots advertisements which she just deactivated. She left open the feature list of the entertainment facility, browsing the new items while she listened to RX.

"Well, thanks." She said, crossing her arms and hugging herself.

RX Tsuyya giggled and nodded, "yeah I banged up their car. It was't so bad, just a little dent while I was backing up." She remembered that day like it was only yesterday. It was just a chance meeting, a second later or too soon and they would have never met. It was great how things worked out. "Mama was pretty mad at me, yeah, but we fixed it and a few days later he called just to talk to me... he asked to meet up and, well, we're together now.

The sounds of the arcade and laughing children caught her attention, had they really walked that far? It didn't seem like it was that long. Wow, time sure flew. RX had always loved games, flying sims and games like Flotilla Explorer were her favorites as a kid.

“Whoa, you’re so lucky. I’d like to date someone too but yeah, I guess I didn’t meet the right one yet. I have high standards though, you know!” The last part was said with confidence.

“So what do you do all day if you’re not smooching with your boyfriend? Are you really taking flying lessons? I mostly sit in laboratories and green houses, I am an intern at the botanical institute. It’s a bit like working in a stranded life ship. I was born on a life ship, you know.”

The passed a group of geth which were talking to each other in their stutter. The translator tool could turn it into understandable text but Ru’yah didn’t activate it.

“Do you… what you think about immunotherapy? Have you ever thought about getting a suitrider? I just… can’t have anything like that. We work on conventional immunization against Rannoch influences at the institute… among other thing. My immune counts are really high from all the exposure.” It was something that was on her mind a lot lately, her hopes to someday walk on Rannoch without a suit. Small steps.

"High standards, huh?" RX chuckled lightly, "make sure to give them a chance, you never know."

"Yeah, mostly flying lessons and reading up on as much as possible about the rest of the galaxy." She nodded, "there's still so much I don't know, which is kinda why I decided to check out CDN after hearing about it." RX sighed and looked down at the ground at her feet. "The outside world is... kinda scary."

She shook her head, getting out of that rut and focusing back on Ru'yah. "A life ship? Wooow, that's so cool! Tell me about it, I wana know how it's like!"

The last question made her tilt her head, and really think about it. It took her a few moments to come up with a response.
"Well, I've definitely thought about it. But I dunno how I'd like a suitrider... it feels almost like an invasion of your own privacy by a whole race at once considering they're all linked together. But being able to finally walk around without a mask would be... fantastic." She sighed with content. She stopped in front of the arcade, not wanting to take this kind of conversation inside.

"What brought that up?" RX asked curiously.

Many, many hooks in these statements that dug into Ru’yah’s brain. She slowed down, in front of the building where the suite was located a few simple stone benches were arranged, some were occupied with kids, exchanging some new music or whatever on their omnitools (it was absolutely no noise to be heard, it was a bit like a mime theatre). The sun was shining into the narrow street from almost straight above.

“Wanna sit for bit?” Ru just sat down, stretching her feet and crossing her ankles.
“Just a train of thoughts. I was taking about the botanical institute. Most of my work involves immunization analysis and experiments. Exposure to local flora to strengthen the immune systems, you know? Quarians can adapt to certain alergenes pretty quickly, we analyze which genetic markers mean immunization to which plants to improve the conventional treatments… those without suitriders or active geth help. That was where I was coming from.” She looked up nto the sun, then at RX.

“A lot of quarians just can’t take on a suitrider for whatever reason. I still… I don’t want to sound like an ass but sometimes they freak me out. For example, I was visiting a farm outside town recently and their geth just never spoke. It was like a weird… ghost. Dunno.” She sighed. “So yeah, we are working on that. It takes longer, much longer and does not guarantee success but it is what it is and it is about quarians and the nature of Rannoch only.”

“The life ship. A memory now, it is broken down and recycled in large parts, there is no use for the equipment on a ship anymore. It was huge but still everyone lived cramped together to make room for all the plants and the food. We produced about one third of all the nutripaste for the flotilla at one point. Everyone was working on the same projects, it was like a flying greenhouse. Until…. Well, you know how it all ended and it is not….” A small sob escaped her, then a sigh. She chuckled, but it sounded awkwardly.

“The galaxy is scary and it is even more so without haven been on pilgrimage, you know? I would like to see the Citadel, but I can’t possibly just go alone nowadays! Funny isn’t it? It was expected before but now everyone gets totally overprotective. Maybe if I ever found someone who would take me along… but my dad’s projects are keeping him here, he has no business on the Citadel.”

Again she looked up.
“I wished I could fly around like you. Is it anything like in the sims?”

RX sat next to Ru'yah on the nearby bench, she leaned back and stretched her neck and arms. She hung on each word Ru said, nodding and every now and then adding in a "uh huh" for effect. But the sudden sob surprised her and she tried to look into Ru's visor and decipher her feelings. A difficult job even for Quarians. She sighed and ignored the other question for the moment.

"I know how you feel to lose the only home you ever had." RX Tsuyya said, "it's hard, the place you've always lived and played and made friends in replaced for a world we've only heard about in legends. It's nice to be back where our ancestors used to live, but... the ships were home."

She leaned back again and let the memories of her homeship come back to her.
"I didn't tell you, did I, the 'Tsuyya' in my screen name is the name of the ship I was born and raised on." She began to explain, "it wasn't a huge ship, just part of the civilian fleet. Mama was a co-pilot of the ship... it was shot down in first contact with the Geth during the battle over Rannoch. Mama was smart enough to send us away on shuttle beforehand... but watching my home fall towards Rannoch burning was..."
she choked up and let out a shaky breath.

"I understand how you feel. It will always be home, right?"

“I guessed that name bit to be honest. I didn’t know the ship unfortunately. I am sure it was agood one though.” Weren’t they always ‘good ships’? Ru meant it though.
“So we both have lost our ships in the end. You’re right, it is like a home you left but that will never come back, a home where you just can never return to.” She looked at RX, cocking her head.

“I wonder if our ancestors on the Fleet had similar conversations when they knew that Rannoch was impossible to return to.”

The group of teenagers – probably a bit younger than the two girls – took her attention when two girls began a dance piece, probably over a song they all had connected to. Nothing could be heard, nobody was paying much attention, it had been the sudden movement that had caught Ru’yah’s eye.

“Wanna go inside? I have a list of new games extracted from the advertisement.” She opened her omnitool and established an open port, connecting to RX.

[/data listing

Drone Chaser X: the bloody throne
Captain Dekuuna Cronicles (Pinball 3D)
Liftoff (new fighters!)
Dance Master: 2189 Top Hits Vol. 2&3
Sphere Shaper (new content)
Electric Dreams (Adults only)
Lucky Racer (Meteorite levels)
….
/end listing]

She slowly nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, I wonder too. Who knows..." She said, wringing her hands together. RX was hardly paying attention to the rest of the world, focusing on her own thoughts. She pulled out of her own mind when the list of games appeared on her HUD. "Oh, yeah, sure!"

"Oh, I recognize some of these, especially Liftoff... I liked the last installment of the series, I wana try this new one. Umm..." she scanned through the list, the words 'adults only' stood out to her and she quickly crossed that out of the list.
Her mind wandered back to one of Ru's statements... 'Maybe if I ever found someone who would take me along'

Should she tell her? Would she even be okay with it? Maybe later... right now was supposed to be fun times!

“Okay, then come!” Ru’yah, extended a hand to RX and they entered the dimly lit multi story building (enough space in downtown Kassali). Booths and consoles cluttered each floor, Neon holo signs indicating where to find what game, there was a busy coming and going of quarians of all ages.

There was an automated cashier who charged the entry fee and issued a passcode. At the same time, advertisements and flashy signs were again coming up on the HUDs, together with real time availability of free consoles.

“Liftoff is first floor, it’s free, come on, I’ll shoot your ass down, I have seen what a lousy pilot you are, remember?” She tugged her along with a bouncing gait, heading for the lift that would take them upstairs.

The game consoles were full suit feedback chairs. Ru’yah was ignoring the boys and headed straight for two a joint free seats, jumping into one. Immediately the interface asked for access to the suit systems and Ru’yah granted it. She felt the various test reflexes with which the system calibrated itself.

She eventually grabbed the control stick. “Which scenario do we want? PVP and gamma ray storm?”