[Illium/Citadel] Situations Not Covered by the 5000+ Sutras (closed)

"Head flaps?" Seysa Jannus echoed, clearly bemused. "The heck is a head flap?" The director's assistant gave a helpless shrug.

"I guess we'll find out once the techs have them working," Frinnj suggested, giving the assistant a break. On the other side of the set a heated argument was going on between the director, the producer, the head of the practical effects department, and the lead cinematographer, regarding who should have gotten whose permission before retrofitting the Myria mech to look more like the new-model 'conversation' geth the news networks had been airing reports on, and, crucially, making sure the control frequencies for their geth queen's new 'facial features' didn't interfere with the remote cameras.

"What sort of timeframe are we looking at?" Melody asked.

"Half an hour at least," the assistant replied, visibly relieved that the cast as a whole didn't seem to subscribe to the 'shoot the messenger' school of taking bad news. "I'll keep you all in the loop, as soon as there's word on when everything gets back underway..."

"Oh well. Seysa, Farius, wanna rehearse the rewrites they gave us for Menae? Should see us through a good twenty minutes." Melody gave Daia and Cop' an apologetic look. "Sorry to leave you two unattended..."

"Go ahead," Daia said, smiling and shoo-ing the trio off to their work.

"This one will use the time to attend to its correspondences for the present week," her co-star added.

Daia found a quiet spot in one of the break rooms, and made a quick query through her omni-tool; Ana's office had her current status as 'in talks', and rather than interrupt Daia recorded a message, apologising for the probable delay in her getting back from the studio, and sent it on its way to appear as soon as her bondmate's current meeting had concluded. She was just settling in for a quiet read to pass the time when her omni-tool flashed her an incoming alert: "Request for FTL comms pickup, originator Sarah Thompson, Citadel, Sol System."

"Good timing," Daia noted, swiping the communication from her 'tool to the break room's wall screen.

"Hello," she said warmly, as the image resolved. "After all this forum time, it's good to finally meet you properly."

A Justiciar- And Sarah's past ties of Cerberus- The blonde goes pale. "I- F- I have the wrong address. Sorry-" She'd reach for the front of the screen, only to stop with the spark of recognition. "Oh. It's you. So.." The woman slowly stood, expanding the screen. Her office was rather spartan- A terminal, a desk, a genuine leather office chair- A holographic dartboard and other various games.

Sarah leaned back, drumming her hands anxiously on her armrests. "..I- Uh. It's good to finally meet you in person. Your costume gave me a bit of a fright- I'd be a target to a Justiciar, I think. They hunt down wrongdoers, right? Even penitent ones?"

Daia's eyes widened at Sarah's reaction to seeing her, but the light didn't dawn until she said 'Justicar'.

"A- oh!" Daia exclaimed, looking down at herself. "Oh, Goddess, I'm sorry, I didn't even think- Oh, damn." She looked back at Sarah's image, apologetic and imploring. "It's just for the film, I... to be honest, with the fancifully revealing costumes everyone else is wearing, I kind of forget that this thing is actually pretty authentic." She glanced back down, and gave a weak chuckle. "Traditional battlegear, heels and all."

She swallowed and looked back up.

"I... Goddess, that has to be the worst I've started off a conversation in centuries. I can understand how it was... unsettling," she said, finding a word that seemed to fit without sounding too condescending. "Actually, I'm pretty sure you'd be in no trouble, even if I was a Justicar. You were pardoned under Alliance law, which means that pardon is upheld by the Citadel - and in any case, Justicars are only tasked with pursuing criminals from the Republics themselves. That's why it's almost unheard of for them to travel elsewhere - even before the war they were rare enough at home, and it's only when they're in direct pursuit of their target that they'll travel outside asari space at all." She gave a wry grin. "Sorry, I'm going on... I did a lot of reading when I was offered the part, studying the Code. Ana was greatly amused - affectionately, of course - at all this effort, just for erotica."

She smiled fondly, taking a seat on the edge of the break room's table, legs crossed; the twin Disciple replicas on her hips momentarily got in the way until she detached them.

"So," she said, giving Sarah a warm smile. "How are you and Chris?"

Sarah leaned back into her chair and brought her shoeless feet up to rest on the cushion, her knees hugged to her chest. The woman rubbed her chin briefly, thinking. Her partner was in the next room- Asleep, the distant hours between time zones made this call an early morning one. "How are I and Chris doing... Isn't that the ten million credit question?" She brushed her hand through her blonde hair, tucking a lock behind an ear- It was getting long- And her mind was distracted. She didn't rightly know how to answer the question.

"We're having a baby, I think. We've had rough patches but everyone does. The fights are distressing but only because I'm bullheaded and she wants things to go right. She doesn't want me needlessly endangering myself as I'm akin to do." She gestured as she spoke. "I'm a bit of a 'do, then plan' sort of person."

The woman would rest her chin on her knee. "I'm working- She's working, we stay busy and we're trying to keep from being bored. I took her to Paris the other week- Paris is a very romantic city on Earth, one of the oldest in our civilization-" She rolled her hand, trying to explain- Unsure if the woman had been to Paris. "-and that was excellent."

Daia listened attentively; her question had been purposefully generic, to give Sarah the opportunity to speak whatever was on her mind. Daia didn't truly know her well enough to ask anything more specific, and in any case, new acquaintance or longtime friend, she wasn't the type to try to direct a conversation to her own tune.

"I'm sure it was," she agreed at the mention of Sarah's Paris trip. "Ana and I spent two days there once - middle weekend of Wimbledon," she added with a grin. "I actually proposed on the Pont des Arts, so you could certainly say the city worked its romantic wiles on us. It's good to know the 'magic' is still strong." That was as close as she wanted to come to thinking about the brief, fragmented clips she had seen in the first days of the war - silhouettes of terrible machines striding across the city that had seemed a blissful waking dream to her. Even seeing imagery of the city rebuilding was hard, though heartening at the same time, in its own way.

"So," she went on, dismissing the thought, "about having a child, you two talked about it...? That's good - there's nothing so daunting as saying the first word, I've always found." Heed your own counsel, Maiden... Concern gnawed at her, but she had chosen a course - for what it was worth - and this wasn't the time to be thinking of herself anyway. "If you can say - in general, of course, I'm sure I'm not cleared for the specifics - what sort of work is it you do that has her concerned? I read on your forum profile that you're in intelligence... From context, I'm guessing that's not the desk job variety of intelligence."

"We've talked about it pretty often. The discussions used to turn into arguments, which turned into fights- I've slept in the bathtub or on the couch too often for my liking. I don't want -this- to break our relationship when there are a dozen other better reasons." She cracks a uncomfortable smile- Her attempt at a joke fell flat to her, personally. "I .. well. She wants to have a kid, I don't- But I want her to be happy, so I do." She slowly stood up, exhaling. The woman looked tired of the subject.

"I work at a desk, with the possibility of other duties if necessary. She just was not keen on me joining the Alliance, but she flipped that around quick when the benefits came in- Ie, healthcare, insurance, the pay.." She locked her arms behind her head, glancing at the asari. "I'm accident and injury prone, that healthcare is the bomb."

Daia nodded sympathetically as Sarah described her situation. 'I don't, but I will anyway' wasn't the textbook reason for having a child, but then, was anything in life really that cut-and-dried? The asari knew from experience - from Ana, and even before, from other intimates and close friends - how powerful an experience it was to bring happiness to a loved one. Clearly from Sarah's body language it was a troubling area, but Daia didn't want to meddle - or worse, presume to cause her to rethink her decision, knowing as little about her as she did. Then again, even if things had progressed on their own since then, the potential child had been the reason Sarah had reached out to her at all. Questions upon questions... Daia was glad of the change of topic, the chance to continue their conversation without at once attacking that difficult subject.

"I can understand that," she smiled slightly. "Speaking of healthcare, how's the new implant working out? You look well. I'm probably not as familiar with human models as I ought to be, is there a degree of re-learning involved with the change?"

Sarah pressed her hands together and rapidly seperated them, a wisp of biotic energy illuminating an otherwise dark office. She seemed very pleased by this.

"Not much. The fault in my old one was causing too much pressure in my brain, and with the stress of the war and everything afterwards I'm amazed I didn't have a stroke a year ago. Headaches are only every few days now, and irritating as they used to be, rather then the 'bedridden, phantom nosebleeds and horrific nightmares' situation I was going into. It was scary shit- err-" The woman covered her mouth.

"Sorry, pardon my language." She'd appologize, a grin on her face. "So..I.. err. I want to stick with this." She'd hold her ring hand to the screen for prominence.

"All things that arrive are but obstacles to overcome, right? How hard could parenting be?"

Daia's eyes widened, and she smiled, at the biotic display. From an asari it might not have seemed a significant feat - artful, though - but Daia had known enough 'alien' biotics in her time, including family, on her father's side, to understand the feeling of accomplishment she saw in Sarah, and be moved by it.

Her smile turned to a shared grin at the apology, and she waved it off casually, focusing on the ring Sarah showed her; having immersed herself heavily in the popular culture of romance and sexuality from dozens of societies, she had become familiar with a wide range of marriage and bonding rites (that aspect of romantic involvement had little to do with her work, but she liked to be thorough in her 'research'). The exchanging of rings wasn't a uniquely human custom, but she was familiar, in passing at least, with the particular weight of meaning attached to the small adornment on Sarah's hand.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll remember those words plenty of times in years to come," she said - smiling, softening the joke, since she was sure it was a sensitive topic. "But love tends to find a way." She shrugged idly. "I've never been a parent, but I've known my share. Even melded with my mother and father's memories of raising me, which is an... interesting perspective." She chuckled. "I was a little handful at times. But the joy, the pride... it's humbling."

She paused, gazing at Sarah.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she offered. "The prospect of being a parent...? I know you originally contacted me looking for someone qualified to talk through these kinds of things, but... well, if you want to. And I don't have the authority to banish you to a couch, so you're safe there," she added with a smile.

Sarah relaxed in her chair- thinking about the arguments, how stressed she'd get on the subject and her options. She'd softly exhale, sliding a hand through her hair."We've both lost our families, so I suppose she wants to start a new one. We've been through hard times in the last few years. The business was a lot of work, I'm working nine hours a day- we'd maybe see each other in the morning or at night."

She crossed her arms under her chest, looking off screen, a twitch of the ear. She'd glance back to Daia. "I.. hope you would understand the schedule issues and how irritating it is when she brings this up time and time again, even if I'm warming to the subject. She doesn't seem to accept a kid with an ex-terrorist mother may not get the best life."

Daia nodded thoughtfully. The time issue was something she could relate to. Objectively she knew she was still a lot better off than many in that regard - how many people with a desk job just had to go into the next office to be with their bondmate? But the demands of the PR side of her job (which, really, was the only real strength she brought to it) included a lot of on-site meetings and visits to potential and existing customers and partners, not to mention juggling that with her other career at Apricity and the Oasis. She was guiltily aware too that, lately, the demands of preparing for the Terminus Cup show, and filming at EP, had taken further hours out of her 'Ana time'; something else she needed to improve on.

Mind on the present, she reminded herself.

"I think I understand, yes," she said. "You have concerns, but raising them doesn't result in much forward progress being made, and it seems a shame to spend precious time arguing for little gain when you could be enjoying each other's company. Fair to say, do you think?" She gave a slightly lop-sided little smile, an unspoken admission of 'I'm kind of winging this relationship-counselor thing.'

"When you raise the issue of how your past might affect your family down the path," she began tentatively, "is it... You feel it's a concern she doesn't accept, doesn't want to face up to, perhaps? I know it won't just vanish, but do you think perhaps what you want is for her to accept it so you can both deal with it, if and when it arises, rather than it falling on your shoulders?

Sarah took note of the woman's goofy smile and nodded apologetically. More time for Chris, she thought. It would be good for the two of them, she thought- But it would be hazardous to her schedule. Briefly weighing the options allowed her to completely tip the scales in her partner's favor.

The woman pushed a hand against the side of her face, resting her elbow on the desk and staring directly at her conversation partner's face. "It was so much easier when I wasn't working. Long naps, romance, zero paperwork.." She sighed wistfully. "I believe the issue is that she doesn't want to think about Cerberus, and I don't blame her. I was tied to the organization when I met her, and all the way up until after Bahak. When I told her, she told me she didn't care- That was the first time she told me she loved me. Cue a few years later, Cerberus destroyed her house and shot almost everyone. Only her brother, her and I got out, and her brother is no longer with us. She hates the group as much as I do now- And I don't want to bring up the pain again."

The woman buried her face in her hands, then folded them together and sighed. "It is, however, something we can't ignore forever. You're right. Maybe we should talk about it."

Daia smiled briefly at Sarah's wistful musing. She could readily sympathise - before the war she and Ana had both worked (and on Illium there was no such thing as 'no paperwork'), but both having the luxury of tailoring their working hours to suit themselves achieved much the same thing.

"I'd try to," she allowed a few moments later, when Sarah paused in her explanation. "Of course, I'm me, talking is what I do - well, part of what I do - but I do believe it's best to get matters like this, between people, out in the open, rather than trying to deal with them alone." She gave Sarah a sympathetic look. "I know it's not easy - the last thing you want to do is hurt her, and something like this... seems there's no easy way to resolve it between you, just a choice of one or another painful options."

She slid her faux-shotguns out of the way and lifted her legs up to sit cross-legged on the table - realising as she did it that she was adopting her 'the Justicar is meditating' pose, and quirking her lips in a quick private smile at how wearing the costume day after day made the role's body language seem natural.

"I imagine this will be a difficult question," she said, resting her elbows on her knees and giving Sarah her full attention. "But my feeling is that, with something this... emotionally charged, the more you reflect on it beforehand, the smoother the eventual conversation will be." She glanced aside a moment, choosing her words, then looked back at the human.

"Can you tell me how it is for you, now, being ex-Cerberus?" she asked. "Not how you feel about the organisation, but how... what do you face, at home, at work, because of that part of your past? How do you think it might affect your child's life?"

She knew they were painful questions, but sometimes those had to be asked, and faced. Daia hoped this would help, somehow. Or if worst came to worst from stirring up such bitter memories, she hoped at least her distance from Sarah would make it easier for the woman to put the conversation out of her mind afterwards, in a way that wouldn't have been so easy with a closer friend.

"It's a great elephant in the room no one talks about. My job has people with mysterious pasts that only care that I'm at work on time, my partner's patrons don't have a clue and rightfully so, my partner has known for years and it ruined her life. As for what I go through? Nightmares. Panic attacks. Guilt for the pain I've caused." The blonde kicked her feet up onto the desk,crossing her legs at the ankle. "You know I've become a pacifist? I put all of my guns in storage. I've donated items worth a fortune to museums and didn't ask for anything. I've tried religion, I've tried liquor, I've tried outright hypnotherapy to blast the memories from my skull and nothing. I'll carry them for the rest of my life."[/color]

"....I've met another member of Cerberus- Aside from James Greene, who helped me get a job- No. I've met .." She hesitated, not speaking the name. "I don't know. It remains to be seen what he'll do and what I'll have to do." She murmured to herself, ringing her hands together. She seemed to forget she was talking to someone- Slipping her bare feet back to the ground, she'd slide forward, fitfully changing her posture.

Daia blinked at 'elephant in the room' - she remembered Skylar once using the phrase in reference to how her dancing had been treated among some of her legal colleagues back on Bekenstein, but evidently her assumption that it meant "sexual attraction nobody is comfortable enough to express openly" was flawed. Sarah was an attractive woman but, from context, that didn't fit. What she was saying was clear enough, though.

"We all cause pain, sooner or later," she said quietly, the looked up at Sarah. "I know your burden is... heavier than most, in that regard. It's good that you can talk to others who are in similar situations - if I were qualified to give advice, that's what it'd be." She gave Sarah a quick little smile. "Nobody's at their best when they feel alone."

Something nagged at her, though.

"What might you have to do?" she asked. "I'm sorry to pry, I don't mean to... I just don't quite understand what you mean." She hesitated a moment, then added: "I'm not asking you to break any confidences, but if it's any help, anything you do tell me goes no further than this room."

"If .. If it were necessary, I'd have to stop him somehow. Otherwise, I'll just let sleeping dogs lie." She'd speak quietly. "I'm just one person, though, and our last talk was heated but not exactly hostile. I still think I can win him over; but getting him to chat with me again is unlikely." She wiggled her thumbs together, her fingers intertwined. A voice in the distance caught her attention- And she does her very best to hide a laugh.

"I .. think that's Chris. I don't think you can hear her, but .." She covered her face in embarrassment, hiding red cheeks and a goofy grin. "I am -not- going to repeat what she just said. Anyway.. Tackling a huge conflict with Cerberus remnants is going to be either something I'm going to devote months if not years to, or ..I'm going to be focusing on other matters pressing for my- and other's- time."

The woman reached into her desk, removing a blue pack of ecigs. She'd open one side of it, patting the back against her palm- Only to pause with reconsideration and set the pack down. The woman scratched at her arm, a brief glance of irritation passing across her expression. The woman threw the pack back, slapping it shut with her fingers. The woman exhaled, refocusing on the Asari.

"So.. I've got a question for you. Does it ever bug you when people come to you for advice?" She gave Daia a warm smile. "I know Ana'Therion- Well, I know she was a therapist- But.. Here I am asking an exotic actress and dancer for relationship advice. I don't know why, I just like you. I don't think I've ever heard a mean word from you."

Daia couldn't help but grin - what Sarah had said was worrying to say the least, but the way she reacted to the interruption was too adorable not to respond to. So far as things like dealing with remnants of terrorist groups, stopping... who knows what Sarah might feel obligated to put herself in the way of, if the stakes were high enough... was so vastly outside Daia's range of experience...

So was whatever got Elara killed...

"Stepping back from conflict... isn't a bad thing," she said, finding the words as she went, while Sarah paused and fiddled with the pack. "Just... whatever you choose, make sure it's worth those years." She couldn't make herself tell Sarah to leave the fighting to someone else - she didn't know the specifics, and with only a single conversation between them it would be a lie to say she really knew the woman, either. She hated to admit it, but sometimes the sacrifice was the right course.

Sarah's question came at a good moment, giving her something else to focus on, and she smiled broadly.

"Thank you," she replied, genuinely touched by the observation. "I've been told I have a 'talk to me' kind of face... It doesn't bother me, no. It happens a lot - not just friends, but clients too, it's almost part of the job. The emotional environment of doing what I do is actually very conducive to it - I suppose it's the mix of intimacy and relaxation with the assurance that you're not going to be judged. There's a lot of conversation involved, and it can be quite... personal, quite revealing." She grinned, shaking her head slightly. "It's not therapy - I'm not qualified for that - but a lot of the time, it does people good to just... talk. To say things out loud, calmly, without hurry or stress. I love talking to people - always have - and if it makes them happier, even if it's just a little... a little happiness is still something."

Sarah lifted her baggy Blasto shirt slightly, scratching at the side of her stomach. "I.. Well. It's good to play to your natural talents- As you're well aware. You're pretty, you've got a smile that can disarm a Krogan, and you're smart. I, on the other hand.. I'm short, I'm tough, I'm a biotic and I'm prone to realize my mistakes I think, for the most part. I've gone around saying 'I'm an ex member of Cerberus' more often than I'd like. I've drawn the ire of people and I get depressed and drink and smoke grass too much- but when I set my mind to something, it gets done."

She shook her head. "I know what people think of me and part of me doesn't give a damn what they think. However, that's the side I want to vanish from my personality." She'd return to hugging her knees to her chest. "I need to put my guns away and try the life of the penitent soul. I don't need to be causing any more grief in my life. When I die, I'm dirt, and all I'm leaving behind is my future children and a legacy- And I want my legacy to be a good one."

Daia accepted the compliments with a nod and a smile, then listened thoughtfully as Sarah talked about what she wanted to become.

"We are not engraved in stone, but woven into lives,"* she quoted. "It's from the Serrice tribal songs - ancient lore. The same idea's turned up in a lot of places and worlds. We exist as individual beings, but what we are - our soul, to put a word to it - isn't within us, but in all the ties that bind us to others. Friends, loved ones - children - they're what's most real about us." She smiled faintly. "I don't know if I believe the idea that strongly, but I've always been a bit-of-everything type. It's an idea I find useful, when I look at myself."

She leaned back, focusing on Sarah.

"Don't give up that not-give-a-damn feeling completely," she suggested, with a grin. "It can be handy to have. Caring what people think of you... there'll always be people who'll just project what they think onto you, and ignore evidence to the contrary."

Sarah bowed her head respectfully. "Daia, I greatly appreciate you taking the time out of your day to entertain my issues. The next time you're on the Citadel, you should come by our apartment for dinner- Chris -is- a chef, and food cooked for friends is a slight bit better than paying customers, right?" She offered a wink. "I want you to take care of yourself and be good and all of that- Well, given the circumstances." She drummed her hands softly on the desktop, making eye contact with her conversation partner.