(Solo) [Earth] Life Begins Again

She sat in a subway car. Another gig was upcoming tonight, and she needed to head to another part of the city to get there. As she gazed out the window, the lights passed her by, one by one. She could be playing on her omni-tool right now if she so chose, but it wasn't time.

She looked over the car. Humans mostly, seven adults, three children. There were two turians, one other asari, three salarians... and oddly, one geth platform. She didn't quite expect to see that on a train. No matter, probably was heading to help with some reconstruction area in the city.

The train announcer's voice came on over the train's comm, her translator picked it up; her stop was the next one.

She stood and brushed off her pants, and then she picked up her guitar case. The weight felt right in her hands.... better than a gun ever did.

Her destination wasn't that far... a recording studio on 9th and Main... or rather the local equivalents.

"Ah, M-Pax, here for your 1600 appointment? It's good that you're early."

Twenty-four hour timeclocks, she wasn't sure she'd get used to that even if she spent ten years on this planet. She offered the human woman a smile.

"Yeah, Fujushima-san. Thanks for letting me do this."

The older-looking asian woman smiled. "I think offering a talented singer a chance at recording something wonderful is something our business strives for. Now, you're set up for recording booth three.... we have the drums and bass already recorded for you..."

Madira smiled. This was going to be good. The asari walked into the recording booth and placed on sound-blocking headphones as she plugged in her guitar and adjusted the microphone.

She adjusted the tuning on her guitar and nodded to the people in the booth to start the other parts of the song up. The timing had to be perfect for this.

She began to sing. And the memories began

They'd met when they were younger. Before they were even legally considered adults, but both had been on the fast track to being huntresses. Salara was a darker blue than her, and just a tad bit faster... they were far from instant friends.

Everything Madira could do, Salara was just a little bit better. She always had the right answer... always seemed to be one step ahead. Salara was her rival... someone who made her better by existing. The rivalry nearly came to blows several times, but it pushed them both to the top of the class, Salara barely edging out Madira for the top spot.

After graduating, she never thought she'd see Salara again.

Madira ran her fingers down the neck of the guitar for a riff in the middle of the song... it wasn't time for the solo yet, but it was a good way to divide the first and second verses.

The Reapers had hit Earth, and the Republics started to mobilize their military. Of course, with how many matriarchs there were sitting on their asses, voluptuous or not, so there was a lot of "hurry up and wait" going on.

She'd been assigned to a new squad of huntresses, not quite command, she wasn't old enough for that, but a fast-track program. It was then that she saw her. At first she didn't recognize her... being a huntress really agreed with Salara. She was a bit more tone and a bit more developed than during training, and regardless of the pureblood stigma, Madira couldn't help but feel attracted.

When they broke off for teamwork training, she found herself flirting with the girl... Goddess, was she a huntress or some stricken maiden?

The guitar solo came, and M-Pax showed off her talent excellently. She poured her heart into the song.

Since they'd had so much time to wait, she and Salara couldn't help but hit it off. It surprised her how well she got along with her former rival. She supposed it helped that Salara was actually hot to her now, but... well...

She could admit it to herself then. She really liked Salara. And Salara seemed to like her. It was a bit early in both of their lives to think about permanent bonding, but the two of them would probably make a good couple.

Madira was going to kiss her that day. She told herself that...

And then the Reapers hit.



M-Pax went into the final refrain of the song.... and finished it. Her eyes were a little teary, but she smiled wide at the people on the other side of the booth.

The recording director, Hashirama Jubei smiled at the asari. "That's a wrap, we just need the song title and we should be good."


There was only one title that fit in her mind for this song. She looked Hashirama-san in the eye and said, "The song's title is 'Life Begins When the World Ends'."