2169
It took another nine weeks to complete the manuscript. It was truly exquisite. I had focused on finishing it at the expense of nearly every other focus, even spending my points. I was unbelievably proud of my achievement, and I could feel the self-actualisation. But, perhaps not coincidentally, another charge flared into existence moments later. A little under a week early.
However, that focus didn't come without consequences; for one, I'd been slacking on many of my duties. In a community like ours, that is a quick way to become somewhat less popular without an adequate excuse. Perhaps more importantly, my project went from being a nice hobby to an all-consuming passion in front of my parents, who were understandably a bit worried. I had promised it was nearly done and that I would show them the finished work soon, mostly to get them off my back at the time. That time had come.
In all truth, it was a necessary step, and in many ways, I was very excited to show my masterpiece to my parents. However, in many ways, I was still very much that child eager to show off my finger painting and have it hung on the fridge in a show of parental approval. Sure I was a bit older than that example, and it's not quite how Quarians do things (There's a big communal wall with sections dedicated to each child). Still, it was very much the same idea. On the other hand, I was also very nervous about it, for a lot of reasons. These would be the first people other than myself to read it, and as great as I thought it was, it only really counts if other people agree. Worse still, I was 10 years old and about to hand my parents an impossibly well-written book about such an incredibly dark topic. One I had obviously researched and understood in horrific detail. I was not looking forward to that part of the conversation.
So with the kind of nervous-bouncing excitement only a child can genuinely contain, I went and found my parents. Fortunately, they were finishing up their work for the day, mostly office work today, it seems. Mum is one of the ship's head engineers, responsible for the life support systems. Dad is the Quartermaster responsible for engineering supplies, which is how they met. As they love to tell me.
"Mum, Dad, I finally finished my story, and I want you to read it."
"This is what's been taking up so much of your time lately, right; Your secret project you wouldn't let us see until it was done?" My father, Atton'Vai vas Iktomi, asked.
"Yes, it is. It's pretty big, so I want you to take your time and read the whole thing properly".
"Alright, it's clearly important to you, Kirah, we'll do as you say, but then we're going to have a long talk about managing time and your duties". Mum promised.
"I know a lot of the contents will worry you, but when we learned about the other species that exist in my classes, we also learned about some of the less pleasant parts of the galaxy". Perhaps not the best way to introduce the story, judging by the body language of my parents. So I quickly continued. "I was worried it might happen to us, so I had to research more, and then I couldn't stand not doing anything about it".
I immediately transferred the document to their omnitools, and they were clearly surprised when it took several seconds instead of an instant. Yes, the story was quite long. After all, it covered about six centuries of life. But, with a lot of editing, I managed to cut it from 5 million words to 2.35 million. Finally, mum spoke up.
"That is a lot bigger than I expected; this might take a while to read. Hmm 'A Maiden's tale'. It's about Asari, then?"
"Yes, she's the main character. The story is so long because they live a really long time," I explained like it was obvious, and they were idiots for not knowing that. This started Dad laughing for a moment before clearly suppressing it. I'm ten years old and fully intend to enjoy that.
Getting himself under control, Dad decided a change of topic was of utmost importance and immediately threw me under the bus.
"Now, son, I'm sure the story is outstanding, and we will read it with all the seriousness it deserves, but we need to address your duties to the ship. We spoke to the captain, and you have double duties for the next three weeks to make up for your behaviour which cannot be allowed to continue any longer".
The lecture that followed from both parents lasted an eternity.
I spent the next week doing a lot of extra work, and with what little spare time I had, I spent catching up with friends. I really wanted to show my work off to Veetor, I knew he wouldn't share it around or anything, but I also knew he wouldn't enjoy it or understand half of it. Regardless we had lots to talk about. He recently discovered Humanity and has become a bit of a humanophile. It's kind of nice because I could open up my more human side with him in a way I only really did with my parents. I told him about a year ago I was a reincarnated human, as I had told my parents. None of them actually believed me; some days, I'm not sure I even believed me. But it was easier than continuing to justify some of my weirdness. These days it was thought of as something of an ongoing joke, but it meant when I offered to learn English together with Veetor, he jumped at the chance. Second language justification get.
During this whole time, I kept an eye on my parents. I could roughly tell where they were up to in the book based on their dominant emotions that day, and I felt really bad on the 7th day when they seemed absolutely crushed. Pretty sure that is when she had the control implant installed, it's a very soul-crushing chapter. Every night my parents had a long conversation about it in private. They never said anything to me, but the way they behaved around me was different. Not bad or anything. Sad and oddly respectful. I made it my mission to cheer them up each day with some harmless mischief. They clearly finished it on the Ninth day, and I found them both holding each other, crying.
I think that means the story was doing exactly what I wanted, but it hurt to see my parents like this.
When my mother noticed me, she looked directly into my eyes and said
"Kirah, darling, that is an amazing story, but I think we both need another day to sort out our feelings. Can you wait for us?"
I stared back and then nodded firmly.
"This deserves to be published. The galaxy needs to read this, but no one will publish a Quarian story these days".
It was a sad fact but true. I was about to relay my plan of publishing as an Elcor when I realised a major flaw in my book. It was exquisitely written, a true masterpiece, but it was exquisitely written Khelish. To even have a chance of passing off as an Elcor, it needed to be in Elcoran. Fortunately, translation software is pretty impressive, but by necessity, it favours precision in meaning over artistry. Publishers have some specialised proprietary software that is very expensive. Still, even with those, they need an expert to fix the prose.
"I have a plan for that; I know I can't publish it as a Quarian, but what about an Elcor. They have a long history of High Art and are respected throughout Citadel Space. You know, I can learn stuff really quickly when I focus on it. I think I could learn Elcoran".
Neither of them was expecting that, and finally, after a stunned moment, mum replied.
"Darling, let us just think about it for a day or two, come to grips with the book our child wrote, and we'll come up with a plan. Then, do you mind if you share it with the captain? He can probably help, and you know he will keep your secret".
That's not a bad idea. Really. Secrets are a big deal for Quarians, part of your very limited but precious privacy, and sharing secrets is a massive aspect of trust in our society. Actually, it's part of Quarian marriage rituals; everyone chooses personal secrets about themselves, which they only ever share with their spouse. It's one of the most intimate signs of trust.
The captain is well known for his time on Thunawanuro
and one of the few Quarians respected by Elcor with many contacts there. Well, at least since the conclave let their bitterness get the better of their judgement, and they dumped all of our criminals on Ekuna. Which caused the so-called "Little Invasion" and ruined the not inconsiderable sympathy we had from the locals.
It could help firm up the identity if we at least make it look like the story came from an Elcor world.
"Alright, if you must", I replied, "But make sure he promises to keep the secret".
In the meantime, I had three charges to spend. Finishing the story felt like a great weight was removed, and my spirits soared, not just metaphorically. I would need another point in metaphysics to understand why; but I had gained a third charge a couple of days ago, and I could actually start to feel an awareness of my soul. In much the same way, you can be utterly unaware of your breathing or the feel of your tongue rubbing on your teeth in your mouth until your attention is drawn to it. Then you suddenly can't help but notice it. Not that I could really do anything about the awareness. It was more like being aware of your heart rate with no direct way to influence it. I would have to get that third point sometime soon, but not yet.
I put a point into Literary Translation and then a point in Language - Elcoran. Fortunately, that single point was enough to become more than casually fluent. Obviously, I could not truly speak the language, heavily reliant on alien body features and pheromones as it was. Yet, I could understand it at a nuanced level few non-Elcor ever achieved. It also meant a lot more information was directed toward the written language. I could feel a sense of smug satisfaction flow down the link. I was acutely aware that I was missing a lot of technical vocabulary, archaic forms, dialects etc. Still, I had everything I needed for my story. Less immediately relevant but perhaps most fascinating, understanding the language provided great insight into the Elcor mindset.
It confirmed what I had already known; whatever was on the other end of the link was capable of thoughts and feelings. And it was tailoring the records I received to what I needed.
I had a third point to spend and a new idea. There's an old idiom on Conflict that Quarians would attribute to Yulan'Tare, Humans to Sun Tsu, but it's common to all sentient species - Know your enemy. I didn't particularly consider the Elcor as enemies. Still, I now knew them an awful lot better than I ever did before. So, focusing on understanding their culture and mindset, I exchange a charge for Language - Asari. The knowledge flowed, and suddenly I felt it interacting and synergising with social engineering and galactic history. It revealed motivations and explained politics in a way that had never occurred to me before. I would definitely have to do this with Turians and Salarians in the future, at the very least.
I am confident with a bit of help from translation software, I could also put out a decent Asari translation. I still remember English just fine, too. Well looks like I had more work to do.
Academic Writing II
Akashic Links I
Citations III
Chemistry II
Language - Asari I (new)
Language - Elcoran I (new)
Mass Effect Lore I (complete)
Mathematics II
Medicine I
Metaphysics II
Batarian Culture (Slavery) I
History (Citadel Civilisation, Modern) II
Physics I
Psychology I
Psychology of Slavery II
Quarian Physiology I
Quarian Immunology I
Quarian Pharmacology I
Social Engineering II
Translation (Literary) I (new)
Writing III
