Can’t Stop Laughing

Nihlus almost rolled down the narrow spiral staircase, his boots clanging in inglorious bursts. When he finally touched the bottom floor, he glanced up and saw the figure of his mentor, three stories above, struggling with the punctured pipe at the back of his suit. Saren’s motions were uncomfortably reminiscent of panic. Nihlus shook the fascination off and hurried to close the valve. He had to lean in with all his strength. Thank the Spirits (and the generosity of said mentor) that he had the kinetic exoskeleton built into his suit, otherwise it would’ve been impossible.

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Extraction

Chapter 16 of Ghost in the Machine


Shepard squinted in the dim light of the nightclub. It smelled like a distillery and there were nearly naked asari pole-dancing and lap-dancing everywhere. Small round tables riddled with bottles and glasses and rubbish surrounded the bar and the stage. There were all sorts of customers: turian, human, salarian, volus. The music was unpalatable, probably drell or something even more exotic, but there was a rhythm to it and the dancers hardly needed anything else. Out of the corner of her eye, Shepard caught a man sniffing something from the back of his hand. It certainly didn’t look like C-Sec maintained a presence here.

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Good Timing

Chapter 15 of Ghost in the Machine


Wrex could smell the shithole called Chora’s Den from the other end of the gallery. He leaned over the railing, his gauntlets screeching in contact with the smooth, matte metal, and glanced at the light sky-car traffic below. None of the cars would be bringing him company: that much was clear from the message he’d just received from his so-called support. Fucking amateurs. Held at the docks for trying to smuggle weapons through customs. What did they do – hide them in their pants? Fucking idiots.

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A New Mass Effect Fic: Forgiven

My first commission. Well, not the paid kind, but close enough. An artist and a good friend asked me to write a scene to serve as the narrative foundation for a painting. The topic was: Garrus and his thoughts just after sparing Sidonis’ life.

The story is titled Forgiven.

Image: infiltrator-N7 @ deviantArt

Forgiven

The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand, thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I.

T. Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner


Garrus has no idea how long he’s been standing there, lost in thought. Lost, period. He can no longer see the sky-car up on the gallery. So Shepard’s gone. He did tell her that he needed time. How much time? He glances around but the fake daylight is no more of a clue than the cold shimmering of the holo-ads lining the promenade.

So many people down here, so much traffic… what the hell was he thinking? The clamor of the busy street rises and falls in his ears together with the waves of despair and self-loathing, alternating in a nauseating rhythm. Prepared to take revenge – his hand stayed by mercy that wasn’t his own. Or was it? The uncertainty is crippling, paralyzing. Does she really know him that well? Does she really know him better than he knows himself?

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A New Mass Effect Fic: I’m Watching You

I’m Watching You is another Saren/Nihlus story from the period of training, which is to say, the period before The Candidate, and as such, it deals with the theme of friendship slowly turning into something more, despite Saren’s efforts to keep it strictly professional. Posted on FFN and rated M for mild explicit content. Namely…

When Saren had set up the hidden cameras, he knew there would be things he didn’t want to see. Like Nihlus drinking on duty, or hiding drugs on the ship, or taking out dirty clothes from the washer and wearing them. But he wasn’t expecting… this.

Image: Anjian @ DeviantArt