savetheearth | 002 ✮ handwritten/hand-drawn text

[ Even if there were other important matters on his mind, Gerald Vakarian had been thinking about one thing in particular since the New Year began. So, after a productive day (or as productive as police officers stating "we've told you all we know about ThunderCorp, Agent Vakarian" in ten different ways can be"), he figures it's time to give this strange network a whirl yet again.

This time, he connects via a piece of paper, and he can't quite say that it makes him comfortable. Thankfully, his bold text doesn't quite give that away. ]

SO, SEEING HOW THIS IS ALL NOT A DREAM, I WAS WONDERING IF ANY OF YOU COULD TELL ME WHAT SORT OF THING THIS IS.

[ What follows is an assortment of images clearly glued onto paper by someone who is not a professional artist. ]

[ . . . ]

ACTUALLY... SCRATCH THAT.

[ This is exactly what he does, scribbling furiously over the image. ]

HERE, LET ME TRY TO ACTUALLY DRAW IT WITHOUT USING OLD NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINES.

[ The following sketch demonstrates that while Gerald may be a man of many talents (and a truly remarkable programmer), art is definitelynot his strongest point. ]

YEAH... SOMETHING LIKE A SECOND ONE. IF YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES AND SQUINT.

[ Well... it was worth a shot. But it still doesn't stop him from scribbling over that one too... ]

IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE A COMBINATION BETWEEN A DINOSAUR, A BIRD, AND A BUG THING.

IT'S TIMES LIKE THIS I REALLY WISH I MAJORED IN ART.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Mordin has never actually had an Echo triggered solely by a network post before, but there's a first time for everything.]

Turian. Alien species native to planet Palaven.

How much did you see?

[ ...As it turned out, maybe Gerald's art wasn't quite as horrible as he thought. Because, what this guy had just said happened to make something click in his mind (and it was another one of those echo-pulses).

So, the thing in his memory was an alien after all. And what was perhaps most unsettling was that his "laryngitis" just happened to mirror a turian's vocal pattern. ]

Yeah. Palaven's the third planet in the Trebia system, right?

I was talking with one of them. Something about "protocol", which they seem pretty big on.

[ Which he is actually rather fond of himself. ]

Wouldn't know. Familiar mostly with biology, not culture or - galactic geography, for lack of better word. Familiar with terms "salarian" or "Sur'Kesh"?

[ And yet another one of those echo-pulses seems to hit him, though it feels somewhat different than the last one. ]

Yeah, Sur'Kesh is the homeworld of the salarians, who are short-lived, super intelligent frog people.

[ At least, "frog person" is the first word that comes to mind with the image in his mind.

...Who is this guy? ]

Beyond that, I think they're allied with the turians, or something like that. The details are fuzzy.

[ hold on. ]

But, how do I even know "details" about salarians and turians in the first place?

Closer to salamanders, actually, but mostly accurate.

Standing theory is that alterations are "Echoes" of past life, now reaching reincarnated bodies. Knowing of salarians and turians in "past life" may have been Echoed to current body.

Have been skeptical of notion, but cannot deny that it has merit; have noted that I am developing aspects of salarian biology myself.

[ Gerald is thinking about a lot of things right now. He's not quite sure how this guy is triggering these echo-pulses, but... ]

I'm more of a fan of the "alternate universe" theory, myself. It makes us seem a little more in control of our destiny.

What sort of salarian biology?

[ Seriously, is this guy half frog person now?!?! Inquiring minds want to know! ]

Internal, mostly. Higher metabolism and eidetic memory. Also regained a holographic wrist device capable of advanced medical scanning.

[He neglects to mention the neuroshock function to someone he's just met.]

[ Wait a second... He remembers a conversation he had with someone else. About working at a clinic, and a doctor and... ]

An omni-tool, right? I was talking to a friend and he mentioned that a doctor at the clinic had something of that description. It triggered one of those echo-pulse things for me,

[ And... it was probably a good time to introduce himself (with his nickname... keeping a low profile and all that)... ]

By the way, you can call me "Garrus".

[Mordin's next few Echoes are initially disorienting, but when he processes them, he feels excitement, a rare kind he hasn't experienced in a while. He's finally getting somewhere with regards to the identity of the salarian he seems to be turning into.]

Dr. Mordin Solus. Appear to have known you.

[ That name is enough to trigger an echo that leaves Gerald all the more unsettled (and now, there's even more evidence piling up that he wasn't human). He switches the feed to private, and then decides that given their apparent "shared background", it might be wise to switch over to video.

It might also be noted that his voice sounds distinctly turian. ]

That... wasn't even my real name. My sister came up with it when she was a kid.

[ a pause ]

Gerald Vakarian. I'd say "nice to meet you", but apparently we've already met.

[ Somehow. God, he's going to need a drink after all of this. ]

[Mordin follows suit, switching to video on his end.]

Apparently so. Remember serving with you aboard a space vessel. Turian, gunnery officer. Sniper. Can't remember any other details - name of ship, purpose of mission, commanding officer, all blanks. Can hear you've recovered flanging effect to your voice. Missing anything?

[ It's... a lot to digest. Gunnery officer. Well... he supposed that made enough sense, if the gun needed to be calibrated with computer programming. Sniper... was a bit of a stretch for him, but hey, it was what he was best at in training.

Turian, though. He'd really wanted to deny it, but it seems next to impossible now. ]

So the "other me" was an alien. And now I've got a permanent case of smoker's cough/kazoo-in-throat, and to top it all off, there's a pretty good chance I could echo-pulse back more turian traits.

Great.

[ a sigh.

But... wait. This guy probably wants some information too. ]

You were a doctor. But, not the ship doctor. You worked on genetics, and ran a clinic somewhere before you came on board. Also, I think you were kinda old. But, that's all I'm getting. The rest... I'm drawing a blank on.

Matches my own experiences. Good to know. Clinic was located on Omega - space station carved into an asteroid.

Run LSR clinic right now in Locke, if you ever need to find me. Unlikely to get any alterations out of each other soon - have exhausted what I can remember, at least - but good to have found a fellow crewmate nonetheless.

One more piece of advice - turians a dextro-based species. Genes twisted in opposite direction of levo-species like humanity. Transition would require diet adjustment. Allergic response to levo-proteins also a possibility, although unlikely. Can provide you with an Epi-pen prescription in case alteration results in poor response to levo food, if you feel it's worth it.

[Sorry, what's a bedside manner again?]

Yeah. Apparently I spent a year or two there, myself.

[ Thanks for another echo, Mordin. He's really appreciating all these info-dumps.

And... oh god. Is he saying what he thinks that he is? ]

Wait. So if I start getting more physical alterations, there's a chance I won't be able to eat anything without getting an allergic reaction?

This just keeps getting better and better.

[ But, even if he didn't know this guy, he can't help but feel some level of camaraderie with him. Maybe it was the fact that both of them were dealing with a connection to aliens. Or maybe it had something to with the memories from their past lives/alternate universe. ]

But, I'd appreciate an epi-pen... just in case. And... it's good to know I'm not alone in this. Whatever this is, exactly.

Will send you one shortly. Pleasure to meet you, Vakarian.

[Garrus will receive an epi-pen in the mail, plus accompanying instructions and any other required miscellany, within the week.]

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