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Culture Shock	By : Hyperion Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 18746 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all related characters are property of Bioware and EA Games. I do not profit from this in any way.

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"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, on the charge of treason against the Migrant Fleet, the Admiralty Board must find you guilty......"

The words seemed a million miles away, but Tali could hear them detonating inside her head. Shala'Raan had bought Tali her first transistor assembly kit on her 5th birthday, but here she was now, forced to condemn her in front of all her people.

".........safety of the Fleet is paramount, and so we have no choice but to levy the maximum penalty....."

When she thought back to this moment years later, she'd wonder if she had cried, but there was nothing but numbness. There would be time enough for tears later. Perhaps the rest of her life would wash away in tears.

"......permanent exile from the Fleet until your natural death. May your ancestors watch over you in the difficult days to come. Keelah se'lai."

In synchronized order, the Admirals began filing out of the courtroom. Xen and Koris left without so much as a backward glance, but Gerrel and Raan remained for a while, looking across the room at Tali. Naturally, she couldn't see their faces, but she could feel their sympathy, for whatever good it did. But they were still Admirals, and could not be seen expressing sympathy for a declared traitor, and so they left, leaving Tali friendless among her own kind. She heard John exhale sharply next to her as he overcame the initial shock of the verdict. She'd never thought he would be the architect of her downfall ------ she knew he hadn't meant for this to happen, but somehow that just made it worse, because it altered things between them forever.

"This is insane! We can file an appeal, right?"

"No," Tali whispered quietly. The Admiralty Board rarely reversed one of their verdicts, and they certainly wouldn't entertain appeals after the Alarei's entire crew had just been killed by a geth force Tali had been convicted of bringing in. "Let's just......let's just leave."

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Months later, Tali found herself on Camala, a batarian colony that had grown fairly prosperous despite the series of sanctions imposed upon the Hegemony by the Council races. After the Collectors had been defeated, Shepard had turned himself in to the Alliance for a hearing about the destruction of the Aratoht relay, and the Normandy had been impounded. Her alien crew had all gone back to their worlds to prepare for the inevitable arrival of the Reaper fleet, but Tali had no place to go. She was still too proud, or perhaps too ashamed, to accept help when it was offered.

Quarians were not popular in most parts of the galaxy, and Tali's biggest struggle during these days was trying to find lasting employment to afford a shared roof over her head and food that was more substantive than the dry nutrient paste most destitute quarians lived on day by day. She managed to get a few low-level technical jobs here and there, but no one was willing to trust her with anything more valuable or anything befitting her skills and training. Too often she'd heard prospective employers mutter slurs about the reputation of quarians as beggars and thieves once they thought she was out of earshot. She usually was, but her suit's auditory receivers had a larger range. Some of them didn't even mind saying it to her face.

Even when food and shelter were taken care of, Tali had her exosuit to worry about. It needed constant maintenance and upgrade, and being cut off from the Fleet meant it was impossible to get certain parts that were exclusive to quarian exosuits. She had to settle for retooling components of other exosuits, like the ones the volus wore, which usually meant her suit would last about three days before it needed to be fixed again. For the most part, she'd managed to avoid infection, but eventually she came down with a burning fever that kept her awake and wracked with sweat and pain for two days before it mercifully subsided. It was then that she decided she needed to make her way to Camala.

Slavery accounted for a major portion of quarian employment throughout the galaxy. Most of the other species had options --- even the dumbest asari could find work in a hundred different strip clubs on Illium alone. But quarians were universally shunned, and to avoid starvation they found themselves gravitating towards the humiliating contracts slavers slapped onto them, working long hours for a pittance. The only upside was that slaves usually lived with their masters for the duration of the contract. The pay was miserable, and slaves often had to put up with abuse from every member of the master’s family, but living under the master’s roof meant food and shelter was taken care of, at least. It was degrading and something Tali had sworn she’d never sink to, but reality had quickly caught up with her.

Despite the vehement condemnation of the slave trade by every race that still had an embassy on the Citadel, slaves were still trafficked in and out of the Citadel and Illium on a daily basis. It was just a matter of knowing where to look, and whom to talk to. Still, appearances had to be maintained, and most organizations that were known to contract slaves would strenuously insist that they did no such thing, at least in Council space. Outside Council space, however, was another matter entirely.

The batarians had closed down their embassy on the Citadel and shut themselves off from the other races partly due to what they perceived as the Council’s favoritism of humanity regarding expansion in the hotly contested Skyllian Verge, but also because they maintained that slavery was an inextricable part of their culture, and that the Council had no right to condemn or sanction them for it. So while a company like Synthetic Insights would never openly draft desperate quarians into slave arrangements on the Citadel or Illium, they did so freely on Camala, encouraged by the Hegemony’s tacit support of the custom. Despite the reputation of the batarians for cruelty and malice, Tali had come here, because the only other alternative was Omega, a journey Tali could not afford given that it was at the other end of the galaxy. And the daily death rate on Omega was a good enough deterrent on its own.

Her first stop was a small complex in the inner city that another quarian on his Pilgrimage had told her about. The area was reputedly a safe haven for quarians on Camala; wretchedly poor and starved for amenities, but always willing to put a roof over the head of any quarian in need.

Little Rannoch, she mused, remembering a detail from an old vid on human societies and how different ethnic groups carved out spaces for themselves in big cities.

"New in town?"

She spun around and spotted another quarian girl leaning over a balcony. Her exosuit was faded in many places, but the patch on her shoulder bore the unmistakable insignia of the Ulnay, a relatively new ship that had sent several of her youngsters out on their Pilgrimage nearly a year ago. She'd seen the Ulnay logo somewhere in the last few months, but she couldn't remember---

"Wait, I know you," Tali exclaimed, suddenly realizing where she'd seen the insignia. "You're the girl from the Citadel, aren't you? Lia? That bosh'tet volus accused you of stealing his credit chit?"

The other quarian was taken aback, but the reminder of the ignominy on the Citadel sparked her own recollection of Tali. "And you're the one who was with Shepard! I remember you. You gave that volus a scolding my mother would have been jealous of," she chuckled. "But what are you doing here of all places?"

"My ship was......I can't go back there anymore," Tali replied, struggling to put her plight into words. "And....," she paused briefly, unsure of how much she wanted to tell Lia, "I don't have enough money to get back home...."

Lia picked up on her discomfort and decided to change the topic. Every quarian here had their stories, and she wasn't going to push Tali until she was willing to reveal hers. "That's ok. I'm Lia'Vael nar Ulnay. You're Tali, right?"

Tali nodded. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. I was hoping to find a place to stay while I asked around Synthetic Insights for a temporary contract."

"You can stay with me," Lia offered, "I share my quarters with one other quarian, so it shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Thank you!" Tali exclaimed. "Keelah, you don't know what a relief that is.......actually, you probably do....."

"You've got that right," Lia laughed.

"So.....did you get a contract with Synthetic Insights?"

Lia shook her head. "If I did, I'd be living under a master's roof right now. Even in batarian space, we're not really popular, but ever since the vorcha started showing up, they've been snatching up all the slave contracts. They don't sleep, they don't need to eat much, and they can work in any conditions without complaining. So they're the perfect slaves. They're not smart enough to do anything other than menial labor, but if you're not really trained in anything, like me, then your contract's been snatched away by some Heshtok bosh'tet."

Disappointment washed over Tali. She'd come to Camala for an easier shot at a steady paycheck, not a harder one. But unlike Lia, she was trained in something. "I'm an engineer," she offered.

Lia shrugged. "Then you might have more luck with them than I did. Come back and tell me if it works out. I hope it does."

"Me too," Tali whispered quietly. "Thanks. So.....if you don't have a contract, how do you make a living around here?"

"I get by," Lia remarked cryptically.

It was clear she was holding something back, but after Lia had paid Tali the courtesy of not pressing her for details about her own situation, Tali was eager to repay the favor. She stayed the night in the small room with Lia and the other quarian girl, Mira'Detoh nar Iktomi, but sometime near midnight, the other two girls got up and left, with Lia telling Tali not to worry about it. She stayed awake for hours, praying to her ancestors for good luck and hoping that she'd manage to find a contract, and early in the morning Lia and Mira returned, promptly collapsing onto their beds in exhaustion.

"Where did you two go last night?" she asked them over breakfast once day had fully dawned upon them.

Lia and Mira exchanged hesitant looks before the latter nodded. "She's probably going to need to know eventually," Mira pointed out.

Lia sighed and turned to face Tali. "Ok, full disclosure. I told you yesterday that I got by even though I couldn't get a contract anywhere on Camala, remember? But I didn't tell you how we get by." She paused for a while, listlessly stirring her food around on the plate. "The truth is, Tali, the only quarians who stand a chance of getting jobs on Camala are the ones like you, with specialized skills. For the rest of us, there's only way to make a living." She raised her gaze away from the plate and met Tali's eyes. "Prostitution."

Tali was aghast. "What?"

"We sell ourselves," Mira replied bluntly, "we can actually make more money as whores than as slaves."

"Batarians......well, they like it rough," Lia explained, "and knowing how fragile we quarians are just excites them. We've got a pretty low threshold of pain, after all," she shuddered. "We'd struggle to get any other job, but on Camala, we're actually in high demand as prostitutes. In one night, I can usually get about 15 customers. A lot of the time, it's groups of 3 or 4 at once. Groups pay more."

"Keelah, that's.....that's horrible!"

Lia shrugged. "It's not that bad. They dose us up with tons of medi-gel to make sure we can survive without a problem. That much of the stuff usually gets you a little high, which blunts the pain. And they tip well after they're done. You just have to put up with it for a few hours, and wash yourself thoroughly when it's over. Not too many dextros around here." Her eyes glazed over softly as she stared into the distance. "Another month or so, and I think I'll be able to afford a ticket back to the Fleet."

"Lucky you," Mira responded glumly, "It'll take at least another six before I can get out of here, and I'll have nothing to show for my Pilgrimage."

"I'm sure you'll find something by then," Lia consoled her.

It was now more imperative than ever for Tali to find a decent contract with Synthetic Insights. Throughout every new low she'd sunk to, the idea that she might have to sell her body on the streets to the nearest bidder had never even occurred to her, and it terrified her to think she might have to resort to....to that.

Springing to her feet, she told Lia and Mira that she was going to be late for her appointment at Synthetic Insight, and they barely had enough time to wish her good luck before she was out the door. On the way to Insight's local headquarters, she spotted several quarians as well; some with masters, some without. It surprised her to see that quarians didn't receive as much public animosity here as they did elsewhere ---- or maybe the batarians just hid their disgust better. It was strange; when she was with Shepard and the Normandy, it didn't seem like anything was bothering her, but now, she could feel a tingle in her spine every time her suit picked up on a stray whisper or a brief but scornful glance. The confidence of knowing she was on a mission to save the galaxy had made her feel invincible, and now she'd been brought crashing back to the ground, where everyone else lived.

"I almost canceled your appointment," the interviewer at Synthetic Insights remarked the second Tali walked in the door. "You're late."

Tali apologized profusely and took her seat, while the interviewer strode around the side of the table and settled down opposite her. She was an asari in the early matron stage of her life; her skin was a dark blue, and the perpetual scowl on her face coupled with a lousy temperament suggested she was likely a local to the Kite's Nest system, and probably the daughter of a batarian.

"Let's see......Tabin'Vokh, Taggar'Zeka.....," she ruffled through her quarian folder, searching for Tali's file. "Here we go. Tali'Zorah, correct?"

Tali nodded.

"Your file says you have extensive training in mechanical engineering. Also correct?"

Another nod.

"Very well. We have one job available for prospective slaves with your skillset. The Dah'tan Manufacturing Plant is reopening its transistor assembly line, and the mechs need constant resoldering. You will be housed in a nearby residential complex with the other workers. Meals will be taken care of. The contract is for eight months. Are you interested?"

"Yes," Tali replied. It wasn't an ideal remedy, but she'd take eight months of guaranteed food and shelter over living in squalor and starvation. "I can start immediately."

"We would expect no less. Now all you have to do is give me your ship name, and I will verify your credentials."

Tali froze. "My.....ship name?"

The asari glanced up from the folder. "Yes, dear, your ship name. Our clients insist on it when dealing with quarian contracts, owing to.....ah......certain perceptions about the quarian work ethic. We have people who can check up these little details. And please, don't lie about which ship you're from. It will only waste our time and money while we verify your dishonesty."

Tali was now caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. Which ship name was she supposed to give? Tali'Zorah vas Neema? If she gave them that, they'd check and verify that she'd been exiled as a traitor, and then she'd be blacklisted among employers all over Camala. Tali'Zorah vas Normandy? That was tantamount to a death sentence. After the destruction of the Bahak relay, dropping the word "Normandy" around batarians was just asking for trouble.

She stood up abruptly and made for the door. "I.....I have to go. Can we talk again later?"

"No," the asari said firmly. "the available spots are being filled rapidly. This was your only opportunity, and it is now over. Judging by your reaction to something as routine as a background check, it would seem you're not the kind of employee our clients would prefer, anyway."

Repeated rejections had blunted some of the sting the experience held for Tali, but it stung nonetheless. She wept on the walk back to the small apartment, knowing that there was no way to get a decent job on Camala now, and that she'd come all this way in search of a better chance that had just evaporated before her eyes. When she came back, Lia didn't ask how the interview had gone. She could tell, and her heart went out to the other girl. If nothing else, Tali had come to Camala with hope, and now that hope had been ground into dust.

Tali coiled up in bed and stayed there for the rest of the day, refusing to come out for lunch or dinner. Her stupor was only broken by the sound of Lia and Mira leaving in the middle of the night. The next morning passed in silence as the two other girls tried to give Tali some time to get over what had happened at Insights, but Tali wasn't even in the room; too busy thinking about her next step, any next step, that would at least keep her from having to sell her body.

Easier said than done. She tried applying for jobs in small appliance stories and machinery repair shops, but no one would have her. Most were kind enough to make up excuses, but some cheerfully told her to her face that they'd rather throw their wares into the gutters before leaving a quarian in charge of them. At least one batarian threatened to call the police if she didn't leave and never come back.

For one whole week, Tali persisted, and met with failure at every turn. She had no job, no money and no way of getting either, and she was living rent-free with Lia and Mira, eating the food their money had bought without contributing anything of her own. They didn't say anything, but Tali felt like their eyes were boring into the back of her head everytime she turned away. Eventually the embarrassment and shame of poverty sent another one of her convictions down the drain, and she found herself asking the previously unthinkable of Lia.

"Lia," Tali said, her voice quivering as she tried to form the words. "Take me to.....take me to where you go at night."

"Ok," she replied softly. There were no questions. Lia had been down this path before, and she knew what it looked like when there was no other way left. "For what it's worth, I'm really sorry, Tali."

They exchanged no more words until night came, and then Tali joined Lia and Mira as they drove down to the batarian brothel that would now be her place of appointment. It was loud and gaudy, and Tali tried not to think of the fact that she was an Admiral's daughter, afraid that the burning shame would consume her where she stood. But Lia was right, there were a lot of quarian girls around, and a lot of customers eyeing them eagerly.

"Lia! Where the hell have you been? Customers have been asking for you! Paying customers!"

"That's Raken," Lia whispered, pointing out the yelling batarian as they hurried towards him. "He runs the place. He hooks up the girls with the customers."

"About damn time!" Raken yelled, looking like he was seconds away from a coronary. "And who the hell is this?"

"Tali," Lia replied, introducing her to Raken. "New girl."

Raken ran his eyes up and down Tali's frame, pacing around her as he took in her curves, accentuated by the exo-suit, and decided, grudgingly, that a figure like hers might be worth keeping around. "Can you start right now?"

"Yes," Tali replied quietly.

"Good," Raken barked, "head to Room 7. There's a krogan birthday party going on and the guests are expecting a little action. They'll hook you up with a medi-gel infusion before you enter----"

"Wait!" Tali yelped, shooting a panicked look at Lia. "I....I don't do groups. Can I just do individual customers right now?" She wasn't ready for the humiliation of a dozen men using her body as a receptacle for their fluids.

Raken's eyes --- all four of them --- narrowed as they focused on Tali. "You know the pay's better for groups, right?" he barked, before turning to Lia. "She knows the pay's better for groups, right?"

"Go easy on her, Raken," Lia pleaded, "it's her first night."

"Hrrmph. Fine, go wait upstairs until I can find someone for you----"

"New talent, Raken?"

Raken spun around to face the source of the new voice, his face breaking into a wide grin at the sight of another batarian. "Groto, you miserable bastard! Been a while."

"Too long, Raken." The two batarians clapped each other's shoulders, a sign of mutual respect, and eventually Lia was called away to meet her customers, leaving Tali alone with Raken and Groto.

"So," Groto said, studing Tali carefully. "New talent, eh? How about you give an old friend the chance to break her in? I won't even charge you."

Raken snorted. "Ha! Dream on, you miserly prick. I'm not taking a single credit below my standard rate."

"Come on, Raken," Groto protested, "What's the point of being friends with a brothel owner if you don't get to sample the goods?"

Raken wasn't going to budge. "Not one credit below my usual rate." But then he relented. "But if you pay for two hours, I'll let you have her for the night. I figure new talent's no use unless someone reviews it. How's that sound?"

Groto's eyes gleamed. "That sounds like a deal."

Before Tali could say a word, Groto pulled her away to a private booth, where he forced her to sit on his lap, facing him, while he dismantled the torso of her exosuit with the expertise of a man with a taste for quarian whores. Tugging at the sides of her mask until it detached, he ran his coarse fingers across her face, enjoying the way she shuddered involuntarily at his touch. "Pretty face," he remarked. "What's your name, girl?"

"Tali'Zorah," she replied, keeping her ship name to herself. He didn't inquire about it, content to continue exploring her body as he pleased. Pulling away her breastplate, he squeezed and tugged at her nipples until they were rockhard, and she couldn't suppress an involuntary gasp of pleasure. This pleased him greatly, and he continued titillating her against her will, fondling one nipple with his right hand while the left grabbed her by the wrist and forced her hand against the fabric of his pants, where she could feel his erection straining to break free of its confines. "Do you feel it, slut?" he hissed. "Tell me you want to feel it inside you."

"I.....I want to f-feel it inside me......."

"Louder, he growled, fondling both her nipples with his hands, the forced stimulation driving her crazy as she felt her pussy grow wet with the anticipation of sex.

"I want to feel your c-cock inside me!" she gasped, trying desperately to slow herself down as she felt herself pushed further and further towards climax.

"Louder!" he snapped, using his mouth on her nipples, to suck and release as his sharp teeth brushed against her breasts. The sensation was driving her crazy, and her poor pussy was nearly inundated with her juices now.....

"I WANT TO FEEL YOUR COCK INSIDE ME!" she screamed, right before he dove on hand down her garments and stuck four fingers into her dripping cunt. She writhed in his lap, moaning and gasping as his fingers explored her intimate place, but just before she could reach her first orgasm in months, he pulled away, leaving her to come back down that mountain without warning.

"Not a virgin," he commented, rubbing her juices against her belly. "But not too bad."

He pulled her off his lap and pushed her to the side, reaching out for one of the brothel's special kits for quarian hookers. It contained medi-gel patches which would directly disperse the substance into her bloodstream, spiking her immunity for several hours. Groto retrieved four patches, and attached two to each of Tali's arms. She accepted this without protest, her chest heaving in trepidation --- and anticipation --- as she recognized and accepted what was going to come next. This man had bought her body, and he was going to have his way with it for as long as his money was worth.

What really upset Tali wasn't that she'd found herself in this predicament. What upset her was how quickly she'd embraced it. What her father would say.......

"Lie back and relax," Groto advised. "The medi-gel patches can be overwhelming the first time around."

Indeed they were overwhelming. Lia had warned her that the rapid infusion of such large quantities of medi-gel could get her high, but the light-headedness that Tali currently felt wasn't just highness. She could feel her thoughts slipping out of reach; always just outside her grasp, but she couldn't reach out far enough to take hold of them. She wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline, or a bad reaction to the medi-gel, but eventually the patches grew so overwhelming that she simply passed out.

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When Tali awoke, the first thing she could feel was her aching limbs, stretched out as her body lay spread-eagle on her back against a cold, hard floor. She was completely naked, and her arms and legs were chained to the floor, leaving her completely immobile. Fright quickly seized her and she screamed until her voice was hoarse, but no one came. Shivering in the cold, she lay enveloped in darkness for what seemed like an hour, before a voice outside the door said "She's awake."

She screamed again, and again, calling out for help, and the voice was joined by another in laughter. "Clearly. Go get Karsek."

Conserving her breath, Tali tried to look around to see where she was, but the darkness made it very difficult. The only light was a thin beam from a narrow window near the ceiling, and from what little of the room it illuminated, she could make out her exosuit lying in the corner, carelessly thrown away while she'd been disrobed and bound. The size of the room wasn't clear; it was bigger than Lia's little apartment, but still not very big as far as rooms went.

More light flooded the room as the door swung open, and six batarians walked in, one after the other, with Groto closing the door behind them. Each and every batarian sported a wicked, lascivious grin across his face, which made Tali even more frightened than she'd thought possible, but what really made her nearly weep in terrified despair was the sight of the long, throbbing erections each one of the batarians was sporting. She knew they were meant for her, and she knew this was going to hurt. A lot.

"So, Groto," a grizzled old batarian named Karsek said, "any difficulties?"

Groto laughed. "None. Raken thinks it's just for the night." The batarians crowded around Tali as she struggled uselessly against the chains, and Groto gave his companions a quick tour of Tali's body. "Not much of a chest, but she squeals like a varren in heat when you twist her nipples." His hand dipped down between her legs, poking a finger into her pussy, and she desperately rolled her hips from side to side to shake him off. "Not a virgin, either, but still tight. Very tight. And she's never done anal before, from the looks of it. So who's first?"

"Is that even a question?" Karsek growled. "Make a line, boys......but I'm getting first crack at this little whore."

"No, wait, WAIT!" Tali screamed, writhing against her bonds as the batarians laughed and continued to fondle and pinch her skin. "I don't do groups! I told Raken I don't do groups! Please, you've got the wrong girl!"

Karsek crouched down to meet Tali's terrified gaze. From the way the other batarians parted to the sides to allow him through, it was clear he was their leader. He seemed older than the others, but the wiry sinew of scar tissue that covered the lower-left half of his face made him seem even more sinister than he was ---- which was already pretty damn sinister. "Oh, we've got the right girl, Tali, don't you worry," he replied, his cold whisper chilling her to the bone. "We know who you are. We know all about you, don't we, boys?" The other batarians roared and hooted in agreement, some of them impatiently stroking their erections as they waited for the gangrape to begin. Karsek leaned in closer until his voice could echo in Tali's ears, before dropping the bomb Tali had been afraid of ever since she'd set foot on Camala.

"We know all about you, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy!"
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Culture Shock