"Don't worry, Tali," Kelly said, sitting behind her desk and smiling warmly. "Everything said in this office is in the strictest of confidences. I assume that this is something to do with the... unique situation you're currently in."
"Somewhat," Tali said. "I tried to tell Shepard, but... I didn't want her to think I was..." Tali felt herself stammering again, her cheeks turning red. It had taken all her courage to even walk into this office, but now that she was here, she couldn't believe what she was about to say.
Kelly gave her a warm, caring smile. "Tali, trust me. Whatever you have to say, I won't judge you for it. It's my job to make sure you feel completely comfortable on this ship, after all. So, please, you can say whatever is on your mind."
Tali swallowed, taking a deep breath. "Ever since I've been in Ash's body, I've been... been... aroused."
Kelly smiled. "It's perfectly natural. The idea of inhabiting somebody else's body is a common sexual fantasy."
"It's more than that, though," Tali said, fidgeting in her chair. "It's like all I can think about is sex. I don't know if that's a human thing that I'm just not used to, or maybe it's just the feeling of being out of my suit like this. But all day, every person I've been in contact with, all I can think about is ripping off my clothes and letting them have me."
"Interesting," Kelly said. "And did you ever have fantasies of this nature before?"
"No," Tali said, then immediately shook her head. "Actually, that's not true. I have fantasized like this before. But definitely not this often and... mostly about one person."
"Commander Shepard," Kelly said, and Tali jumped in her seat.
"How did you know?" Tali asked.
Kelly smiled. "Truthfully, Tali... it was just the most logical guess. The two of you have a long history together, and you've been through so many emotionally taxing situations with each other. It's only natural that you would form an attachment. Have you made your feelings for Shepard known to her?"
"No, I couldn't," Tali said. "Besides, Shepard loves Ash. I saw the way Shepard used to watch her back when we were on the first Normandy. Someone like Ash... I could never compete with someone that beautiful and amazing. No, I'm just better off on my own, not making things complicated by letting my feelings get in the way. And especially now, in my current situation..." Tali let out a sad chuckle. "I just wish I had my nerve-stim program right now. If I had that, at least I'd be able to keep my mind off all these... thoughts."
"Why do you need your nerve-stim program?" Kelly said. "If these fantasies are proving to be so distracting, you can just masturbate."
Tali blushed again. "Well, you see... the problem with that is..." She looked up at Kelly with a bashful smile. "I've never... really done it before. I mean, when I was in my suit, it wasn't really an option."
"Ah, I see," Kelly said. "Well, I think I can give you some proper instruction on that, Tali."
"Thanks, Kelly," Tali said, bringing up her omni-tool. "Just forward the information to my extranet address, I'll look it over when..."
Tali was interrupted by the sound of a light buzzing. She looked up and let out a surprised gasp. Kelly was standing up behind her desk, and in her hand was a long, thin plastic rod, vibrating away in her palm.
"You know me, Tali," Kelly said. "I've always been more of a hands-on type of girl. Now, take your pants off."
* * *
Ashley felt horrible.
After returning to her quarters, she had accessed Tali's mission logs, the quarian having left detailed notes on each mission the Normandy had undertaken. Story after story of Shepard's dedication to duty, her willingness to help people in need, filled Tali's visor. Ash hadn't known before watching these logs, but each one of Shepard's squadmates had come to their commander with a crisis. Miranda had a sister that had been kidnapped by her cut-throat father. Jack had old wounds to heal at a Cerberus facility. Even Tali, she'd gone through hell back on the Migrant Fleet.
"I don't know how it happened," Tali was saying, her voice filled with emotion. "But Shepard stood up to the Admiralty Board of the Migrant Fleet and forced them to listen to her. And now I've been exonerated, and it's all thanks to Shepard. She's..." Tali hesitated at this point, and then cleared her throat. "She performed the mission successfully."
Ash felt herself feeling emotional. She'd been unfair to Shepard. While Ash had been sitting around being angry at her, Shepard had been doing her part, for both the individuals she encountered and for the galaxy as a whole. Offhandedly, she pressed a button on her omnitool to close the current log.
"Personal log addendum," said a mechanical voice, and Ash gasped. She'd hit the wrong button, still not used to these alien hands. Instead of closing the log, she had accessed Tali's personal logs. Frantic, she tried to find the button to halt the playback, but she couldn't spot it.
"Shepard was... amazing," Tali was saying, her voice less stiff and informal, this recording only meant for her own ears. "Every moment since I saw her again on Freedom's Progress, I'm reminded of why I fell in love with this woman, and why I know in my heart that I will never stop loving her."
Ashley paused in her attempts to halt the message, shocked at Tali's words.
"I always grew up thinking I'd meet some male crew member on the ship I'd be assigned to after my Pilgrimage, and we'd find each other agreeable enough that we'd get married, have as many children as was needed to benefit the Migrant Fleet. The idea of falling in love seemed silly, a notion from the days before we'd been driven off our home world. And for me to fall in love with not just a woman, but an alien woman... if I'd gone back and told the younger me, ready to head off on her long journey, that this would be the result, she'd have never believed me."
"But it's true. I love Jane Shepard. I love her so much that it hurts to be around her, knowing that she would never feel the same way. And even if I go to my death on this mission without having ever touched her, or kissed her, I know that my last breath will be a declaration of my love for her."
Ashley listened to Tali pour out her heart on her personal log, shocked at the depth of Tali's feelings. How could Ash have not seen it? She supposed it was difficult to read Tali's emotions behind this mask, but still, to have never gotten a hint of this before now?
Finding the proper button, Ashley was finally able to work her hands enough to turn off the log. Shaken by the depth of the current revelation, it took Ash nearly three minutes to realize that, even with all this time spent keeping her mind occupied, she was still incredibly horny. Sighing, she scrolled through the suit controls Tali had adapted to work with Ash's omni-tool. Maybe Tali had some movies or something stored in this thing, something to take her mind off her groin for once.
Ash paused as she saw an unfamiliar entry in the list of Tali's on-board programs. "Nerve-Stim Pro," she muttered to herself. "Wonder what that is?"
* * *
"That's it," Kelly whispered lightly into Tali's ear. "Take it slow. It'll take some time to find out what feels best; there's no need to rush it."
Tali was reclining back on an angled couch in Kelly's office. She had removed Ash's pants and underwear at Kelly's request, and now was slowly running a vibrator up and down the length of her pussy. She could hear her own breath coming in harsh, heated gasps, while a dark, wet spot slowly started to form on the fabric of the couch below her.
Kelly was kneeling next to her, giving her words of encouragement. "How does it feel, Tali?"
"Feels... feels good," Tali found it difficult to concentrate on speaking, the sensations being elicited by the plastic wand in her hand bringing her maddeningly close to climax. It was nothing compared to the pleasures of nerve-stimulation, but there was something about this that was a lot more... real.
"Why don't you try putting it inside you?" Kelly asked, her hand reaching down to intertwine with Tali's, steering the tip of the device into position. "Again, do it slowly. Take your time and enjoy the sensation."
Tali let out a gasp as she felt the vibrator slide inside her. "Oh, keelah," she exclaimed, the buzzing device inside of her feeling almost alive as it forced her open.
"You know," Kelly said, "Some women enjoy stimulating their nipples while masturbating."
Reaching up, Tali grabbed the bottom of Ash's T-shirt and drew it up, grabbing her sports bra on the way to expose her bare breasts. Groping herself, she struggled with her unfamiliar fingers to play with her rock-hard nipple. After a few seconds of fumbling, she felt Kelly's hand gently move her own away.
"Here," she breathed into Tali's ear. "Let me."
And the surprise of feeling Kelly's lips around her areola, and her tongue lapping at her erect nipple, was enough to send Tali off into a shrieking climax. She dropped the vibrator as she felt herself losing control of her body, and just as she felt herself coming down from the waves of pleasure, Kelly's hand found its way between her thighs, and her expert fingers soon brought Tali to a second orgasm.
By the time their appointment was up, Kelly had given Tali extensive instruction in the many varieties of human female stimulation, and demonstrated them with the vast collection of devices she kept in her desk drawer. Tali stumbled out of Kelly's office feeling like she'd run a marathon, but even after all of that, she was still feeling horny.
She knew what she wanted to do. What might finally relieve the tension she'd been feeling. But the thought of it filled what was left of her rational mind in disgust.
"It'd be wrong," her internal voice said. "You'd be letting down both Ashley and Shepard, and you'd be doing it for all the wrong reasons."
But this ache, this maddening urge refused to abate. There was only one person who Tali thought would be able to satisfy her, and with her decision made, Tali turned and made her way toward the elevator.
* * *
"Fuck!" Miranda cried out. "Fucking fuck fuck fuck!" She was becoming more like Jack every day.
The session with Zaeed had only momentarily distracted her attention from the sensations between her legs. By the time she'd gotten back to her office, she was already starting to feel the horniness returning. Nothing Miranda did seemed to satisfy Jack's cravings, not her fingers, not the vibrator she kept stowed under her mattress. Jack's body was threatening to drive Miranda's mind insane.
When she heard a beeping sound at her door, a notice that someone was requesting entrance, Miranda made up her mind. She didn't care who it was, male, female, human, alien... she was going to drag them into this room and she was going to fuck them absolutely senseless. But when she opened the door, there was no one there. Just as she was about to groan in disappointment, she saw something on the ground. A small datapad had been left at her door.
Picking up the device, she saw the main display. "Heard you'd been having some stress problems. Think this'll help you out," read the text. Miranda pressed the button on the bottom of the screen, and the plain text was replaced with a garish display.
"HOT! HOT! HOT!
Come see the debut show of the
sexiest performer ever to set
foot on the Normandy!
A show guaranteed to make you
rock-hard and bring you cumming
back for more!
No cover! Free booze!
You DEFINITELY don't want to miss
this sexy siren as she teases,
pleases, and blows your mind!
No touching the dancers?
Not at this show, buddy!
Touching welcome and encouraged!
Come on down to Deck 5 tonight and
see what fantasies lie in store!"
At the bottom of the lewd advertisement was a small blurb of text. "NOTE: You have been specially selected from a lucky few to receive this invitation. Tell no one else about this. Come alone, or don't come at all."
Miranda stared at the datapad in disbelief. Who could have possibly known about the problems she'd been having? Zaeed pretty much kept to himself down in engineering, and she hadn't told anyone else. Who could have possibly sent this?
She was tempted to believe the whole thing was a prank, but something about it gave her pause.
"Something like this," she started saying to herself. "It's completely against ship protocol. I have a duty to go down and put an end to it."
Yeah, that was the ticket. Of course, she'd need to actually watch the show, just to make absolutely positive it was against protocol. She couldn't afford to make a mistake; she'd probably have to sit through the whole thing, keeping a close eye at whoever the woman was who was participating in such... debauchery. The poor thing obviously had self-esteem issues, and it was Miranda's job to help her out through such a difficult situation.
She reached the lift in a flash, hitting the down button and waiting impatiently. When the door slid open, she saw Tali standing inside. The quarian in the human marine's body reacted with shock. "Oh, Jac... Miranda."
"Going down to the show on deck 5?" Miranda asked, before remembering that the datapad had said not to tell anyone else.
"What show?" Tali asked. "No, I'm going up, actually. You're going down?"
Miranda nodded. "I'll catch it on the way down."
And as the door slid shut, and Miranda caught the hungry look in Tali's eye, she began to wonder if maybe she wasn't the only one dealing with these overwhelming sensations.
* * *
Falling back on to her bed, Ashley gasped for breath.
As it turns out, the Nerve-Stim software was exactly what she had been looking for. The device had several different options for provoking orgasmic responses, from a slow, sensual build-up, to a series of rapid, mind-blowing climaxes. However, Ash had done every one of them twice now, and although the sensations were amazing, she felt no closer to relieving the constant arousal she was feeling.
Finally, she pressed an unmarked button on her omnitool. She heard a voice inside her helmet. "Our systems indicate that this attached module has not been certified for use with Nerve-Stim Pro. The makers of Nerve-Stim Pro cannot be held responsible for any negative effects this module may cause. Do you still wish to continue with this module?"
Ash was intrigued now. "Yes," she spoke into the helmet microphone. The business-like male voice was replaced with a sensual female voice.
"Hello, and welcome to Virtual Partner. This attachment to Nerve-Stim Pro will provide you with an experience unlike anything else you've seen, heard, or felt. Is this your first time using Virtual Partner?"
"Yes," Ashley said.
"Alright, then. Let's walk you through the steps to getting started. First off, what is your name?"
"Ashley."
"Name entered as... Ashley. Is this correct?"
"Yes."
"Nice to meet you, Ashley. The next question is, what is your gender?"
"Female."
"Gender entered as... female. Is this correct?"
"Yes." "Alright, Ashley, now that we know about you, let's get to know your partner. You can either enter new bio-scan information at this time, or access one of the existing bio-scans currently loaded in this module. Would you like to enter a new scan, or use an existing scan?"
Since Ash had no idea how to input anything into this program, she said, "Use an existing scan."
"There are currently... two... bio-scans registered to this device. Please select your desired bio-scan."
A menu appeared across the HUD in Tali's mask. As it populated information, Ashley began to understand what this program was for. The first option, naturally, was Commander Shepard. When the menu option was selected, it provided a complete listing of biological information for Shepard. Her height, weight, bodily proportions. A detailed image of her face, and even a voice sample. Everything you would need to generate a simulation of another person.
"So," Ash thought to herself, "Tali couldn't get the real thing, so she installed this to have Shepard in her own way. Tali, you dirty girl, you."
Consciously, Ash knew she should shut this down immediately. Listening to Tali's personal log was bad enough, but to pry into her sexual fantasies like this seemed a bit beyond the pale.
She was about ready to shut the whole thing down, when her curiosity got the better of her. "Two bio-scans," she thought to herself, staring at the other, unmarked option on the menu. "Considering how much she's in love with Shepard, I'm surprised she would need anyone else's scan in here."
Whoever it was, Tali had accessed it within the last few months, so it wasn't just some former crush that had been replaced with Shepard. Promising herself that she would definitely close this after looking, Ashley accessed the other option.
And her eyes went wide as the name lit up on the interior screen.
"ASHLEY WILLIAMS."
* * *
Shepard rubbed her eyes blearily, a light noise in her room awakening her from her sleep. Instincts took hold, and she grabbed her gun from the side table, pointing it at the dim silhouette she could barely make out.
"Shepard, it's me," said a familiar voice.
"Tali," Shepard muttered, placing her gun back on the nightstand. "What are you doing in my room? I thought I locked the door."
"You did," Tali said, Ashley's voice thick with Tali's quarian accent. "I broke in."
Shepard frowned. Tali was acting strange. She reached for the light switch, but nothing happened as she triggered it.
"I disabled it," Tali said in the darkness. "I wanted you to hear me, think of me as Tali, when I say this."
"Tali, what's going on?"
Tali paused for a few seconds, as if considering her words. "When did you fall in love with her, Shepard? Ash... when did you know that you loved her?"
The question took Shepard aback, and she couldn't figure out a way to respond.
"When it happened to me, it was almost immediately. I mean, I didn't know it was love at first. Somebody came in and saved me from certain death, of course you're going to start feeling something for that person right away. But the moment I knew was with that girl Talitha, the one from the colony where you were born. When I saw the way you talked her down, the compassion you showed to her, I knew right then and there that I loved you. That I'd been in love with you since the day we met, and only now was realizing it."
Shepard stared blankly at the dark form in front of her. "Tali, I... I didn't..."
This brought a sad laugh. "Of course you didn't know. You already knew who you wanted, and what I felt wasn't as important." Shepard started to protest, and the dark figure held up a hand. "Don't deny it. I know that if somebody else came up to me and told me they loved me, I wouldn't be able to return the affection. I've already given my heart away, you see, and I guess you have too, Shepard."
"See, we're the same, Shepard," Tali said. "Both of us want someone they can't have. All we can do is hope that things change, and until then, we pretend like we have a chance. So, the reason I came here tonight is..." As Tali paused, the lights came on. Shepard's eyes adjusted quickly to the sudden brightness, and her mouth gaped open as she saw Tali standing at the foot of the bed.
Wearing Ashley's body... and nothing else.
"Tonight, I want us to pretend together."