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Marked Effect (AFF Edition)	By : unrealuniverse Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 22185 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Mass Effect characters, species, locations and the universal setting are owned by Bioware and not myself. Any other brand names mentioned are property of their respective owners. This work is and always will be free for anyone to read.

Chapter List
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Chapter 51 - Spaceworks
Monday 13th February 2017
-------
"Can I ask you why Silana has markings this morning Sam or are you and Amistathya both being difficult?" Sam just making is way down the stairs to find some breakfast.
"I have no idea Lianta. Maybe she drew them on herself as I do not even know what they look like." Sam walks across to the kitchen area where Hymara, Lianta and Silana had nearly finished their breakfast. "I apologise if you have got abuse this morning Silana. I do like your fingers however."
"Athya was remarkably kind to give me the option between stripes or a spiral. I quite like them even if Hymara and Lianta are not too keen as it is not quite as striking as your fully black fingers. Where is Athya anyway Sam?"
"She will be down in a minute Silana." She nods before eating the last of her breakfast.
"I may as well say now that your first day at work is going to be a long one Sam. You are not exactly popular in the media this morning."
"I will do as I have for the last few weeks and totally ignore them Hymara. As long as we are happy with what we do that is all that really matters."
"I do have to apologise for this Sam but we are going to go to follow you around at work. This is only for the first few days but it may be permanently if we feel the security at Sentix is not tight enough."
"You do not need to apologise Lianta as I trust you two to decide when you think it is necessary for you both to come along." Lianta nods as she hears someone come down the stairs. She puts her head in her hands when she sees Amistathya with a smile. "I made your breakfast while you were messing about."
"I was not messing Sam. I guess the fact you both look unimpressed that you do not approve?"
"The amount of negative news this morning about Sam means we are going with you to Sentix Spaceworks today Amistathya. I think we are interested to know what is happening between you as this is really confusing us. I do not think either of us understand why you would choose to inflict this upon yourself."
"Unfortunately it is going to have to wait Hymara as I asked to meet Olissa last night. I got a reply this morning saying we should meet her before work so we are going to have to leave soon. I need to say that the reasons for doing what we do are not always logical Hymara so, if you think there may be a good reason behind what we do then you could be wrong."
"I have been with some rather incomprehensible individuals before Sam but I think yourself and Amistathya are near the top of the list at the moment."
"I appreciate the compliment Lianta as being the same as everyone else is boring. Is everyone ready to leave?"
"Myself and Silana just need to get dressed Sam. We will not be long." Sam nods to Amistathya before she and Silana go upstairs.
"Ami explained what the markings meant last night and offered me the opportunity to do the same to her. I thought I could do so while keeping her looking pleasant so I accepted the offer. It became apparent that marking Ami without doing the same to Silana would look silly so I let her mark Silana."
"Why did you feel you had to accept Amistathya's offer Sam?"
"She has had markings on her body all her life. A few more is not going to make any real difference to her Lianta. Silana was a little reluctant but only because she has had an unpleasant owner she wishes to forget that also marked her in a similar way." Hymara and Lianta get up from the table waking Sam up as the three of them go to join Silana and Amistathya at the front door.
"So you are happy about having the tribal marks Silana?"
"It makes me feel part of the group which is something a servant is rarely offered Hymara. I also think they have taken the time to understand me to get the markings correct unlike the last individual who did so, and she ruined my dark green markings in the process unlike Athya." The five of them get into the lift to go down to the skycar.
-----
"Good morning Kate. Where is Fosanta?"
"She is having a quick shower. You sound much happier this morning Seliha."
"I am as it is another easy week this week for me Kate. That reminds me I must send a message to Sam at some time." Seliha gets breakfast out for both herself and Adastra. "I guess your weeks are much of the same?"
"They are as Armali not only wish to certify manufacturers of ships but also the installers, resellers, buyers of the ships as well has individuals and organisations who recycle the parts once they have got to the end of their life. It is a long list and there are only four of us. It is rather nice though as a job unless the clients wish to be difficult by sending inappropriate individuals on their behalf or start offering bribes."
"You should take some of their offers for bribes if you think they will get the certificate anyway. You may as well get something extra for your work. Think of it as a performance related bonus and making up for those difficult individuals."
"I would feel bad about doing that Seliha."
"The individuals who can afford private transports, freighters or large plasma thrusters have so much income a meal or a weekend break is irrelevant to them Kate. To give you some idea, I think you earn just over half a million credits a year. A cheap, new passenger transport is two million and Adastra said that twelve metre plasma thruster you saw would sell for seventy two million."
"That much!?" Seliha nods with a slight smile. "I can see now why Adastra was so jealous of Sam getting a passenger transport."
"Kate your shuttle outside is probably the equivalent of a years worth of wages." Adastra walking in to the kitchen and taking a seat next to Seliha. "I overheard your conversation. The shuttle is that expensive because it can do FTL travel. A standard skycar or a planet shuttle is about a hundred to two hundred thousand new but second hand ones crop up working for as low as fifteen thousand or so."
"How much would a transport like Sam is to get cost?" Kate asking wondering quite how good of a deal he had got.
"Well the thrusters he picked are just under ten times more expensive than basic ion drives. I would guess about five million Kate once he has added the fusion core, eezo cores, non-haptic drive controls and his own interior."
"I think I may consider your advice Silana as it is obvious some people are getting paid much more than we do." Fosanta walks in.
"Morning you two. What advice was that Kate?"
"To accept some of these bribes I get offered if I know they would have got certification anyway."
"That is up to you but some of these individuals will rather spend a few thousand credits to do something quickly, and to their satisfaction, than to be disappointed. If you can work out which ones you can accept without feeling guilt then I would agree that you should do so."
"I guess if they offered monetary bonuses then I could give it to a charity."
"I like that idea Kate. Adastra and I should be leaving as I have someone I must meet this morning. Have a good day."
"Same you to Silana. Have a good day Adastra."
"I will Kate. I will see you both at lunch time." Kate and Fosanta nod before they leave.
"Sam got a good deal out of Armali and Sentix then."
"This house definitely would not have been cheap Kate. We have done well and we have a nice outdoor area with a pond."
"Perhaps I did not think of it quite like that Fosanta. We should be going as well as it is not long before my first appointment."
-----
The five of them are in the lift heading to Olissa's office. "I am actually a little scared as I have no idea what will happen."
"I have a feeling you may have some convincing to do Sam as Olissa said to me it was company policy for employees not to have tattoos. She was even reluctant about Athya to begin with."
"I appreciate that help Silana as knowing that is useful." The lift doors open and the five of them turn left and walk down the corridor to her room. Sam knocks on the door. They hear a 'come in' from inside so they open the door and do so. "Good morning Olissa."
"I was expecting this given the news articles so I am less disappointed than I would otherwise have been. Would you care to explain why Sam?"
"We had got some skin markers off a particularly elusive individual. I thought we should have a play around with them yesterday. I was sensible and only drew where they could be covered up but Ami had other ideas for me. While I could have said no, I needed answers to questions and if you ever get to know Ami those opportunities do not come around often. She offered to answer any questions if I agreed to have markings on my face, neck and hands. I knew nothing at this point about their meanings but I did expect something like that to happen. She answered my questions and explained what the markings meant last night. I am not that bothered about what they tell others but she offered to have makings in the same style so I tried to keep hers a little more subtle as I know how difficult some Asari are with markings. I thought it was unfair for Silana to get away with not having any so that is the reason she has them as well. They will begin to fade in about seven days and mostly gone in ten."
"I am not sure whether I made the company rules clear to you on tattoos Sam so I will reiterate it. No employees are to have tattoos unless small, on the face and match their natural ones."
"I could argue if I wanted to be difficult that we are, strictly speaking, contractors, as Sentix have hired us on behalf of Armali and therefore that rule is non-applicable as we are not Sentix employees even though we work here. Also I must point out that thrusters do not care what the individual who is installing them looks like."
"I am tempted to send you to our orbital dock for a week but you make a valid point Sam. Since none of you are servants I feel it should not be our job to say how you should look even if personally I am not keen."
"Is there anything else I should be aware of Olissa?"
"Not particularly and I am sure Silana can inform you of the basics. You will both get a storage locker for any personal equipment that you find helps you with the job tomorrow. I will message you both the number of the locker allocated to you and Silana can show you where they are. Liphanya will be in hanger three with your first job. I am sure you will be able to find her."
"I am sure we can. Would this be a bad time to state that we have plans to go to Thessia on Saturday the eleventh of March for a week and a day? We need the time to sort out event materials with the University of Serrice, Vetiras Broadcasting and Galactic Acceptance."
"As long as outstanding work is completed before you leave then that will be ok Sam. I must however ask you to leave as I have a meeting in ten minutes and i wish to prepare."
"I appreciate you being reasonable Olissa." She nods and the five of them leave to walk down the corridor to head to hanger three. "Well that was much less difficult than I expected to be fair."
"I was most surprised that she did not force you and Amistathya to have ten days off and have Silana wear gloves to be honest Sam."
"She knows if I would not be working then neither would Silana hence nothing would get done Hymara." The five of them enter the reception area. "Morning Omepha. I am getting sick of that look as I feel I have bright yellow skin or something."
"My apologies Sam. I hope you all have a pleasant day."
"We will see how other people react but it could be a long day." She nods in agreement before they walk through the door onto the corridor and collect a transportation vehicle.
-----
"Silana. You will have to point Liphanya out to me but please do not say anything."
"I will be more than happy not to say anything to her Sam." The three of them walk into hanger three to see a small freighter with new hull plates being welded on. "She is the purple one with dark blue markings Sam." Sam nods and makes his way to an Asari who seemed overly on edge as she works down a list on a large datapad.
"Liphanya?" She looks up gaining a rye smile as she sees who it is.
"It is a bit different to what I usually expect. I see you have got some friends and even some commandos now Silana. I bet that makes you feel so much safer."
"Hello to you too Liphanya. I know this is a bit of a odd situation for you but could you inform us as to what we need to do so that we can leave and get on with it."
"I can see why you are so well trained Silana if Sam is like this. So efficient and to the point."
"I requested Silana not to say anything and I would quite like you to speak to me and not my servant Liphanya."
"I am highly amused you are the leader Sam as it is obvious you are way over your head with just your pet let alone a second servant."
"No Liphanya, Ami is nothing other than a very pleasant and wonderful individual. Never should she be compared to an animal."
"It is no more of an insult than comparing her to a flower." Sam turns to Silana, Amistathya, Hymara and Lianta.
"I can see this is going nowhere. We should just go for a look around and a talk to individuals."
"Where do you think you are going?"
"To do something more productive than waste my time having to listen to you being difficult Liphanya. Perhaps if you were friendlier and actually listened you would be an awful lot more useful as a manager."
"I manage with the thousands of servants here, you seem to struggle with two."
"I have only one servant Liphanya just to correct you. The second point is why are you trying to reassure yourself that you are the individual with more responsibility? Surely you should be responsible for ensuring jobs are done efficiently and not telling us what to do is hindering that process."
"The hierarchy is simple, your pets answer to you, and you answer to me. The job will be done whenever I decide to give you it and be done before the deadline I impose."
"Liphanya, I will go over your head given you are being deliberately difficult if I need to. I do not have time to stand around with an audience talking to some egotistical individual with delusions of greatness." Liphanya seems to drop her smile. "I dislike having this discussion but I am responsible for the future of billions of individuals over many, many generations, not just a mere few thousand servants. The thing that kills me most is I have to represent every one of those individuals and I can not speak to them. Your job is trivial in relation and to be honest could be done by a computer program." Liphanya, clearly having enough of her being undermined, launches a biotic push towards Sam. A few moments later, just before it hits Sam it explodes silently into small blue particles which just waft past him like a strong gust of wind. Hymara and Lianta had travelled the four paces forward to stand next to Sam.
"Liphanya, another attempt to injure Sam will result in you being shot. I hope that is clear." Sam looked around the hanger to see most of the workers had stopped and were viewing what was happening. "Please just give Sam the job he is meant to be doing and we can leave you."
"Liphanya, wasting my time, irritating me and mocking my bondmate was not the best idea in a first conversation. My intention was not to provoke but I only have so much patience. If you wish to talk to me later once everything has calmed down then I am sure that you can find me. All I would like to know is what we have to do. We can then leave you alone for the moment."
"Why should I tell such a difficult individual?" Sam sighs before turning around and beginning to walk off towards the ship. "You do not know what you are doing." Sam shrugs as he keeps walking; the others get the idea and join Sam. The five of them enter the ship via a temporary walkway.
"Thrusters are at the back of the ship unless I have the wrong idea. Since we are installers either they are there and all we need to do is connect them or we need to find them wherever they may be. We can at least get started either way as I am not going to let Liphanya waste our time, insult us and try to physically attack me for the privilege."
"You are right in that she should have been less difficult but she is sometimes like that."
"It is no excuse really Silana. A friendly greeting and just being given the job would have both been a lot quicker and given a positive first impression."
"While I think you did ok Sam you should not have provoked her by saying her job could be done by a computer program."
"It is true though Lianta and any comparison between my wonderful one and an animal is entirely inappropriate and degrading."
"I think you handled that well Sam and thank you for making me feel appreciated. I hope you do not mind me having an easy morning this morning as I have a bad headache from splitting that field."
"Not at all Ami as you deserve to be appreciated and respected, especially so when you are willing to prevent others hurting me." Amistathya smiles as she cuddles up to Sam as they make their way through the ship.
-----
"Can I ask why you are watching me?" Sam curious as to why a couple of red collared Asari are just stood in the corner watching him. "It is ok I do not mind if you speak to me. I know it is against the rules but you all look fairly alike and if I do not know your name then I would have no way of saying who spoke to me."
"Please take your time but you are stopping us from removing the old floor covering. We need to remove it to get to the floor panels underneath which need replacing. We will however happily wait until you are finished."
"I can always leave laying this fibre for a few minutes as my job is hardly time critical."
"It would not help as you seem to have a lot lying on the floor and we have been told before that it is quite easy to break."
"It is not too bad to work with to be honest but I get your point. So which group of individuals is it with red collars?"
"Internal structure fitment."
"I saw the individuals working on the hull had yellow collars. Are there any others I should be aware of?"
"Decorators have purple, propulsion green, drive systems orange and materials transport blue."
"I appreciate your help." Sam threads the fibres through the cable holder attached to the floor beam before moving along which allows the two individuals to pull up the first strip of the floor covering.
-----
Whesiva joins Kate, Fosanta, Seliha and Adastra in the Skylounge. "I hope none of you mind?"
"Of course not Whesiva, how are you?" Adastra moves onto Seliha's knee to give space for Whesiva to sit down.
"I am good Kate. Does anyone have anything interesting to talk about?"
"I think the twenty metre thruster for the event may not be one plasma tube as we are beginning to think it would take months to get the design right."
"So what is the plan Adastra?"
"Samalya is running a simulation now and depending upon its results we may have to go for many plasma tubes in one casing."
"Well that sounds more interesting than my day Adastra. I have just been looking at a couple of predictive models for the better amplifier design on the nebula amplifiers." Seliha seems more interested in her Omni-tool that the conversation. "Messaging someone Seliha?"
"Sam as I got sidetracked this morning when I was going to ask if we could go around on Friday afternoon."
"I guess not having him around the house is still a bit strange?"
"I think having a male in the house is what made the difference Whesiva. It is not really quieter just different. I do have to say that I think I miss Athya as much as I do Sam even if I did hate her being his servant."
"Are there any more plans for the event yet Kate?"
"No Whesiva. We really should put some together soon as time is progressing. I keep getting messages from various people but I need an afternoon to sort them all out."
"I must leave to check on this simulation. Sorry Silana." Adastra gives her a kiss before getting up.
"I have a meeting shortly as well so I will join you Adastra." Kate gives Fosanta a hug. "I will talk to you all later." The three of them nod as the two of them leave.
"I have a non-optional meeting shortly. What are you two doing this afternoon?"
"Non-optional meetings as I have to sit in on Whesiva's meeting Seliha." She nods as her Omni-tool beeps.
Seliha,
Of course you two can come around on Friday afternoon. We will be looking forward to seeing you.
Sam
"At least Sam seems happy enough to be meeting us on Friday. I must however be leaving as they do not like individuals being late." Fosanta and Whesiva nod and Seliha leaves.
-----
"I guess Seliha and Adastra want some time with just us, as having so many people in the apartment sometimes makes it difficult to get what you are trying to say across."
"I would like to have a bit of time with them but I am hoping Seliha is nice."
"I am sure she will be ok Athya."
"She did choke me once Silana so I am a little weary."
"I can understand your reservations then."
"I guess we have to go in a different queue to get lunch than everyone else Silana?"
"We do Sam, follow me." She turns left up ahead and they walk through a set of doors into a large dining hall. The general din of everyone talking subsides appreciably when people see Sam and two commandos walk in. "As you can see there is quite a queue down the left hand wall."
"How long does it usually take to get through that?"
"Fifteen minutes roughly." Sam just thought to himself that is a bit excessive as they are walking down the right hand side of the hall to a different serving area which had no queue at all.
"Good afternoon to you all. I am required to advise Sam that most meals served here may contain traces of element zero and while the amounts are considered safe for all, consumption of three meals a day, seven days a week may cause you issues."
"I feel the need to point out that I will not be eating every meal here and that I have been informed that I do not have to go out of my way to avoid trace amounts."
"I just need to inform you Sam so I do not loose my job." Sam nods and the rest of them order their food. Amistathya seemed to have her eye on the same fish soup that Sam did.
"Can I ask both why you are not a servant? Also given the fact we get our own queue and staff I also guess there are some specific tables for us?"
"I think the management do not particularly like being served food prepared by their servants. That is just my opinion however as I find most of the individuals pleasant. The non-servant tables are on the slightly raised platform at the back of the hall."
"I appreciate your help."
"I will see you tomorrow." The five of them pay for their meals before walking towards the raised seating area getting a few looks from around the hall.
"Sam, could I have a talk to you?" Olissa catching them as they walk past.
"Of course, can we?" Sam gestures to the spare seats around the table. Olissa nods and he takes a seat with Ami sitting on Sam's knee even though there was five spare seats at the table. "What was it that you wished to talk about?"
"I heard that there was some unwarranted activity in hanger three this morning Sam. I am interested in hearing your description of events?"
"Liphanya neither gave me a greeting nor seemed willing to inform us as to what we should be doing. She seemed intent on wasting our time as well as being difficult and calling Ami my pet. That annoyed me a little and when she tried to make herself important I had to put her handing of several thousand servants into context. I do not think she took that truth too well and decided to try and biotically attack me."
"I hope she did not injure you in any way Sam."
"Luckily not but I am still not impressed, especially when all I wanted is a greeting and to know what we had to do. We have just guessed what we needed to do this morning as sitting around doing nothing is not fun."
"You have both of the thrusters in that particular ship to install by Wednesday evening. I am not impressed at Liphanya using biotics against workers so I will have a word. I have also spoken to various individuals that to get updates on propulsion they must contact you directly not Liphanya at the moment."
"I am sure that will work ok. I had a talk to some of the interior fitters this morning while laying fibre and they were friendly if not overly happy."
"I guess you know that they should not speak to you Sam?"
"I do Olissa but as long as I do not slow them down working then I can see no harm in doing so and it may cheer them up a little."
"Just be careful that Liphanya does not find out as she is not all that impressed by you at the moment. I am going to arrange a meeting for next week to try and get this settled once the anger has died down."
"I am all for that Olissa and I offered to speak to her again if she wanted."
"I will message you the time later this week once I know what next weeks schedule is. I must however get back to my office as I have work I need to catch up on after sorting all of this out." Olissa stands from the table.
"I apologise for that if it was in any way my fault Olissa." She nods before walking out of the hall. "Well that was strange but at least we know what we are to do now."
"I am happier now I know the timescale as I was worried it would be tomorrow afternoon and not Wednesday." Sam's Omni-tool beeps.
Sam,
Expecting light to give you information by sound is a waste. Drawing an image would be much more useful to you, something that is large and unexpected. Keep listening as we do.
"These messages get increasingly strange every time I receive one."
"What does it say Sam?"
"It makes no sense what so ever Hymara so I cannot really explain it. I am sure it will do eventually."
"Is everyone ready to go back?" Silana keeping everyone motivated. Sam and Amistathya nod before they all get up from the table and head back to hanger three.
-----
Whesiva and Fosanta were waiting in a side room in the administration building which they found a little strange. "There are only two of us for this meeting?"
"I have no idea what is happening Fosanta but this is the correct room." Whesiva turns to the door as it opens.
"My apologies to you both for being a little late. It is good to meet you again Whesiva and you must be Fosanta." She nods before the Asari locks the door and takes a seat behind the small desk. "My name is Pheinova and I am head of biotics at Thessia."
"It is good to meet you but why are you on Illium?"
"Usarta informed us last Tuesday of a bioamp project that was being developed at this facility Fosanta. The council board at Armali were entirely unaware that this was happening and they were rather unprepared for this revelation. This facility should not have the funding to produce new bioamp projects and an investigation revealed that while funding from Thessia was about correct, this facility makes millions more on propulsion products than it passes back to Thessia. This funding gets cycled back into development of which some is bioamp related."
"I guess they will have to provide more funding to Thessia in future then?"
"I am unsure what the board will eventually decide to do Whesiva. All I know is that they asked me to come here and see if we can progress this development to a point where we have solid data. The board are not particularly keen on putting lots of investment into this design as they had told Illium that this market segment would be break even at best."
"I guess Usarta was thinking of subsidising the development from the propulsion department."
"You could be right Fosanta. Anyway as to why you are here. Since you two were the individuals to produce the last design which had some promise, Armali asked me to work with you this week to produce one test amplifier. I have then been given discretion if I think the quality is good enough to provide both of the two test participants with a final design. If the quality is not good enough then the entire project will be scrapped, the test bioamps incinerated, and all files properly deleted."
"Why are they offering to produce a final design as this project would be months or years from being ready?"
"I, a number of years ago, was on the first development team of pulsar and one of our initial ideas was to create an amplifier that could be used by every pulsed biotic. It quickly became clear that it was not going to be possible without them costing millions a unit, so that design was scrapped at an incomplete stage and a new design made that focused on the typical pulsed biotics we see. It is this scrapped design that I finished and updated at the end of last week. It did not take much to get it theoretically solid but as you know with the pulsar design, theory and practice are entirely different at times."
"I know that from working with the sensors Pheinova as they are desperate for good data. How much is this design estimated to cost per unit out of curiosity?"
"The design which I have updated and will now only work for these specific individuals would probably be about double the cost to produce than the nebula design. They would have the be a custom design as well which pushes up costs further. Something around the six hundred thousand mark would be my best guess."
"Armali are willing to give that to two individuals?"
"The bioamps if they are produced will be tied to the individuals so only they could use them. They will be unbranded and unmarked, have a lot of hardware obfuscation and will deliberately produce noise to stop sensors. That last feature will not be in the test version in case you were worrying Fosanta."
"I am glad to hear that."
"I would like to see you both in room 25001 from tomorrow onwards as we need to look for possible test candidates. Whesiva we cannot use your last individual unfortunately as they are not quite the kind if individual we are after. I guess you used a handheld scanner?"
"I did but only because Usarta did not want me to use the main equipment, given there would be logs of its use."
"I understand. I will see you both tomorrow where I will explain more." The two of them nod before getting up and leaving the room.
-----
"Two boxes Ami?" Sam noticing the pair of boxes waiting for their arrival outside the apartment door. She just smiles as she picks up one of the boxes and Sam picks up the other. "So what is in the other box?"
"I will tell you later Sam."
"I guess you two have some interesting things to watch this evening then?"
"Yes, you can always sit and watch with us if you wish Sam?"
"I need a little time to talk to Ami and Silana this evening Lianta. While what you are watching may be interesting it is not exactly well spent time for me today. Perhaps another evening Lianta." She nods as Sam and Amistathya take the two boxes into the storage room.
------
"I do have to say that it is easier to accept certain bribes than not to do so but it still makes me uncomfortable."
"What were they offering Kate?" Seliha curious as to whether Kate had got something good out of it.
"Well to be fair she does have a bit of a criminal record but it was not related to ship parts or transportation of stolen or illegal goods so I deemed her as ok. I think she thought otherwise when she met me this morning as she seemed to become a little more anxious that I was the one to meet her."
"Are you going to tell us Kate?"
"I do apologise to you two but I have an offer for a double room for a week at the Vestiv Hotel, Serrice on Thessia." Fosanta seemed happy with that news.
"I guess you are going to stay there when we go to Thessia then?"
"She said she could not keep the offer indefinitely so I thought why not. I am not quite sure of the quality of the rooms but I am not too bothered as long as it is clean and has a good bed."
"It tends to cater less to someone who just wants a bed and more to those who would like a bit of comfort Kate. She must have a bit of an alternate motive as a week is more than I was expecting."
"I was thinking the same Seliha when I heard it. I am sure just having me stay there over a rivals hotel would more than pay for the cost of the room though. I guess that is why I was offered it."
"There is just myself and Seliha to find somewhere now. Do the others take the bribes Kate?"
"Their rules are never to take credits, Hayea who is about your age Fosanta has a daughter and she usually accepts weekend breaks or items which would be useful to her and her bondmate. The other two I think do not have a partner as they have both asked if I have and both seem to take offers of company and a bed."
"Are they younger individuals Kate?"
"Both of them are probably just a little younger than Seliha. Both of them look reasonable to me so I cannot see why they would be quite so desperate."
"Asari generally like to have someone to sleep with Kate, some can adapt to sleeping alone but others can find it makes them uncomfortable enough to get poor nights sleep. Company and a bed is an attractive offer to these people as it gets them a good nights sleep and makes them feel happier."
"Thank you for telling me that Adastra. I guess you are one of those individuals Fosanta?"
"Even though I hate to admit it, I am Kate. It is quite why I liked taking jobs on ships as I was always paired with another individual or found another Asari in the same position. If I was not with you Kate I would be accepting any and all offers of company even if it was just for one night."
"I guess none of the individuals who you were with ever offered to stay with you?"
"I have made a few requests that have been turned down. The only offer I received was from an individual who had an overabundance of energy and no obvious inhibitions. She would therefore have been too much for me in the long term. She was a very pretty individual and I was very reluctant to give up the chance but I felt it was not the right decision for either of us."
"I could never get such individuals to stop harassing me without hurting them. Annoyingly there always seemed to be one on every other ship I was on."
"I guess you were nervous about them seeing your markings Adastra." She nods to Fosanta. "The individual I was talking about was sat alone in the middle of the night, on the first night, in the crew area. I guessed that she could not sleep either and I asked if she wished to sleep with me. I did say no melding but she seemed too happy to be bothered with that clause. I never once had a problem with her other than her being a little overfriendly some evenings. The others on the ship found her wanting attention during the day when people tried to work difficult to cope with."
"I am just glad I can sleep well but just feel a little alone, otherwise I would have had problems. I think Kate is wondering how we got onto this topic from taking about bribes."
"I am a little Adastra. It is however quite interesting to hear these stories and it has given us something to talk about over the dinner table for once."
"I have plenty of stories but I am not sure you would like to hear them Kate. They are mostly about my time before Armali as nothing much out of the ordinary has happened since."
"Can I ask why you never became a commando Seliha?"
"Duality syndrome prevents me Kate; anyway I guess we should wash these dishes before the food dries on them." The four of them get up and begin to clear the table.
-----
Amistathya, Sam and Silana walk into the storage room after eating and the three of them take a seat on the floor. "I asked you to join us Silana as I have a proposal. I know Sentix put twenty five years on your contract with me but I would be willing to let you go as early as the beginning of next month if you would like. I am willing to offer you my native language this evening, if Ami will help you avoid the traps. I however need to know you will be with us a long time as I was too quick to offer Seliha the same and was fortunate it seems to have worked out between her and Adastra."
"You wish me to stay your servant for the full contract term in return for learning your language?"
"No Silana. I must explain better... You can renegotiate your agreement with me before I end the contract. Once the contract has ended all I would like is for you to honour the agreement and stay with us. I would even consider allowing a bondmate here if you could convince me they are pleasant and would not hurt either of us. The only question is what is the least amount of time you would promise to stay with us?"
"I am not sure Sam. I mean my Sentix contract was the longest I have ever had and the shortest contract I had was two months, but I was never the one to decide on the length of time I was with someone. Do you have an amount of time you are thinking of Sam?"
"I do but I want to hear a number from you Silana. I will explain why I am doing it this way around afterwards."
"So I would be allowed a bondmate here?"
"As long as they are friendly and careful around Ami then I cannot think of a reason why not. The only thing that I would like to request in return for dropping the contract is that you do not to move out or stay away for longer than two weeks while under the time that you offer to stay with us."
"I will offer until my four hundred and seventy fifth birthday Sam which means about twenty one years and four months. I would be happy to stay around longer but I would quite like to have children before I am five hundred."
"That is fair enough Silana. The reason I asked you to name a time was for me to work out how comfortable and happy you were, and for me to work out if letting you learn English would be worth it. I think it certainly is therefore would you be happy to do so now?"
"I am if you are Sam but you mentioned traps." The two of them look towards Amistathya.
"Silana, ask Sam for everything you wish to look at. Do not put something back in a different place, modify anything or take anything. Please do not make it a full meld or force the meld otherwise it will trigger one of them."
"Is it safe to actually do this Athya?"
"If you just carefully form a connection and only look where Sam says you can then you can stay off the dangerous list and not hurt him. Sam will not trick you and does have everything sorted very well. You just need to know he cannot see what you are looking at so you need to inform him."
"I think I can do that Athya. Are you happy to start Sam as I am getting more nervous?" Sam lies down on the floor and gestures Silana to do the same which she does.
"I am happy now Silana."
"Close your eyes and follow the light Sam. Embrace eternity.
-----
"That is really weird now after being used to Ami. It is ok Silana you can move around just do not look at anything without asking."
"Sorry Sam." Silana makes her way over from the door to Sam's desk. "It is a nice room."
"It is much better than I found it in originally. It had dull lighting and cold stone floors which was not exactly inviting."
"Can I ask what you meant about it being weird now or is that from the traps?"
"Ami has difficulty initiating melds and it causes me some rather bad neural instability. It also causes everything in here to be black and white for a few moments at first."
"I do not think Athya trusts me with knowing that kind of information."
"She does not trust me with it either but I feel I am almost her servant so it is not much of a risk for her." Silana laughs a little.
"I think you have the wrong mindset Sam. She is only being playful with you, if you do the same back then she will both appreciate it and you should feel less cornered. Yes I know I said I had never really taken a personal contract before. It was once, she marked me like you have done, put the restrictor on me and over the next two years taught me rather harshly how to please others. That is the reason why I can, after you saying what you have, know roughly what she is doing."
"Well that was a little unexpected. You do know Ami will find that information next time we meld so I hope you do not mind her knowing."
"I do not mind."
"So I guess she took individuals who liked physical interaction?"
"No as I was to get none except being beaten so she just took anyone who was inexperienced. The contract was for three months originally but had a clause which said it can be renewed until the point where the owner deemed the individual to have completed their role. I heard later that she has been known to keep individuals for ten or more years, usually because of her being unhappy with them. Most of her servants she got rid of ended up in the business of providing company and pleasure to others. I fortunately managed to get a job at a freight loading company which got me out of that line of work."
"I thank you for being honest and open Silana. I guess most servants end up being used for sexual gratification as they are easy to take advantage of and they cannot say no. I think Ami has as well even though she has not admitted that to me. That is why I have been reluctant to take advantage of her and why I am also weary of doing the same to you. Anyway back to the reason why you are here. English language is down the first isle and is the fourth, fifth and sixth sets of shelves on the right. I will gather together the other bits that you need to get a better idea." Silana nods with a slight smile before walking down isle one. Sam gathers some other books on communication, science and technology before taking them back to the desk in two trips. Sam just sits down in front of the fire before Silana reappears.
"It is not the nicest language to learn. I mean no offence by that comment Sam but the rules are in some places rigid and in others totally ignorable."
"It is at least rather expandable and adaptable along with not being in any auto-translators."
"I think real-time auto-translation would be difficult with this language but I am not really an expert."
"I am just hoping that you can pick it up a little better than Ami did as she really struggled to begin with. The books on here will help you and you can look through whatever you wish."
"I will not be all that good with it either to begin with Sam." Silana leafing through one of the books as she speaks.
"I generally speak to Ami in English when we are alone as she seems to like it. I can quite easily offer to do the same for you if it would help."
"It would as it would give me the practice that is needed."
"I will do that then Silana. If you cannot understand something then do say so." Silana puts down the last book on the desk.
"I will Sam. I feel you are quite good at picking out what I needed to be able to have a reasonable grasp of the language."
"I have taught five individuals it now Silana, you start to figure out what they need when they all ask to see the same things." She nods.
"Just relax Sam." He nods before sitting back on his chair.
-----
Sam opens his eyes just as Ami decides to climb on top of him. "I only said about it being weird not having everything black and white at the beginning."
"You are too frightened Sam."
"I think you mean defensive but I get your point Silana." The sky blue one smiles.
"So we can speak English now?"
"Yes Ami, I know you like it for some strange reason. Can I ask why you are sat on me though?"
"You were longer than I expected and want to know what else you talked about."
"That Silana has had some gratification training from an owner in the past and that she thinks I should be more playful with you to counteract this feeling of you having dominance over me." Amistathya smiles to Silana who sits up before looking back at Sam. "Why do I feel worried now?" Amistathya pulls over the first box to be next to Sam's head before opening it and pulling out a green harness. Sam takes it and has a careful look. "I am just making sure you did not change something Ami."
"I am trustworthy if it is important Sam. Also I am not as sure as you are, as to how your body would react if I made any big changes."
"Well one strap between the legs would probably have caused some damage in a fall. I know I do not exactly need reproductive organs with you but I would quite like to keep them intact. I guess yours is just a little smaller and a different colour?"
"I chose sky blue as I thought it would match my markings."
"Silana what colour is yours?"
"Green Sam."
"I guess for the same reason as Ami?" Silana nods. "So if both of the harnesses were in the first box then what is in the second?"
"I will not take it out of its packet." Sam nods as Amistathya leans over and pulls the packet out of the second box and hands it to Sam.
"A silvery blue dress, interesting. I guess that is for your birthday hence why you are not eager to show me?"
"Yes. The design is a little riskier which I hope you like."
"I apologise for this Ami." She looks confused before Sam gets his legs around her and pulls her backwards. "Great this does not exactly help me. Silana in that square box there should be a vibrator if you look around. Could you pass me one?" She moves around the two of them who were in a bit of a tangle on the floor and goes digging in the box.
"Why have you got all of this?"
"To tie you up with if you misbehave Silana, can you just hand me one?" She hands a purple vibrator to Sam who turns it on and gets it up Amistathya's skirt. "Is a skirt alone enough for you now Ami?"
"Yes." Sam wondered if she was keeping it brief because she was concentrating more on what was happening physically. Sam decides to take the risk and begins to push the vibrator inside her. "Oh, no Sam."
"Yes Ami, just relax."
"I thought Athya did not like that last time Sam."
"True Silana but it is not like she can resist me as her legs are spread and I managed to get her arms with my legs." Sam feels Amistathya finally relax from struggling to get away from the vibrating invasion with a deep breath. Sam pulls the vibrator out. "Will you get off me now Ami if I let go of you."
"Yes." Sam takes his legs from around her and she does indeed shuffle backwards off Sam before lying back down on the floor, her eyes closed but a smile on her face.
"Do you feel left out Silana?"
"Not really."
"I hope you do not mind then if we went to bed as it is getting a little late." Sam gets up off the floor with Silana doing likewise.
"That is fine."
"Are you going to get up Ami? I also hope I have not bruised you." She opens her eyes and carefully sits up before standing up and giving Sam a hug. "Are you good to go to bed?" She nods and the three of them leave the room, Amistathya with her arm around Sam. "I will see you two tomorrow."
"Sleep well Sam." He hears between the two of them laughing at the video screen as he walks up the stairs.
------
"I am rather looking forward to Thessia now as it is going to be two weeks away from work in comfortable beds."
"I still do not feel entirely sure I should have taken the bribe but Seliha and Adastra put it into perspective for me this morning. I do have to say that Seliha is very easy to talk to when she is in her less self-centred personality."
"I think Adastra is trying to help her a little Kate but how much of a difference that makes we will have to see. I seem to have a busy day tomorrow with a change to the specifications causing me to have to change my designs."
"I will let you get to sleep then Fosanta." Kate gives her a kiss before helping Fosanta tuck the duvet around her neck and folds as they settle down close to each other.
"I need to say you do a wonderful job at making sure I am comfortable Kate."
"I just thought that you would rather the tips of your folds were not cold. I have hair to help but you do not."
"It is not a problem usually unless the room is cold Kate. I really do not want to move though now as I am warm and comfortable." Fosanta slides her arm around her. "I hope you sleep well."
"I should do. Sleep well." Fosanta gives Kate's back a gentle rub in response as she closes her eyes, Kate doing likewise with a smile moments later.
-------
Notes.
Yes I know it is a shorter chapter to end on for a short while but it sets up a number of things that are to happen over the next few chapters. The next chapter will be rather interesting and will be posted on the 22nd December. As I stated previously this time is needed for me to progress this story much more quickly to get it complete. I do hope to provide possibly an update on the 26th and on the 29th of December as well to help keep individuals entertained over the Christmas week.
If you have a review or just have time for a quick rating it would be appreciated. I try to reply to all reviews and you can find them at: - http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/35940-unrealuniverses-review-reply-thread
I hope everyone who reads this has a pleasant run-up to the Christmas period.
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Marked Effect (AFF Edition)