[Book Three] Chapter 05: Unexpected kiss and  new shields

Chapter 05: Unexpected kiss and  new shields

The summit went as predicted. Almost. Wrex promised the help of his people but not before having a cure for the genophage, Dalatrass Linron refused and primarch Victus agreed but argued that it would take years to develop one.
That’s when everything went off the predictions. Wrex presented proof of female krogans immune to the genophage kept in secret for study by the Salarians and that the cure would probably take a few months if not weeks to be created. Linron tried to deny it but it was good enough for Victus to threaten her with the end of the Turian-Salarian alliance. The man didn’t abide nor condone what her people were doing with the krogans because it was unethical and jeopardized his own alliance with them. The Dalatrass had no choice but to reveal the location of the facility on Sur'kesh, her people's homeworld. Defeated, she went back to her ship the moment the negotiations were over while Wrex stayed behind with the intention to be part of the rescue mission.

“He was right on almost everything.” Jane said, watching the retreating back of the Dalatrass.
“Who?” asked Victus who got the answer from Wrex.
“Wald.”
“As in the man who took down councilor Sparatus?”
“It was the geths, Primarch. The geths. But yes, him.” said Jane.
“What was he almost right about?” inquired the primarch, suddenly interested.
“How the negotiations would go. It still amazes me how he can read political events way before they happen.”
“Since when did he know?” Wrex wondered.
“Our last visit to Tuchanka, so about… eight? Nine months? He predicted that the council species would ask the krogan for help when the reapers finally came. The Turian’s agreement to Wrex’s condition, the Salarians’s reluctance. The only thing he was wrong about was the Asari’s involvement. Though from what I heard they are in favor of the cure, they just didn’t believe turians and Salarian would agree on it and so didn’t participate in this summit, so he’s not that wrong.”
“If what I read about him in his file, which is not much, is true then the Alliance has an excellent element.”
“Oh, he’s not Alliance. He doesn’t belong to any government or any one. But, he followed me in my chase against Saren and the Collectors so I like to believe he’s mine.” she explained with a smile.
“Ah! In your dreams Shepard. He’s way too wild and independent to belong to anyone, he’s just amusing you. Where is he by the way? I’d like to talk to him.” Wrex asked, laughing.
“What makes you think he’s here?” replied Jane, a brow raised.
“The reapers are here and he’s not by your side vaporizing heads? Sell your bullshit if you want Shepard just not to me.” he said with a knowing grin.
“He’s busy… l had him locked in his quarters, couldn’t risk a diplomatic incident this time.” the redhead confessed.
“This time?” inquired Victus.
“Wald negotiates the krogan way. Kill first, negotiate later.”
“Wrex!”
“What?! It’s true!”
“Not always! Sometimes he headbutt first then asserts dominance.”

At the sight of the krogan and the human having a good laugh, Victus wondered for a moment if his people weren’t doomed.


____________________________________________________________


Back to Rick’s quarters Ashley was face down on the bed. Her body was to exhausted to keep her ass up in the air after the two hours fuck session she just had with her lover who was laying on her back, almost crushing her with his weight, kissing her sensually on the bruises he had left on her neck. A result of him choking her, just as she loved it. She may have wanted a repeat of her night with Liara but to her, nothing could beat having the man she loved rearranged her inside, ruining her for anyone else with his big meaty tool. Tool that was firmly lodged inside her asshole after unloading an ungodly amount of semen in it.

“Gosh, I needed that.” she said, blowing air to remove a lock of air on her face which fell back down on the same spot.
“I can see that.” he joked between kisses.
“Your cock is way better than the toys Liara and I used the other night.” she said clenching repeatedly her rosebud making him moan a bit.
“You and Liara?”
“Mm-mm” was her only reply as she closed her eyes.
“Maybe I should call her, because clearly you can't go another round.” he teased.
“It always happens when we do anal sex. You treat it like it’s my pussy but it takes a lot more endurance from my ass to withstand your onslaught. Give me a couple hours and I’m good to go again but since it seems you can’t wait, I don’t mind if you call her.” She said, feeling him harden back again.

The brunette let out a moan of discontentment when he pulled out from her ass. She didn’t like the loss of the feeling of being full he was providing her even if she loved feeling his cum flow down her gaping asshole and drip towards her pussy then the bed. After one last kiss on her lips she decided to stop resisting the call for sleep and took a well deserved and needed nap.

Meanwhile, Rick just went into his shower to clean himself up. The idea of having Liara here and having his way with her until Ashly would wake up and make it a threesome was tempting but he had worked to do. The double layered shield he had thought of and put aside months ago was a current problem he needed to solve as it would be very helpful in the war. 

He knew that it was possible, he just didn’t know how. Besides putting two shields in one. No, what he wanted to do was create one single shield emitting two layers.

Exiting the bathroom dried, he  gave Ashley one last pleased look before dressing himself then went to the workshop area. Sitting down on the armchair he put there he used the terminal on the side to pull up his notes and the sketches he had on the subject and began to study them.

He didn’t know how much time passed when he was brought out of his thoughts by a very cold and metallic hand. Turning his head he saw EDI on his side.

“Yes?”
“I was calling for you through the coms but you didn’t answer. I know why now.” She said as she pointed to his helmet on the side of the table.
“Sorry. You could have used the speakers of the room though.”
“I wasn’t sure if Miss Williams would be awake.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to know if you wanted to resume movie night.”
“Sure, that’s a great idea. Tonight?”
“I would like that.” Looking at what he was working on she asked a question. “You’re creating a multiple layer shield?”
“More like failing at creating one.” he said looking at the terminal’s screen. “I can’t find a solution to the canceling effect. And that’s just with an identical frequency; with different ones, shorter or longer, that creates an unstable gap in the defense which is worse, in addition.”
“Hmm.” the AI let out pensively. “Perhaps it’s not the right avenue you should explore.”
“Got any ideas?”
“No, but a shield works on three things, frequency, magnitude and …”
“Energy!” he interjected with wide eyes in realization.

Quickly Ric began typing on the keyboard, numbers after numbers as he began speaking aloud his thoughts very fast.

“The higher the frequency and the amplitude the more energy is drained to maintain them. When a shield is hit by a fast projectile the formers are disrupted making the drain more severe to keep the shield in shape. That’s why weapons with heavy fire rate and a lot of power make shields don’t last long. You were wrong, Rick, the key is not in the number of frequencies nor a change in the amplitude but in the energy consumption itself. If the drain reaches a specific threshold, the shield should cut the feed and at the same time start another one. It creates a new protective field which is not yet disrupted and is in full force not draining more energy than necessary to be maintained. It’s like a reset while the shield is working, that does leave a very small window unprotected but we’re talking in the mili perhaps even nano seconds.”

At the same time EDI was listening to his thoughts and watching what he was coding. She couldn’t find anything wrong with any of it and while she could have done the calculations herself, way faster, she decided to let him do it as he was so entranced in it that she didn’t want to ruin his fun.

“Okay… let’s see if it’s viable.”

On the screen, the number inside a column began to increase, until they froze at one point then changed to zero. At the exact same time, the numbers in a second column began to increase to then likewise froze then changed to zero.

“It works!” Rick yelled as he stood up.

Turning around to face EDI, he grabbed her head and kissed her hard then ran out of the room to get a shield from the armory in the Cargo Bay, leaving behind a very confused AI.

“What just happened?” The voice of Ashley came from the bedroom’s entrance. She was draped with only a sheet.
“Rick just found the solution to a problem he had.”
“And the kiss?”
“I don’t know. When he saw the results were proving it was working he just stood up and kissed me. I don’t understand why.”
“That’s because he’s happy, probably thanks to you?” inquired the brunette.
“I just enumerated the list of things a shield is working on. He suddenly interrupted me, completing the list then began typing away.”
“So you trigger his mind, no wonder he kissed you. How did it feel?”
“From this body’s sensors, I’d say… Moist?” she answered, making Ashley chuckle.

The brunette went back into the bedroom to take a shower, leaving a pensive EDI. She had trouble understanding Rick's behavior towards her. Joker’s was easy to understand as her body presented womanly assets that were above average and that males and some females found pleasant to look at and appealing from the observation she had conducted on the crew ever since she took control of it. Rick’s however was a mystery. He wasn’t looking at her the same way as the others. His body didn't have any subtle changes, like a raise in temperature but instead was constant. Why did he kiss her the same way he kissed Liara and Ashley was the question she didn’t have an answer for. As she wondered if she would have felt differently with her organic body, she still wished to repeat the experience to gather more data.

Coming back into the room with a shield in hand, Rick went to the workbench part of the workstation and hooked it on the terminal there. Then he picked up some shield parts on the table and began to modify it, adding a second emitter and connecting it properly to the software and battery. Afterwards he spent some time changing the code of the shield before disconnecting it.

“I’m going downstairs to do a live test, want to come?” he asked EDI to which she agreed. “Bombshell?!”
“What?”
“Want to come see the new shield prototype working?”
“I’d love to but I don’t want anyone to see me limping like a horse with a broken leg.”
“Well I did ride you hard! But okay! See you at dinner!”
“Bye, Lover!”

Arriving at the Cargo Bay, two people were there that weren’t when he came down for the shield five minutes earlier.

“Hey! Wald! Long time no see.”
“Hello Wrex. How are you doing?”
“Good. I’m in control of most of the clans and I have a nice bed on the ship this time. No more staying in the Cargo Bay, though unlike others I don’t have any window.” He said, looking at Shepard.
“Don’t blame me, I wasn’t the one who designed the ship.” she replied.

Seeing Rick activating the protective shields to the fire range area, putting a dummy and finally the shield he had in hand, they wondered what he was doing.

“Testing a new shield prototype.” he said as he was activating the said shield.
“Looks like a good old shield to me.” Wrex said.
“Because it is, it’s what he does that is different.” he replied as he installed a second dummy with the same standard shield but unmodified.

Once done he went to the armory and picked Jane’s TR-13 Freyja and the TR-19 Brigid. Coming back he gave the redhead her Freyja and kept the Brigid.

“You know, I always loved testing your new things.” she said as she put a clip on her weapon. “What’s the test about?”
“You shoot the standard shield, the one on the right, until it breaks and needs to recharge. Then you put a new clip and do the same for the modified one. EDI if you…”
“I’m already recording.”
“Thank you. Go ahead gingey!”

Jane took a firing stance and shot at the normal shield. The fire rate was good and all projectiles ended more or less at the same spot thanks to the anti-recoil system. When only one third of the clip was left, the shield broke. Changing the clip quickly she aimed at her other target on the left and fired. After two clips and a half the shield finally broke.

“What the hell did you do to it?” Jane asked in surprise, as she always was when she was testing his projects.
“You increased the power in it.” Wrex said.
“Nope. My objective was to have a shield that would last longer but also would not lose on recharging time because the more power the more time spent recharging. Instead I find a way to use the same amount of power, for the same reloading time but make it last longer.
“Okay… but how? Remember, layman’s terms.” said Jane.
“A shield is a kinetic barrier. The barrier is powered by the power source but more importantly has a frequency, that’s why sometimes you can see it flickered a bit. Because the frequency, its amplitude or its power varies. So far so good?”
““Yeah/ Yes.”” Jane and Wrex answer in unison.
“Now, remember when I was developing the thermal clip? The faster the shield is hit repeatedly, the more energy it drains.” he asked and they both nodded “ For every hit the shield takes, a disruption is created, altering the amplitude and frequency a bit more with every hit. To keep it stable, more power is needed and the drain is higher. What I did is instead of sustaining the barrier, I cut off its power once a threshold in the drain was reached and started a brand new one. This way the drain drops back to normal and increases naturally as the shield is hit more.”
“Basically you reset it.” Jane said.
“Yes.”
“Clever.” said Wrex.
“Thanks. Though I still need to work on it, as right now I put a second emitter on it but the objective is to only have one.”

They did the test with the Brigid and the test was even more obvious. The shield kept resetting constantly until the shield broke. The number of cycles was at least three times higher than with the Freyja.
“Now I just need to find a good design.”
“I can help with that.” EDI said.
“I would appreciate it, thanks.”
“Can you send me a file for Hackett?”
“Right now I can only share the recordings minus the explanation as it’s not patented, but give or take a week and you’d have the full file with the numbers and everything.”
“Are you seriously thinking of taking money from the Alliance right now when your findings could save lives?” she asked dumbfounded.
“No. I’m not that callous. But I need to develop it further to make it perfect, the patent is just a bonus in the meantime.”

Taking EDI by the arm he led her to the elevator back to the CIC.

“Ready for that movie night?”

____________________________________________________________

“He did what?!”
“See for yourself admiral, I’m having EDI send you the recordings.”

Hackett received the video file and looked at it attentively. If what Shepard had said was true, the death toll of soldiers dying under fire would drop drastically. Considering they were at war and that any man and woman  counted, it was a godsend.

“I won’t even bother to ask how you got your hands on TR models but the fact that even with those guns there is a clear difference between the two shields… How soon can he send the schematics?”
“He said around a week. He just tested the idea on the spot; he has to make some modifications, write the files, draw the schematics… Everything, in truth.”
“Tell him the Alliance will pay whatever he wants. We must have those new shields, commander. Hackett out.”

__________________________________________________________

“It’s… different.” EDI said as she lay down next to Rick on his bed.
“Because your point of view is different?”
“Yes but no. It’s just us two.”
“Like we were at first. Tali joined us because she bunkered with me and sometimes Carrot Top too, but to me, movie night was ours. If you want more people, I don’t mind.”
“No, I’m fine with just the two of us.”
“What’s on the menu tonight then?”
“Phantom of the Paradise.” she answered.
“Oooh.”
“Is it a bad movie?” inquiring after seeing his reaction.
“Hmmm.. It depends, some love it, some hate it. It’s a cult movie.”
“What do you think of it?”
“That despite being a tragedy, it’s my favorite or at least in the top ten.”
“I always wondered which one was.” she said as she came closer to him, turning her body to lay on her side and resting her head on his shoulder.
“EDI?”
“Yes?”
“Where does that sudden change come from?”
“Both the commander and Tali seemed to enjoy the movie more in that position. I wonder why a closer proximity would affect their enjoyment so I wanted to try. Does it bother you?”
“I have the prettiest of them all in my arms, of course it doesn’t bother me. Be careful though…” he started saying as he put his arm around her waist “ I might like it so much that I’d never let you go.”
“I don’t mind, I can do my duties without this body. However it will be difficult for you to work with only one arm.” she replied, making him laugh.
“Don’t tempt me, vile seductress.” he joked then started the movie.

____________________________________________________________

“I can understand why it is your favorite movie” said EDI “It’s an amalgam of different literary masterpieces. The portrait of Dorian Gray, the Phantom of the opera, Faust, Frankenstein… Your appearance, the helmet, the black clothes, the synthetic voice… It all comes from this film.”
“Mm-mm… Not the voice or to be more accurate, not directly. The synthetic voice inspired the one of another character, Darth Vader, who was very imposing and charismatic in his own way. That's from him I got it from.”
“You see yourself as the Phantom.”
“No. We do share some traits, like being creative and obsessed with the realization of our ideas but where he is led by his emotions I am led by my rational thoughts. The way of dealing with Swan was purely reactive from an emotional standpoint and he made many mistakes. I wouldn’t have done that but outsmart swan instead.”
“Which he did in the end.”
“After many trials and errors that cost him his life.”

Thinking about it for a moment, EDI nodded in agreement. But this first comparison brought out a second.

“Do you think of me as the character Beef was playing? The frankenstein?”
“Hell no!”
“But I’m the sum of different parts. Be it the ship or my code.”
“You’re alive, not un-alive, that’s a major difference. You were also not created to just see if doing it was possible or for nefarious purposes. And every being in the galaxy is a sum of different parts. For organics, it’s genetic material, for synthetics, different parts and code.”
“That… makes sense.”
“And you’re not a monster, way too beautiful for that.” he said as he hugged her closer. “And I’m ready to fight anyone who says otherwise.”
“Thank you.” she answered with a smile. “Since it’s still early, could we watch this movie with Darth Vader? I’m curious.”
“Sure. I’m surprised you didn’t already check the extranet to look for information on him.”
“Early in our movie nights, I decided to not look up the movie references you were making and instead discover them when the appropriate movie came up.”

Rick nodded and put up Star Wars episode IV: A new hope.