[Book Four] Chapter 22: The end of a series

[Book Four] Chapter 22: The end of a seriesChapter 22: The end of a series

For the last time Rick released a trailer for the ultimate season of Mass Effect. From his point of view, nothing much was happening in it. Just a bunch of stuff to keep the public wondering about things and hyping them with some snippets of fighting scenes.

One thing he did differently was the teasers for each crew member. This time he simply presented some arts from the artists that had worked on the propaganda during the war or simple street art. It was of course animated a bit to make it seem like it was new. The viewers gobbled it all up.



Ash’s artificial eye was finally done to perfection and Rick sent it to the navy with a personal note for her.



“Keep the eye patch around, ‘cause you’re really fucking sexy with it, Bombshell.”



With that done, everything was going well in his life. He had patched up things with Arianna and she had stopped holding herself back. She was more than ready to enter the fifth year of the Academy next year. She would be paired with Dorothea who was finishing her current course and wanted to start another. That brought him some relief as his daughter would be almost half the age of the youngest student in that year.



The company was doing extremely well. BLUE was revolutionary and was being adopted more and more from the masses. However the need of Eezo was annoying him as it was rare and difficult to mine. He wondered if creating another material releasing dark energy was possible. After all that was what was really needed for space travel, dark energy. If they could harness or produce it in a cheaper manner, they would have total control of the market.

His primary question regarding that particular subject was how could the Mass Relay have so much element zero at their center and never run out of it? That baffled him. It was impossible to collect any eezo from them and studies of the relay when they got repaired didn’t give an answer.



‘It’s like eezo is popping right out of... existence.’



That thought triggered something in his mind and he immediately called EDI and David that were still working on the possibility of making a ship its own Mass Relay.



“Hello, EDI. Hello, Rick.” David greeted them.

“Hello everyone.” greeted back the AI and so did Rick.

“I just had an eureka moment.”

“That must be serious if you’re calling us immediately.” said EDI.

“Is the creation of the eezo from the Mass Relay, and the manufacturing of infinite dark energy serious enough?”

““We’re listening.””

“Where does the eezo at the center of the Relays come from? It’s always there and never ending, which is...”

“Not possible. It must come from somewhere.” The line of thought was finished by EDI.

“A subspace.”

“Probably. By studying my biotics I noticed the ‘growth’ for a lack of a better word, of my eezo nodules. If eezo was purely non-organic that would be impossible.” Rick explained.

“Are you saying that eezo has organic properties? Hmmm... That would explain why there is always some at the center of the Relays if the energy from the subspace transforms some particles into eezo and feeds them energy constantly...Despite how old the Relays are and how long they have been in use.”

“There would theoretically be an infinite amount of Eezo produced.” concluded David.

“So, can’t we not reproduced what we did with RED but to create eezo? Or, one step further, create dark energy already negatively polarized to reduce the mass of objects to nothing?”

“I’ll never understand where you got those ideas but...”

“It may be doable.”

“Would that help you in making a ship Mass relay?”

“Greatly. The problem so far was to have enough eezo and dark energy to sustain our own subspace corridor. The theory is sound and ready to be tested but practically the quantity of eezo necessary is too ludicrous for that to ever happen but now...”

“We may very well be able to do it.”

“Time table?”

“Half a year?”

“We already have what’s needed for the creation of a subspace after working on the RED. What we need to work on is producing dark energy or eezo. The latter we already know the process and the numbers so it would not take long to recreate it in a subspace. The former is more complicated.”

“That’s alright. I trust both of you to succeed.”



With that, the call ended and Rick had to do his best to calm down, his excitement being very high.





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After further thinking about it, visiting Aria with the children was put on hold, instead Rick contacted her to know if she wanted to visit them. She had refused but relented when he told her that Celeste would be near Omega. The children had been wary at first since the Pirate queen had such an imposing presence. They were not understanding how she could be their daddy’s mother and their grandmother. Rick had told them that they were too young to know but that one day they will be told. The only one who didn’t have a care in the world about Aria’s imposing demeanor was, of course, Arianna. She remembered a bit of her grandmother when Celeste was first launched but what explained it the most was that she was every bit her father’s daughter. She talked to Aria, normally, asked questions about her, her work, her life and if she wanted to play a game.

The asari’s poker face never broke but she looked intently at Arianna, then to Rick, then back to Arianna. She felt like she had made a jump more than twenty years into the past. While she didn’t play any games with the children she told them stories of Omega. They were censored of course and some things were changed a bit for the children’s ears but they all were captivated by her tales. When she learned that Arianna, Adam and Sandra had begun to train their biotics she had been surprised that Rick would have put an implant on them so young.



“Yeah... about that...” her adoptive son spoke hesitantly.

“What?”

“They don’t need one?”

“... Of-freaking-course, they don’t need one. What did you come up with?”

“I was just born that way and they inherited it.”

“... Are you telling me that you’re a natural biotic?” she asked dumbfounded.

“Pretty much...”

“...It’s always something with you... All your children will be biotic then... I don’t know if the Galaxy is ready.”

“I sure know my kids will be ready for the Galaxy and that’s all that matters.”

“You got that right.” she replied with a small hidden smile full of pride.



After dinner mother and son spent some time alone to catch up as both have been busy doing their own thing. He talked about Celeste Academy and how he was poaching the best students right under everyone's noses and no one could do anything about it. He also talked about some of his current projects (not the ones with EDI and David) but the regular ones. He also asked her if she wanted to be in charge of his company store on Omega if she allowed one. She didn’t give him a concrete answer but promised she'd think about it before leaving Celeste to return to Omega.



Summer break was far from over and Jennifer and Miranda went to their home on Eden Prime for their annual vacation. Rick told Miranda that she could have two weeks instead of one if she took the children with them. Not mad enough to refuse the opportunity to have a longer break for work, Miranda accepted on the spot. Jane had been wroth with him for that unilateral decision until he told her that it was just Arianna, Adam and JJ so they could see the outside world and not just be confined on Celeste. Speaking of the school ship, Hilary water landed it in the Pacific Ocean and its international waters. The hundred or so students that were living full time at the Academy were free to visit the paradise islands in the vicinity but in small groups of ten maximum and with a chaperone. Plenty of teachers had chosen to live fulltime at the academy too and wanted to enjoy their vacation in a nice place just like the students.

He caught Kahlee before she left with Anderson and talked to her about the possibility of having some unused area repurposed for religious belief. That was something that had crossed his mind recently. With many people living all year round on Celeste, they didn’t have any way to connect with any deities they may have believed in and providing them with one was more or less important in Rick’s mind. Kahlee thought it was a good idea and that they would work on this together once she got back from her vacation.



With Kahlee away, Rick was more or less in charge. It was his school after all. He let Kahlee hold the reins of it because she was his sister and because he couldn’t be bothered. He did ask the Students where they wanted to go this summer and they gave him multiple answers. In the end Celeste would stay a week at each destination. The next stop would be the Citadel followed by Sur’Kesh, Tuchanka (Rick had been surprised at this one) and Thessia and finally Palaven before going back to the Serpent Nebula and welcoming back all the students.



On the space station they had met Kaidan and his crew that were there for a short stop between missions. Some additions to the team had been made though. The spectre had somehow succeeded in having his husband into his crew, Traynor was there too but also a former Asari commando. How he got the last one, Rick didn’t know and while curious about it, didn’t particularly care. Jane and the children went to see Hannah while he went to the presidium. Mr. Bean’s shop had not been opened when he visited the year before and he was glad to see that it wasn’t the case anymore. Greeting the store owner, Rick partook in what he hated the most, small talk, before trying to find dresses to keep up with the demands of the women in his life. Because the presidium had been mostly spared when the Citadel was destroyed the entirety of the shop’s content had been spared to both Mr Bean and Rick’s joy. He spent an hour or two trying to find the eight dresses he’d been asking for. He only found three that were both appealing, pretty and to the size of the women they were destined for. For the others he found the models but not the right size and acknowledged that he would have to contact a tailor to have them made. It was bound to happen anyway as a dress for Dorothea’s proportions were impossible to begin with, human women of her size didn’t exist back a hundred or two hundred years ago.



Afterwards, Rick went to check his own store also located on the Presidium to see how it was doing. The long waiting line outside of it and a quick look inside told him all he wanted to know and he didn’t even stop for a moment. He went to the cafe Liara usually frequented and to his luck found her there. Giving his order to the counter he sat down in silence next to his asari bondmate and enjoyed the view.



“I’m surprised you didn’t go with Jane to see her mother.”

“She will always come last in the family. Far below my bondmate.” He replied as he took her hand in his.

“Really?”

“We’ve... reconciled and I admit that I love her but you’ve been in my life longer than she did, so to speak, so you get better preferential treatment.”

“That makes me both sad and happy.”

“There is also the fact that I’m not bonded to and not having sex with her and that counts for a lot.” he joked.

“You didn’t... ? Now, that’s interesting.”

“How so?”

“She looks like an older Jane and she’s, what is it humans would call her... A MIF?”

“MILF. With an ‘L’. It means Mother I’d Like To Fuck. And no it’s not supposed to refer to your own mother but a woman who has given birth and is more mature physically. Which Jane is.”

“I see... Still, Tali and Jennifer aside, you tend to prefer older women, so I’m surprised that...”

“You don’t look older than me Baby Blue.” he interjected.

“No. But Jane, Ashley, Miranda... Analysse. There have been far more older looking women than younger women in your life.”

“... True.”

“Now don’t change the subject more than that. Why not your mother?”

“...You’re mighty curious about it... Fine. I already have enough ladies to pay attention to and... I’m married now, twice over. I can’t really go and sleep with every sexy and pretty lady. It doesn’t sit right with me. Especially since I don’t want to make more connections like the ones I already have.”

“Is that why you didn’t go after Ashley’s sisters? They’re all beautiful.”

“Yes. While I wouldn’t have minded before I got married as I expected all of you to find another partner... It’s different now. I... really don’t want more. Especially ones that may want children. Though with Ashley, who knows what will happen.”

“You already have enough.” joked Liara.

“Yes but... We’re a really tight family because we thought together so our family is nuclear. Any other women? They wouldn’t be really a part of it. I’d be a father to the children if they had some but... I would never really be in their lives as I’m already with the ones I have. Sandra is half the time with us because of how close I am with Jennifer and Miranda but I don’t think it would be the same with anyone else. Then there is the possibility of Tali deciding to have more than Leeha, Dorothea, you... I’m good honestly.”

“You say that but Hannah is part of the close family, if not through you, through Jane. She is the children’s grandmother. From your criterias she is checking all of them.”

“... You just want me to fuck my own mother don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Liara strongly denied this. Too strongly.

“HmmHmm. And you don’t want to roll under the sheet with her either, huh?”

“I do not.”

“You mean, you don’t want to have sex with an older version of Jane, the only other person besides me that you would have started a relationship for based on your feelings?”

“...”

“...”

“Alright! Maybe I want that a bit.” she finally confessed after feeling her bondmate’s intense gaze on her, despite his helmet.

“I’ll ask Jane if she’s interested in a threesome with the two of us.”

“You don’t...”

“Have to, I know. But there is nothing wrong with spicing things up a bit. I’ll even let you have your way with her alone once she’s really into it.”

“... I have the best bondmate ever.” the asari whispered as she gave him a loving kiss.

“I disagree. I think I have the best bondmate ever. She’s smart, a bit shy and naive at times, she can be pretty, cute, adorable, sexy and utterly beautiful. She’s a kick ass biotic but also very wise and a scary sex demon. I couldn’t ask for more.” he replied as he planted kisses along her neck.

“... Keep talking.”

“No. Or we’re going to be arrested for public indecency and banned from ever being customers of this cafe again. Because I swear I will not stop if I start ravaging you against this table.”

“You better be all mine tonight.”

“I will be.” he promised.





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Summer break has done some good for everyone. The family had finally met Solana, Garrus’ sister and she was the total opposite of him. A total extravert and very outgoing. Calibrations? Never heard of it. Well, she wouldn’t have had she not been born in a military family in a military hierarchical species. She got along really well with Jane and both brothers simply wanted to drink themselves to death as their sisters were exchanging embarrassing stories about them. Unfortunately for them, the children were present and that was not an option. Solana was very happy to see her niece and nephew (not caring that Laura was human) again. Garrus and Chloe gave her a tour of Celeste and she fell in love with the place.



After their allotted time on Palaven ended they left for the Serpent Nebula but not before Primarch Victus personally visited Jane and Rick to thank them for bringing back the few missing turian that Bahlak and his cohorts had enslaved and for putting a bullet in any turian pirates back on Ontarom.



When the people thought it was the end as the Citadel was opened and the crucible attached to it, they were shocked to find out that there was more. The conversation with the Catalyst itself had made everyone mad at the little shit. Its options however were considered. Control of the Reapers or synthesis between organic and synthetics had appealed to many and a small debate raged on the chat. It was put to a stop when Act!Jane refuted them all and Act!Rick added some of his explanation to hers as to why destruction of the Reapers was only the real solution. The revelation that Act!Rick had used her as bait, had not surprised everyone. After all Rick was the ruthless cunning type and some people had expected that in insight.



The episode ended with the scene of Act!Rick confessing his whole plan after waking up in 2188. Though no allusion to taking control of the galaxy by removing key problems (aka people who didn’t suit his needs for a peaceful galaxy) were made. The people once again were shocked and if they haven’t watched the whole show would call it bullshit. The ultimate scene was of Act!Jane and Act!Rick on the roof of the Alliance building, enjoying the fresh morning air with a small breeze. To close this last chapter of Mass Effect, Act!Jane ended up pushing Act!Rick over the small rail out of the blue and while everyone saw him using his biotics to not fall to his death and calling her a bitch, the camera focused on Act!Jane who had a mischievous and satisfied smile on her face, eyes closed, her beautiful crimson hair floating in the wind. She was simply enjoying the moment.



“Years of suppressed urges finally dealt with.... Yeah... Life is good.”





She didn’t enjoy the moment for long as she jumped over the rail and joined Rick a hundred floors down, landing right in front of the building entrance. From there, she grabbed his arm and began to drag him away, not caring about his rant and curses he was sending her way. With how docile he was acting physically everyone knew that he didn’t mean any of it. They met many people, from all species just going about their lives, sometimes stopping when they were accosted and thanked for what they did. All the while a beautiful song could be heard.



“Wow, you really went far back with the song.” Joker commented, recognizing the track at the very first notes.

“I thought it was fitting.” replied Rick.



“I see trees of green, red roses too.

I see them bloom, for me and you.

And I think to myself,

What a wonderful world.”



“It certainly is.” Liara admitted and many in the room nodded in agreement.



As the credits rolled, recent pictures of the crew (the real ones) were shown and a few words on what they were doing today accompanied them. Rick’s was one of him during a biotic class, trashing his students around. It ended with the picture of Jane in casual clothes, holding Arianna and Matthew, smiling happily with the Celeste academy behind her. The end credits music was the one used for the scene of the cure being released on Tunchanka ending the whole war in a positive note in people’s mind.





____________________________________________________________



As usual after the last episode of a season the Q&A, hosted by Illiana Lorat happened.



“I’m happy to host once again the Q&A of what is the most successful series of all time so far and... I admit, quite a bit sad because this is the last time.”

“I think I’m speaking for everyone when I say: we all share the sentiment.” said Christina who got nods of approval from her colleagues.

“It has been quite a beautiful ride. For the last four years you all played well... Let’s be honest, you played Historical figures; figures still alive and among us today. My question is... Did your outlook at life change with your role? Wait! Let me rephrase that, did your role change you? Your life?”





____________________________________________________________



“I admit, that was a better ending than what we had on this rooftop. I’m not surprised you didn’t put Arianna.” Jane said with a pleased smile, her eyes still red from crying.

“Arianna is no one’s business but ours as for the ending... Well, I wanted to finish on a good note. Something light and funny and I thought, why not make you finally, truly at peace by getting what you always wanted to do? I mean... I’ve been such an asshole to you all this time and you never really got any payback.”

“Can we take turns or is it just for Jane?” Kaidan shouted, sitting next to Steve and making everyone laugh.





____________________________________________________________





“This is a question for Christina: ‘Did you wear the Commander’s armor like you did with her dress or was it a replica?’ Now that’s an interesting question.”

“It was the Commander’s own armor. Well not the actual one, she wore the original one during the battle of Earth, obviously, since it was destroyed it wasn’t the same but another.”

“To everyone on set’s despair.” commented Ryan with a tired sigh.

“Oh?”

“She kept using the camo to prank everyone!” shouted Lorelai in exasperation. “And Rick and EDI did absolutely nothing!”

“Now, that’s not true.” replied EDI.

“I’m curious to know what you’ve done to stop that menace?!”

“Hey!” protested Jane impersonator.

“Stop? I helped her.” replied the AI with a grin, making everyone laugh but the victims of Christina’s prank, who simply groaned in desperation.

“Alright, here is a question for everyone this time: Did you keep a souvenir of this adventure?”

“We all kept the helmet, that’s for sure, though personally I kept my coat.” answered Ryan.

“I kept the shotgun.” replied Lorelai.

“““Of course you did.””” the rest of the cast commented.

“What? It’s a really good shotgun!”

“The gun maniac aside, I actually asked to keep the armor and to my surprise the Commander agreed, though I can’t change its color beyond black or white and of course I’m not allowed to display any affiliation to N7.”

“I kept the replica of Garrus’ sniper rifle, for my part.”





____________________________________________________________





“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I should have.” Hannah said to her son, finally finding the courage to speak about that moment just before he entered the heat sink corridor.

“You should have nothing. We talked about it then, nothing has changed now. You didn’t have the expertise, nor the armor to survive it and I couldn’t go through the Citadel’s air vents. We each had things the other couldn’t do.”

“Still...”

“Mom, stop. It’s over. Don’t think about it anymore.” Jane said, knowing perfectly well where her mother’s thoughts were leading her.





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“... No, it’s actual footage on screen, can’t take the credit.”

“You mean...”

“Yes, it’s Rick going through hell at the time that everyone saw, not me.”

“You talked like you didn’t know.” said Christina.

“Because I didn’t. It’s actually the first time I saw what happened, just like everyone. The scene ended when Aoife and I separated and I went through the door. Until tonight, I simply thought that whatever was beyond the door was unimportant. And honestly... I don’t think I could have acted that. Even with the special effects to help.”

“That makes me think... Did you watch the show?”

“Usually, I don’t watch anything I’m in. In fact I didn’t watch the first season when it came out...” began Christina.

“But the response from the critics and the public was so great that I don’t think any of us could not watch it.” added Lorelai.

“Yes. And It’s bluffing. The amount of work and details put into the show. Most notably the biotics. When we were filming, I always felt a bit silly moving around without anything happening but seeing what came out of it... It hits differently.” Ryan ended.

“All the magic comes from the music though.”

“Yeah, Christina put the finger on it. Without the music some scenes are not as impactful.” Ryan agreed.

“Not nearly as powerful. I watched the infiltration of the collector base while I was cooking with the sound turned off. Not as engaging.” confessed Lorelai.

“I think sometimes it’s too much.” Orianna commented.

“Kid?” Draxx inquired.

“The music during the rush to the conduit on earth? The flashback about Edem Prime?”

“Oh, yeah... “

“It hit a hundred times more. Damn, when I filmed the flashback... it was really hard you know? For all kinds of reasons that I don’t think I need to talk about but the music? Shit, when the piano madly flares at the end...” said Ryan shaking his head.

“At the same time some songs really get you going. The mad rush to reach Saren or against that Reaper on Tunchanka? I was pumped for days afterwards!” Lorelai added trying to lift the mood up.

“Personally, they’re part of my exercise playlist.” confessed Christina.

“Me too!”

“Me three.”

“I think everyone can agree that Rick put a lot of effort in his work regarding the sound track.” said Illiana just as EDI spoke up.

“As for me, I watched religiously ever since the very first episode aired, along with the members of the crew present at Celeste Academy.” dropped EDI.

“““Really?!”””

“Yes. It was... a kind of ritual. Based on nostalgia and curiosity.”

“Curiosity?” Illiana inquired.

“Some members joined the crew along the way and wondered how it all started from Eden Prime. There is also the curiosity of seeing themselves portrayed on screen and...”



EDI stops talking to laugh aloud out of nowhere puzzling her entourage.



“EDI?” asked Illiana.

“I’m sorry. Dorothea is currently with the crew and Steve just said that Ryan’s ass is better than Rick’s.” the AI answered, giggling.

“Ah! I knew it! Thank you Steve!” Ryan exclaimed.

“And now Rick is... I better show you.”



____________________________________________________________





“Look at it! Look at it! How can you say that his ass is better?!” Rick said as he had his pants down and was showing his underwear clad butt to everyone in the room but most notably Steve a few rows down.

“Easily! Ryan’s has a better shape.” the shuttle pilot argued.

“You just didn’t say that! Jane, he didn’t say that right?!”

“Sorry Rick, but he’s kinda right.” his sister replied with a wry but amused smile, making him gasp in shock and betrayal.





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“TRAITOR!”

“What does it matter anyway? It’s not like it’s a competition since I have the best ass in the Galaxy!” commented Tali.

“Oh hell no! My girl has the best ass in the galaxy! Proof that there are more shots of her twin’s butt in the series than yours!” Jennifer yelled, pulling up Miranda and displaying her catsuited butt to everyone as evidence.

“Jen!” the ravenette protested.



The chats, and the actors on the set were having a good laugh at what was happening with the crew.



“I can’t believe they’re fighting about who has the better ass.” said Illiana as she subdued her laughter.

“Honestly I don’t know why they are all fighting either. Like Tali said, it’s not a competition. Dorothea has the best one after all.” EDI commented.



Hours later, despite the end of the Q&A, the question of ‘Who has the best posterior’ was still being discussed on the chat. For once, EDI left the perverts alone and soon enough, Tier lists appeared with pictures of every member of the crew’s butt.