Shiala | Video | Public

[purplishgreen]

It is becoming clear to me that no one here knows anything about the asari.

[She's debated for a long time about making this sort of announcement, but curiosity or -- unsettlingly -- even fear would be a natural response, and she has no problem with the former and doesn't want the latter. It's just... embarrassing.]

That is not a situation I'm used to. I will instead offer this opportunity for anyone to ask questions, if they wish.

[Incredibly embarassing. Goddess. She'll manage this.]

To begin with, the asari are native to the planet Thessia. We are a single-gendered species, and a very old race. It is normal for us to possess biotic ability, and as a commando, this is trained in me.

[There are likely better candidates for this sort of questioning, but there's no one else, and better to head off misunderstanding now.]

What other questions might you have?

Comments

[video]

[thelittlestbub]

[She has a pen and paper next to her not that it can be seen.]

Define biotic ability, please. Also, do you shapeshift? Are there any other abilities unique to your race that humans might find offputting? Do you have a language? Is it in anyway related to Shi'ar? How much contact have you had with Earth? Are you familiar with genetic diversity amongst humans or does that not happen in your universe? Have you ever run into Skrulls, or Kree?

[That'll do for now.]

Re: [video]

[purplishgreen]

[For a moment, Shiala just stares, then bursts into laughter.]

You certainly have you share of questions! Very well. Biotic ability is the ability to create small mass effect fields to distort the gravity locally. I would certainly demonstrate if you wished, though my abilities are... slightly unstable, these days. As far as other abilities go... our method of reproduction involves melding our nervous system to another individual's, and though I've certainly melded with humans in the past, none have ever found it off-putting or unpleasant.

[She gives a slight incline to her head. That's not intended to be a boast.]

We have our own language, of course, though translators can do much. I haven't heard of the Shi'ar. I have never been to Earth, but I have spent the last two years living on a human colony on the planet Feros, so perhaps I can be judged as relatively familiar with your species. I'm not certain what sort of 'genetic diversity' you might mean, beyond the normal sort. Certainly you display a wide range in personality and appearance, but most species do. I have never heard of Skrulls, or Kree.

[She gives her a smile.]

I think that covers your questions. I have one of my own. What is your name?

Re: [video]

[thelittlestbub]

[Jubes is taking notes off screen.]

I'm Jubilee. Sorry, we get a lot of Aliens on my world, and if you were familiar with them, that made my life easier.

[Aliens, extra-dimensional travelers, time travelers...]

Would you be willing to teach your language? Biological diversity means mutants. Humans with extra abilities built into their genetic code that usually manifests at puberty.

Re: [video]

[purplishgreen]

I don't see why I shouldn't teach my language.

[She's surprised; translators are so ubiquitous where she's from that no one's ever asked.]

I am Shiala, if you were unaware. A pleasure to meet you, Jubilee. I've certainly met human biotics, though it isn't nearly so common in your species. It's linked to exposure to element zero while in the womb, and Thessia has much element zero, while Earth does not. As far as anything beyond that... no, I haven't heard of such a thing.

[She gives a small sigh. This sort of alternate realities isn't something that's easy to accept.]

Your version of Earth seems rather different from the one I know. In my reality, humans knew of no other races until they encountered the turians by accident during their explorations, and there was a brief conflict. I remember it well. It was barely thirty years ago.

( v i d e o )

[mentis]

I'm not one to go rifling through the public network so I'm afraid there might be some overlap.

[ Charles smiles at her though, friendly, encouraging. ] What exactly is biotic ability?

Re: ( v i d e o )

[purplishgreen]

[She nods; she can understand false privacy when there is none in fact.]

Biotic ability in any species comes from being exposed to element zero in the womb. On Thessia, element zero is abdundant, and even some of the animal life possesses biotics as a result. It is the ability to create and manipulate small mass effect fields.

[That seems self-explanatory to her, but she suspects this isn't the case for everyone here.]

That is to say, a small distortion in local gravity, which might be used to, for example, crush or levitate an object, or throw it across the room.

( v i d e o )

[mentis]

[ Fascination is clearly written across his face, interest piqued. ]

Does every one of your species have the same gift?

Re: ( v i d e o )

[purplishgreen]

Some are stronger than others, and some certainly choose to utilise their abilities more than others, but all possess it. Basic biotic training is an essential part of every young asari's schooling.

( v i d e o )

[mentis]

Are you able to harness your power on the cape?

Re: ( v i d e o )

[purplishgreen]

Certainly, though I admit my biotics are unstable at present. It is part of some side effects I am experiencing as part of my present condition.

[She lifts her free hand into view of the camera. A ripple of blue energy sparks around her hand, and she creates a very small warp just above her fingers, a tiny distortion in the air releasing waves of that same blue energy discharge.]

It is difficult to properly demonstrate this way.

[She lets it dissipate and vanish.]

video

[nedofpies]

Commando? So you're... some kind of soldier?

[ Ned's going to start small. Their last conversation had been... tense, after all. Which doesn't mean he's going to pass up an opportunity to lean more about Shiala. ]

Re: video

[purplishgreen]

Ned. I hope you are well.

[She gives him a smile; truthfully she's a little unsettled by him, and would like this conversation to go better than their last.]

I am indeed a soldier, though for much of the past two hundred years I devoted myself to Matriarch Benezia. She was a very powerful and influential individual, and a well-respected leader. I was her bodyguard, but I was equally her disciple.

[venatical]

You're an alien? [ And while he sounds and looks way skeptical, he looks at her again and... yeah, okay. Alien.

He's also read some of her other answers already. ]

You at war? Your race; are they fighting anyone?

[purplishgreen]

We are not at war with anyone, though small skirmishes are inevitable. As a whole, asari attempt to adopt a diplomatic approach. The last serious conflict was two years ago, when the geth, led by Saren, attempted to take the Citadel. Many lives were lost.

[And the rumours afterwards... well, she was possibly closer to Saren than anyone still living, and she's still not sure what to make of it, or his strange ship Sovereign that spoke in her mind and took over her will, and Benezia's, and perhaps Saren's as well.]

The geth are a synthetic race, though, and they attack all organics.

[venatical]

[ He'll sound and look totally unimpressed and maybe ready to jump her until he's satisfied with her answers, basically. ]

And what's the status of humans where you're from?

( v i d e o )

[mentis]

I've heard some of the residents here are having difficulty accessing that which is usually natural to them. Are you harmed in any way or is it just the nature of the town?

[purplishgreen]

[Self-centered, perhaps, but also not an unreasonable question.]

Humans are one of many species allied under the Citadel Council. You are very new -- your first contact with the turians was barely thirty years ago -- but you've already proven yourself worthy of having a seat on that Council.

[nedofpies]

[ Her polite greeting sounds sincere, the smile looks it, too. They throw him for a bit of a loop. Ned is suddenly wondering if maybe the last time they spoke he overreacted, if he judged her too harshly, if he's holding a grudge where one isn't deserved, if she's going to think he's some complete nutcase now, if there's any way to stop her from thinking that... ]

Two hundred- how old are you?

[ It's a quick question, blurted out before he has time to think about it, and he claps a hand over his mouth and says ] Is that rude to ask? You don't have to answer that. I just- [ Two hundred. ]

Re: ( v i d e o )

[purplishgreen]

No. I was having these difficulties before I came here. It is a side effect of something I experienced two years ago. I don't believe that this place has anything to do with it.

[purplishgreen]

[She laughs a little, not unkindly.]

I am three hundred and fifteen years old. Which, by our standards, make me fairly young. Humans have different standards, I realise; asari can easily live to be a thousand years old.

( v i d e o )

[mentis]

Is there anything any of us can do to assist you?

[nedofpies]

[ Ned's hesitation and various anxieties are, by millimeters, beginning to edge away from the forefront of his mind ]

And, just to confirm, we are... defining years as the same length of time? [ What if a year on Thessia is the equivalent of about a month on Earth? That would make the rough asari lifespan somewhere in the eighties and put Shiala in her mid-twenties, would make her about Ned's own age. Which was what he'd assumed, the first time they'd spoken. ]

Re: ( v i d e o )

[purplishgreen]

No, but thank you. Two years ago I was absorbed by an entity, a plantlike alien called the Thorian. I was fortunate enough to be freed, but both I and the humans who were infected by its spores have not been left unscathed. That is all. I hope my abilities will return in time, but it has, as I said, only been two years.

[purplishgreen]

A fair question.

[And an intelligent one.]

If I remember properly, the Thessian year is slightly shorter than an Earth year, but not significantly. When I say I am three hundred and fifteen, then I mean something very close to what you would mean.

[venatical]

[ Dean's main concern is finding out if he needs to be keeping an eye on her or not. He doesn't think it's exactly safe to go hunting things around here willy nilly, but if a body turns up dead, he wants to know who should go on the suspect list and who shouldn't. ]

So we're friends in the future then? [ He still sound skeptical. ]