The Two Engineers

Leto himself, had been taking in the sights of the newly built presidium as well, given he hadn't seen it since the destruction that happened in Sovereign's wake and the geth assault. So much so, instead of avoiding the distracted Quarian, he too ran into her, right as she ran into him. Luckily only a few nuts, bolts, and screws scattered, nothing that couldn't quickly be picked up and returned to the baggage that Leto was carrying. As the quarian picked up the last of the bolts, Leto nodded, and said, "Thank you, I appreciate the help. And don't worry, I was getting lost in the sea of wonderment of the Presidium as well. Last time I was here, the Geth were attacking it..." And remember it he did, very vividly, the geth's blade hitting him in the back, causing a large gash, but luckily not hitting any bones or anything that would leave permanent damage other than a pretty large scar.

He remembered how his brother had killed that Geth after seeing him slice Leto down, and then tried to shield them both with a bionic shield, that a laser managed to pierce right through, hitting his brother in the back, and bursting through his chest, killing him near instantly. It had all happened so fast. Again Leto had to push the thoughts into the back of his mind, as he looked towards the Quarian. He knew that they had history with the Geth, though what exactly that history was, he wasn't sure entirely. "It looks like I do have all of my stuff though... Are you on a pilgrimage?" he asked her then, a slight grin forming on his face. He was curious as to if she happened to be, because he had never really met a living quarian before, just had learned about them in college, in a Astrobiology class he had taken as an elective. Though he couldn't remember their relationship to the geth. He had only ever gotten a C in Astrobiology, and wasn't too fond of it, so knowing about all of the different alien races was something he had never been too keen on. He liked the Salarians and Asari for their keen intellects, but then there were the Quarian. He wasn't sure if they ranked up there in intellect, even though they did have a huge fleet that he recalled, the Migrant Fleet.

Perhaps it was a different type of Intellect, one more practical than theoretical. They had to have some though as they had managed to have their entire race living in a fleet, rather than a home world. That was when it struck him, their relationship to the Geth, though it didn't really change his opinion on them, they were the Geth's creators. And it seemed as though, if he recalled from his class correctly, the Geth had taken over Rannoch, and took it from the Quarian. "If you'll forgive me for asking, but... would you care to join me for some lunch? I've never met a live quarian before, and there are some questions I'd love to ask you!" he exclaimed, his excitement couldn't be matched now that he remembered their relationship to the Geth, an enemy that he'd love to see squashed, and destroyed under the power of the Migrant Fleet...

As they made their way to Apollo's Cafe, Leto would sit down across the table from the quarian. Order a salad, something that he normally just ate, he smiled when Shali'Tazu nar Rayya introduced herself to him. Looking towards her through sapphire blue hued eyes, he then would state, "Private Leto Karme, of the SSV Ravenwing." Nodding, and then looking towards her once more, he said, "Thank you for joining me. I'm not aware of how quarians eat, or most things about quarians to be honest with you. I only too a Astrobiology class in college, and it was simply for the extra credits I needed to graduate. My area of expertise lies with machine, and engineering. Mostly Drive Cores and Warp Technology, as well as Mass Effect fields. That's what I wrote my thesis on anyways..."

"I guess one of my first questions would be... why do Quarians go on their pilgrimage? We never really discussed much about them other than the Quarian-Geth war on Rannoch, which you have my apologies for if I sound insensitive, I don't mean to..." he stated, then realizing that what he was saying may sound insensitive due to the nature of the war, which he hadn't really studied much up on. Sadly alien biology really didn't interest him. The geth did sound like a very interesting creation, at least he had thought so before one of them killed his brother during the attack with Sovereign. His hatred of them was very warranted, and because of that, he'd try to find out as much as he could about them. Perhaps this Shali could shed some light on them as well, though he didn't know how much, but he'd soon find out...

"I see..." said Leto as he looked towards Shali. "So Va'seras is the name of a Quarian's pilgrimage, and the Flotilla happens to be the ship you're from? Or is the Flotilla the name of the entire fleet?" he then asked, looking towards her curiously, trying to learn as much as he could about her and the Quarians as he could in this brief encounter. Taking another bite of the green lettuce that he had ordered, he then listened carefully to what it was that she had to say. She continued to speak about the Geth, and a slight frown formed upon his face as she spoke of them as children, and the Quarian as being their parents. It was a sad situation, but Leto had never truly known the extent of it until now. Sighing a bit as he looked towards her, he then turned his sapphire blue hued eyes away briefly.

"My brother... was killed by a Geth," stated Leto. "When Sovereign and the Geth attacked the Citadel. I was vacationing there, and he died protecting me after a geth blade tore up my back, barely missing my spinal cord. I played dead and survived, he... used a biotic shield against a geth Laser. It wasn't strong enough, and the laser pierced his heart, killing him near instantly. I don't mean to get all melodramatic about it, but that's the only relationship I've had with the Geth. As much as I enjoy machines, they are tools to be utilized, not necessarily to be made to think like we think..." A slight look of sadness crossed his face as he remembered that day when that happened, so vividly, almost as if the memories were flourishing to the forefront of his mind. "I don't want to hate quarians for their creation of them, as I believe it was a mistake much like any other races have made, humans included with nuclear weaponry, and weapons of mass destruction like that... Every race has a mistake it's made throughout history. I'm sure that Quarian are no different than human in that respect..."

He then fell silent again before speaking once more. "Again, I mean no offense in what I'm saying, I don't know the quarian's full history with the Geth, and if what you say is true, then perhaps you did create the means to your own exile... But then again, who knows? I mean if the outcome where different, what would have happened when Sovereign attacked the Citadel," he finished finally, and then sighed again, taking another bite of his food...

"Learning more about your society would be of great benefit I am sure. As for if i'm on a pilgrimage... no, I am not, I am an enlisted soldier and engineer aboard the SSV Ravenwing, my specialties being in Drive Core Technology and Mass Effect Fields. I am with the Systems Alliance, or the human military if you will..." he stated, his bright sapphire hued eyes watching her carefully as he finished with his food. "It is good to know that the Quarians realize their mistakes and will try to learn from them in the future. I thank you for verifying that for me. Repeating history would not be good for anyone if any race were to create another sentient computer system much like the Geth..."

Smiling, as he looked towards her, he said, "The ship I work on is in Dock A-2 right now, would you like to join me in walking to it? Also, do you have an omnitool? I'd like to trade communication codes with you, so that even if I'm away on a mission, we can still discuss Quarian and Human societies, and their similarities, as well as differences."

"That is true, I was born on earth, not on one of our colonies in space, or even a ship. My mother is from London, capitol of England. My father died when I was very young. Cancer," he stated the simple facts of life. "My brother was killed by a geth as I previously mentioned here on the citadel during Sovereigns attack. As for what my homeworld is like, it's large. The place I grew up in, a small village house on the outskirts of London, which had a wide open green field behind it. There were many parks around the suburb that I lived in, and I used to play in them all of the time when I was little. As I grew up though, they replaced the parks with more and more housing developments. Earth changed in a very short time for me. That's why I liked the college I went to to get my double major. Oxford. It's a beautiful area," he said, bringing his right arm up towards her, and activating his omni-tool to add her communication code into it, sending her a quick message so she could add his.

He then pulled up a few pictures on the omni-tool of Oxford college in order for her to see the campus, all the while, setting the parts he had gotten for the Drive Core down once they reached the docks area. The pictures ranged from the engineering building, to him and his friends, to the first drive core he worked on in his brother's ship for his thesis. All magnificent pictures, to document exactly what he had gone through before the loss of his older brother. Once he had shown her a decent amount and they stopped by the dock where the SSV Ravenwing was stationed, Leto pointed outside of the viewport. "There she is, the ship I work on," said Leto as he pointed towards the SSV Ravenwing through the viewport...

"Amazing that they could do that to an inside of a ship," stated Leto, smiling, as he looked towards her picture. "Our ships are mostly grey and metallic, really. Not that much green at all within them." As for the crew, Leto was entirely unsure how many there were aboard their own ship. He didn't exactly keep count, and had never really asked anyone. His guess was close to three hundred. Looking towards Shali, he said, "My guess is around three hundred, to be honest i've never really asked, or cared how many crew members are on the ship. Just so long as I do my work, live my life, and make sure the Drive Core lives a stable life as well..." His eyes then trailed down towards the box full of parts he had briefly set upon the ground. Picking up the box, he smiled, and said, "Oh these? Just routine maintenance parts, nuts, screws, bolts, basic engineering stuff for the drive core. I have an Arc Displacement reactor on requisition, but that won't be in for another week or so. Luckily it's only a back-up one, so no need to worry about the current one going out on us anytime soon. It's still in good shape..."

"As for where we are going, I'm not sure yet, probably back to Earth," he said, smiling as he looked towards Shali through sapphire blue eyes. "Maybe I'll be able to visit my mother when I go back, for a brief period anyways. I'd love to tell her about all of the people i've met so far in the Alliance and on the citadel. She's getting older, and i'd rather see her more often than not," he said, looking towards Shali, and grinning.

"There you are private!" a voice exclaimed from behind Leto. Turning around Leto saw a man walking towards him. It was Lieutenant Harris. Smiling as he looked towards him, he turned from Shali briefly and said, "Yes sir, here are the parts we requisitioned minus the Arc Displacement reactor... That won't be in for another week." Lieutenant Harris smiled, and said, "Good work Leto. Who is your friend here?" he then asked, a hand motioning towards Shali, the quarian. Leto turned back towards her, and said, "This is Shali'tazu Nar Rayya. She is on her pilgrimage here on the citadel," he said, smiling as he looked towards her. "A fellow engineer," he stated then, and allowed Shali to speak if she so wished it...