The formerly white base of the shower cubicle now seems bluer than the little blue girl standing in it.
How is that possible? Hannah Shepard has been scrubbing her daughter's body for what seems like an age, but still she is a shocking blue colour, save for the flash of blonde hair on top.
"Verity, why didn't you ask daddy or me to help you? Or at least use a less permanent dye?"
Verity Shepard giggles.
"I wanted to surprise everyone!"
"Well," she can't help but laugh, "mission accomplished."
"Why are they mean to me, mommy?"
Hannah knows that the other children in the colony have been taught well by their bigoted parents, and their cruel taunts probably hurt her more than young Verity. It pains her to see her daughter playing alone, but at least she is happy and loving. Hannah doesn't want to sully her optimistic daughter's view of the galaxy.
"Well... remember you learned about the fighting with the Turians?"
"Yes. But I'm an asari, mommy. Asari never did anything to us."
She'd protected her daughter from the more brutal facts of the First Contact War. It was years before, but Hannah was well aware that the repercussions would be felt for decades. She didn't want her daughter to have any hate in her heart. She knows that eventually, all races will have to work together somehow. They have to.
"I know, I know, but sometimes, people have difficulty understanding difference, you know? Since we had our fight with the Turians, people have less trust for any of the aliens."
"But the asari are beautiful, how can anyone not like them? Folks are mean."
Defeated by the dye and not wanting Verity to dwell on this, Hannah changes the subject.
"Well, you may as well get out of there, this ain't coming off today."
The young Shepard jumps out of the cubicle giggling once more, gleeful that she can be blue for another day.
"You know that's 3 days now?"
"I wish I could be blue forever! Can I go to Thessia one day?"
Hannah doesn't really have a problem with her daughter's fascination with the asari. She has to agree, they are glamorous and beautiful and seem to have honourable intentions, and there are worse places to look for role models. It's the rest of the colony that she has issue with, or rather, has issue with her daughter. Even the adults seemed perturbed by the sight of a small girl dyed blue.
Idiots.
"Maybe some day, honey. But right now, it's bedtime."
Shepard wriggles around as her mother dries her.
"What is up with you tonight?"
"Can I be a biotic, mommy?"
"I really don't know, honey. Maybe..."
The bathroom door opens as a booming voice shouts, "Where's my asari commando?"
"Daddy!"
She was excited before, but now young Verity jumps up and down clapping and laughing. Then stops, and strikes a heroic pose. Charles Shepard knows this pose, and readies himself. In a well practised movement, Verity dramatically pushes her open hand towards him, while emulating a whooshing sound. Her father obligingly throws himself back into a heap on the floor. He'd made a point of learning what each of these actions meant so he could respond accordingly. She'd scolded him in the past when he'd mistaken 'throw' for 'warp' and he didn't like to disappoint his little girl.
She squeals with delight and runs on the spot excitedly. Verity knows that it's only pretend, but feels empowered by the action regardless. The man sits up, a huge smile spreading across his face at his daughter's reaction.
"Wo! That was a good one! Now. Guess what I've got?"
As he picks himself up, he pulls an OSD from his breast pocket, holding it up triumphantly. He doesn't need to say anything. Verity instantly recognises the logo on the case, and her big blue eyes widen as she takes a long intake of breath before pausing, then letting out another high pitched squeal.
"Yea! One of the guys at the power plant got it off some trader when they holidayed off-world."
Hannah isn't sure who is more excited. She knows why HE likes watching these vids.
"Oh Chuck, couldn't that have waited 'til morning? She'll never settle down now."
The asari had licensed informational vids to create a better understanding of their race, Serrice Council being one of the organizations who successfully bid to create them.
"Serrice Council..." Verity says, as though she's just found a glass of cool ice tea in the desert. She doesn't really know what the alien organization is, she just knows it means 'asari'.
"No. Bedtime now, you can watch that tomorrow."
Verity knows this tone, and that there is no point in arguing with her mother.
"Awwww, okaaay."
Her father grabs her, throws her over his shoulder and playfully slaps her naked blue bottom, causing further high pitched noises of joy as her little legs flap about.
"Come on my little blueberry, we'd better get you into bed."
'Blueberry'. When her father says it, it's nice. Lovely. She can feel the warmth in his words. She hates it when the other children say it. They almost spit the word at her. Verity hates that they have tried to steal the word from them. It's hers and daddy's word. How dare they?
"Verity, blueberry, Verity, blueberry," the children chant as she walks along the colony's make-shift high street on her way home from school.
"Alien lover!" one older boy shouts as a piece of the blue fruit slaps her on the cheek. It doesn't hurt and she tries not to flinch.
It had been eight years since she'd turned up at the school party dressed as an asari, but still the children would taunt and bully. Every new family that arrives at the colony hears the stories of the little blue girl. Would it ever go away? She tells herself to ignore them and keep walking. A singularity would be perfect right now. Shepard fights a smile as she imagines the bullies floating about helplessly.
Then strangely, the chanting just stops. Verity wipes the blue juice off her face with her hand as she turns to see why the mob has suddenly fallen silent.
"Who's that?" one voice enquires as they shield their eyes to look at the sky. Knowing of her knowledge of ships and aliens, one girl directs at Verity, "Do you recognise it, blueberry?"
It isn't often that larger ships enter the atmosphere of Mindoir, so this is a strange sight indeed. There's still a few weeks until the next supply drop.
"Ethan!" one parent shouts, "Get inside. Now!" followed by all the adults roll calling their children and hurried activity.
Turian? No. She would certainly know an asari ship if she saw one, so not that either. Salarian? No. Shepard had purposefully spent time learning the different ships of the Council races. No, it was definitely not one of them. It startles her as the siren suddenly blares.
"Verity!" Hannah screams from their porch. She's still a few hundred yards from their shelter when she hears her mother. She begins to jog towards their home. She looks over her shoulder at the ship steadily descending to see a white glow form on the underside. She begins to quicken her pace. A beam appears between the ship and the ground as the power plant explodes. She falls to her knees as the strength disappears from her legs.
"DADDY?"
"Oh Shepard, what's wrong?"
Liara finds Verity in the XO's suite, sitting on the end of the bed with tears streaming down her face. She sits closely beside Shepard and puts her arm around her.
"I was just remembering mom and dad."
"Oh, I..."
Liara knows that Shepard's parents had been murdered on Mindoir by slavers, but never asked for any details. She knows from her own experience that such things are very hard.
"I'm so sorry, Shepard."
"It's a long time ago now."
Liara's calender is on the bed beside Shepard and she puts the clues together.
"When exactly was it...?"
"17 years ago now. It's the anniversary today, if you could call it that."
Still not entirely familiar with human customs, Liara asks "Do you want to do something for them?"
She never had before. Shepard doesn't really do spiritual or symbolic, she's too pragmatic for that. But maybe Liara is right, it might be nice to do something in their honour.
"What do the asari do?"
"There isn't really a custom as such. Everyone has their own way to honour the de..." Fearful of one of her foot-in-mouth moments, Liara corrects herself, "their loved ones." They deal with death nearly every day, but Liara still remembers how considerate Shepard had been after the incident on Noveria and her own mother's death.
"That's really thoughtful. I'll have a think about it, but I'm okay for now."
She kisses the young doctor on the cheek, stands and walks over to the wash basin. Shepard splashes her face with water to wash away the tears and cool her reddened eyes. She doesn't bother to dry her face, the cold water feels good.
"I was going to do some work, but if you want to just hang out here that's fine. We can't let the crew see their glorious leader like this."
Shepard smiles.
"Dr T'Soni? Was that a joke?"
Liara allows herself a big smile at her lover's cheer. Perhaps she's got better at this human humour than she thought.
"My little blueberry."
Perhaps not.