The Firefly (Mass Effect Andromeda)

Chapter 6

"Where have you been?" Harry almost yelled. He stared at her hard, "Are you drunk?" Olivia laughed, merry on far too much from the Vortex bar. It had been a wonderful few hours, after her serendipitous encounter with Lyora. The three friends had been so open and welcoming, and she hadn't laughed like that in well...centuries.

"Tann gave me a job!" She told him, explaining, "...and then I made some friends and they kept buying me drinks."

Harry's face was somewhat bemused throughout. "Well done! On the job, I mean. Stars, Olivia, if your mum and dad knew about this..."

"The job? Or the drink?"

"To be fair I think they'd be proud of both." Harry smiled, "Go and sleep this off. You've got work to do."

The next day Olivia got to work, tapping away, writing up what she wanted to say. Her first piece would be a personal one: an account of being the infamous wrong person, hitting the scourge, seeing the Pathfinder die, saving the people in the pods. She would call it 'Heroes of the Hyperion'.

It ended up much longer than she had expected. She started emailing key people, getting quotes and interviews. Even Harry was cajoled in front of the camera that David Qar had given her until she had a few pieces made up and sent on to HNS for editing. Only a few hours later, Harry started yelling her name with such fervor that she thought something must be wrong with her father.

"You're on! You're on!" Harry said, as she burst in. All of the medics were clustered around the screen as Olivia's face took over.

"Oh wow..." Her voice trailed off, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Her omni-tool registered a call from David.

"What do you think, Taylor?" He asked. "Not bad for a rush job."

"It's amazing." She said breathlessly. She imagined what her parents, and Nina, would have thought, seeing her face broadcast in Andromeda. Francis would never have believed it, she thought sadly.

"I'm just an amateur here too, you know." David told her. "My mentor, a broadcasting veteran, was killed so this is a steep learning curve. Hopefully we can keep momentum like this, and come up with something amazing."

Over the next few days, the broadcasts continued, and she churned out a number of short pieces, feeling industrious and more content than she had in years. That was when she spotted the email come in. The email read,

"Taylor! It's Lyora Gaari, you know, the one from the bar? Anyway, me and Nunok and Vee are meeting up tonight at the lab. It's our favorite place, except for the bar of course. We were wondering if you wanted to come. Say about 7?

Looking forward to it

Lyora

PS: We saw you on TV. You were wonderful!"

As she closed the email, a smile blossomed across her face. They wanted to hang out again. The idea of it made her day. She waved goodbye to Harry closer to the time, and left, heading for the tram. As she sat down, she heard whispers, and realised that more than one person was watching her.

"Excuse me." Finally, a human man spoke up, catching her eye.

"Yeah?" Olivia said, preoccupied.

"Sorry, but...aren't you the woman from the TV? Olivia Taylor?"

"Yes!" She had never felt so surprised.