Daryna frowned, looking down at her cooler. "Why have krogan testicles?" she wondered to herself. "What, am I supposed to get human testicles? Nobody pays 10,000 credits for a human testicle." Daryna paused. "Do they...?" She shook her head. "I guess I'll work up a plan to get into that ship to keep the pilot in check." Daryna looked around the room at the people who would be accompanying her on this mission. She figured nobody else could actually get into Siame's ship without shooting, so maybe she could actually be useful. After years of using her dominate ability, Daryna had learned that the best way to gain an advantage was to sit back and observe. When they didn't think they were being watched, people would do revealing things. Those quirks often were able to be taken advantage of. Not that Daryna would take advantage of anyone without good reason, but she had trust issues on a normal day. Gather the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy under one roof, and she had to try and be on top of things in case she needed a speedy escape route.

The first looked at Tanya. She already proved herself to be strong and charismatic. Whether or not it was just a face Daryna didn't know yet, but she certainly pulled it off well. If Daryna was going to trust anyone, she felt that Tanya would be a good choice. Her use of humor seemed to be her way out of a situation, and her relationship to the other drell in the room seemed more dependent on her part.

Now, the drell. Daryna was immediately nervous around him. She had spoken to very few drell after her little exchange with the doctor on Kahje. She was an outsider, and she accepted that.This man seemed snarky. He gave the appearance that he didn't want to be here, but Daryna guessed otherwise. She could tell he was a fighter first, and everything else second. He needed Tanya to articulate for him, she bet. 

The next person she saw was the salarian. Jaerdi something, she thought. She always loved salarians. They were so fast and smart; Daryna wished she was more like a salarian sometimes. He too was stoic, not giving away much about himself. Daryna was beginning to fear that would be a pattern among these criminals. Would it be so hard to find someone fun to hang out with? But when he speculated about his mishaps with Sleuth, he gave away his innate salarian-ness that Daryna was so fond of. They loved testing their limits, just like Daryna.

Next was the big human, the one with the beard. Daryna wasn't fond of beards, she had to say. She learned about them in her teens, when exploring with Khel Jarr. It wasn't a pleasant surprise. She remembered a time when humans were fighting the turians in their so called "First Contact War", and now there was this big hairy man allying himself with her. Interesting, to say the least. This man portrayed himself as a mere henchman - either he was downplaying his abilities, or he was really just a grunt, in which case he wasn't a big threat, mentally. Grunts usually weren't, in Daryna's experience.

The other male human threw Daryna off. She had never seen a human with a synthetic arm. How much of him was actually synthetic? Was his brain part machine? Would Daryna's abilities not work on him? Daryna was... unsettled, at the least, at the sight of Iosif. Maybe she'd try to casually bring up whether or not he had any brain implants. She'd need more time to think of a way to do that.

There was yet another male human in the mix, and this one Daryna did not like that much. He seemed cocky, even arrogant.She never liked those kind of people, especially those that did nothing to earn it. On the bright side, those who were wrapped up in how great they were often overlooked people like Daryna, and that meant she could blindside him with her powers.

She next saw the guest of honor, Kesik the batarian. She didn't know why, but she liked Kesik. Probably because he was willing to go along with Tanya's crazy plan. Daryna didn't know if she would be willing to do that. He was braver than her, and she admired him for that. She was eager to see his hostage crisis play out.

The other batarian, Valok, was showing more of that stoical charm that criminals all around the galaxy loved. He seemed uncomfortable being around so many non-batarians. Daryna couldn't even begin to understand that concept. She had never been in a room with more than three drell. She was always the exception to the general population. She hoped that Valok would get more relaxed around the other aliens, or else she'd have to watch her back around him. 

The male quarian was next on Daryna's judgmental journey. She felt a fluttering feeling deep inside her stomach whenever she saw quarians - how lucky they were, to hide behind suits every day! To never have to show their faces, to be hidden... what Daryna would have given for her own enviro-suit when she was growing up. She even tried to convince her parents to let her pretend to be a quarian, but they refused. Anyway, this Loral seemed like the typical dedicated scientist type. Daryna was hoping he was mad - every motley band needed one good mad scientist to round out their numbers. 

Now the female quarian was different - she seemed less secure, almost like Daryna herself. When she spoke, she even sounded a bit like Daryna. She hoped she could find a friend in Kali. Hell, she seemed to be the only viable option in this group. Tanya looked reliable, but she was pretty sure that Tanya would kick Daryna's ass before she became her friend. 

Daryna almost didn't notice Aran - the weird, hunched turian. She wished she didn't. she jumped when she saw him, looking all broody and weak-body-strong-mind in the corner. And Daryna did suspect his mind was stronger than most here - throwing a dominate at Aran would probably be like throwing a baby krogan at a brick wall. Even the way he introduced himself was all enigmatic and creepy. "Some of you may know me as Sleuth"... well, Daryna was just going to know him as that creepy guy in the corner. 

Daryna stood up, almost finishing up her little peep show without noticing Saseen. Asari were so normal to see on Illium, Daryna sometimes overlooked them. She had to say, she was not looking forward to working with an asari. [i]I went all the way out into the middle of the Terminus Systems. How far do I have to run to get away from these people?[/i] Daryna hoped that she could stay away from Saseen, and Saseen could stay away from her. Even looking at Saseen brought back bad memories...

[b]I sit in the desk, eyes to the ground. The other girls circled me, laughing. Ugly Asari. Ugly Asari. Go back to the jellyfish, we don't want you. The teacher pretended not to hear. I was crushed, but at the same time, I wanted what they said to be true. Asari? Me? Only in my dreams.[/b]

Daryna snapped out of her memory and crashed to the ground. Her krogan testicle cooler bounced away from her, under an empty chair. "Dammit!" She screamed, much louder than intended. Daryna couldn't see anything. The memory left her totally blind. It had happened before, but the pain had never gone away. Besides, Daryna was fairly sure that she just revealed a humiliating memory in front of the group. She hoped she spoke quietly. She stumbled on her knees, trying to pull herself to her feet with dignity. It all happened because of stupid Saseen. Even out here, asari still plagued her. Why did they have to cause her so much pain? Why did she let them?