The holographic display above the constructor was quite beautiful in its own way. Glowing lines of proteins and molecules hovered above the constructor pod like holiday decorations. Glen was staring at it, lost in thought, when there was a knock on her bedroom door.
"Come in." Glen said, quickly deactivating the display in case it was Tali. She'd managed to keep her project a secret so far, but she could tell Tali was getting a little suspicious of Glen's constant deflections.
She turned to see her visitors; a heavily pregnant asari and the last of the protheans. "Liara! Javik!" Glen said, smiling at her friends. "It's been too long!"
Liara met Glen with a hug, even as her child met Glen with a muted kick.
"Ha!" Glen said, "Little tyke's got spirit, just like her parents."
"Indeed." Javik commented dourly.
Glen let out another laugh. "Well, someone's a bit grumpy today."
"Sleep is difficult when you are under constant attack."
"Then don't sleep against her stomach." Glen advised.
"I'm not talking about the baby." Javik gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "I will go speak to Shepard."
"Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes." Liara said before returning the kiss.
Glen waited until Javik departed before laughing.
"He's right." Liara admitted, "I wake up with my sheets in tangles and a line of pillows set up between us."
"Baby's not the only active one then."
"Indeed." Liara approached the constructor, a curious look on her face.
"Ah," Glen said, reactivating the display. "Thought you might want to take a look at this."
"Is this the strawberry project?" Liara asked curiously.
Glen frowned at her. "Don't tell me John asked you too?"
"Actually, he asked if I could help. I may not be the Shadow Broker anymore, but I still have access to my old resources."
"So you're really giving it up, huh?" Seeing Liara's nod, Glen said, "Good on you. A lot of people wouldn't be able to let go of that kind of power."
"Oh, I'll keep a few contacts," Liara said, "But honestly, with the Reapers gone, those resources could be put to better use on the rebuilding effort … with this exception for Tali and John, of course. I have to ask, though; why are you doing this in your bedroom?"
Glen chuckled as she followed Liara's glance around her room. It was quite spacious (small surprise seeing as she built it) before she'd dragged in the constructor and the other equipment inside; now it looked like a lab that happened to have a queen-sized bed in it.
"Tali's working on some technical gobbledygook in the workshop." Glen said, "I can deflect a question or two, but Tali's not an idiot; we work together that long, and she'll figure out what I'm doing." Shaking her head, Glen asked, "Did you have any luck? Y'know, with your resources."
Liara sighed and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I still don't fully understand how you managed to get that oak tree growing without importing dirt from Earth. I've looked into hybridization, seed modification, genetic alteration. You?"
Glen let out a hollow laugh. "I'm gonna be honest here. I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I've gone through a bushel of seeds already, a bushel! Do you have any idea how many strawberry seeds fit in a damn bushel?"
"What's the problem?" Liara asked.
"The problem is I'm not a geneticist. I'm a builder."
"But the oak tree-"
"Everyone goes on and on about the damn oak tree! Look, I just grafted local roots to those of the oak tree and gave 'em a little extra push." Glen raised her rune hand emphatically. "Even if that worked for making a strawberry bush, the fruit would still be leva. That's why I grabbed the constructor; the Glyche used these to modify core units down to the synthetic cellular level. Normal DNA is a piece of cake compared to a Glyche cell's complexity."
"So how's it worked out so far?"
Glen sighed and motioned for Liara to follow her. She led the asari to a number of translucent cases sitting on what used to be a bookshelf. Some were little more than cups filled with dirt, while others held plant-life that could only be described as strange.
Gesturing to the cases as she spoke, Glen said, "As you can see, most wouldn't even grow. Seeds were nonviable. Most of those that did didn't last very long, and the few that managed to survive to maturity can't put out fruit."
"What about this one?" Liara said, her eyes on a large covered container holding a very healthy-looking strawberry patch bearing a large number of plump blue strawberries. "They look delicious."
Glen forced a smile on her face. "They do, don't they? Nice sweetness, just the right amount of tart … and then your blood pressure shoots through the roof, your tongue swells up to four times it's size, and if you're lucky, you pass out before your organs liquify."
Liara pulled her hand back, a look of horror on her face. Glen nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that one's getting burned once I'm sure I can't get any useful information out of it. It is the only one with fruit, after all."
Glen sat down on the side of her bed with a sigh. "What I need is a absolutely wizard geneticist, someone who can build a life form like I build a house. I need …"
After a few moments of silence, Liara said, "Mordin?"
"Yeah." Glen rubbed the back of her head. "He'd have this done in a jiffy. The way I'm heading, I'll go down in history as the inventor of the carnivorous strawberry."
Liara giggled. "It'd certainly make a memorable anniversary gift."
"Hmm." Glen fell back against her bed and let out another long sigh. Glancing at Liara, she asked, "So what brings you here today, anyway? I thought you and your hubby were off seeing the galaxy."
"We were." Liara said, sitting down on the bed beside Glenda. "But now that I'm getting close to term, we thought it best to settle down for a while."
"Ah, so you're gonna ask Tali and Shepard if you can stay here."
"Actually," Liara said, "They asked us."
Glen smiled. "I had a feeling. They've turned down a few quarian families, y'know. At first, I thought they wanted their privacy, but when it comes down to it, I think they hoped some of the old team would come back."
"Not just them, apparently." Liara said, smiling at Glen. "You built this place, after all."
"Guilty as charged. It just didn't seem right, y'know, all of us going our separate ways after all we went through … and hey, this is me saying that."
"Well, you've made a lovely home for John and Tali, and for us apparently."
"Hey, when in doubt, build rooms that can handle any species."
They laughed at this, but Glen's laugh stopped short. Seeing the look on her friend's face, Liara tentatively laid a hand on Glen's arm and asked, "What is it?"
"Could it be that simple?" She whispered, seemingly to herself.
"Could what be that simple?"
Glen stood up abruptly and headed for the door. Liara, understandably confused, asked, "What do you need? What are you doing?"
"I'll be back." Glen said before closing the door on her asari friend.
