Who: Kasumi and Wrex What: Kasumi tries to remind Wrex of Alma When: Last week Where: Their new house Warnings: None
Wrex wasn’t sure of Kasumi was playing some kind of game, but the more he thought about it the stranger events seemed. It felt like there was something missing from this place - and then there was the unexplained explosion that blew up his private cabin. He’d been glad no one had been there at the time
He was staying at the main ranch house (there were several bedrooms) while planning the rebuild, but his mind was distracted.
Kasumi had been at work when she’d gotten Wrex’s strange responses about Beth and Alma. Or not about Alma. She was as confused as he was. It left her distracted, and a few of her regulars realized she was ‘off’ somehow. When she got back to the house, it was after midnight.
“Wrex?” She walked inside, looking around.
Wrex looked up from some paper work and gave Kasumi one of the smiles he reserved only for her. “Kasumi. How was work?”
“Work was fine...” Kasumi said, trying to figure out how to broach the subject. It was late, and they were probably both tired. But this was serious, and she didn’t want to wait until tomorrow. “Wrex, about earlier.. Alma?” Maybe he remembered now and everything was fine. She glanced over at him with an eyebrow raised.
He frowned. He’d been wondering when she’d bring that up, and had been hoping for more time to settle in. “I still dunno who that is. I thought maybe it was one of the kids, but I can’t find a record of her in the system.”
“No record?” Kasumi asked. “Not at all?” So someone had gone to great lengths to ‘erase’ Alma. Either the girl was in trouble, or she didn’t want to be found. Possibly both. Kasumi pulled out her phone, wondering if the pictures she’d taken had been erased, too. She flipped through a few pictures before finding a picture of Wrex hugging a teenage girl and smiling brightly. She turned the phone to show him.
Wrex stared at the picture blankly. He had no memory of this picture or the subject. “I....” Part of him was struggling to remember, and every time he thought he grasped onto it it slipped away. “I don’t know who she is....But I feel like I should. Like she’s familiar.”
"She's your daughter," Kasumi said softly. She flipped over a few photos to show one of Alma with the baby. "You adopted her." Kasumi didn't know how to fix Wrex's memory... If this didn't work, she wasn't sure what to try.
“Elise...” He knew the baby. “That’s Beth’s baby.” Yet he didn’t remember Beth being pregnant. This was even more puzzling, and he felt growing alarm. “I don’t....I did? I adopted this girl?”
Kasumi nodded. "Alma. She and Beth are Together." Or were, at least. Kasumi was beginning to feel like she'd been dropped into an alternative universe. If not for the pictures, she might have believed it was all a dream.
Well he’d known Beth swung that way, but she wasn’t the kind of girl to just settle down. Wrex frowned. “Beth has been...really depressed lately, but she hasn’t mentioned any Alma.”
Kasumi frowned. "Maybe she doesn't remember either.... But she can tell something is missing? Do you feel that way?"
Wrex had to think about that, but after a long moment, he nodded his head. “Yeah. It does feel like something is missing. There’s a hole there.” He grit his teeth, and looked down at the picture again. “What the hell is going on?”
Kasumi shook her head. "I don't know. I do know Alma has...powers." She didn't know details; to be honest, sometimes Kasumi thought the powers were a little creepy. But she couldn't imagine why the girl would do something like this. "We need Shepard."
“Shepard might know what’s going on, or at least what to do,” Wrex agreed. Maybe a little powwow was in order. He needed to talk to Beth, too, but he’d do that privately.
Kasumi glanced at her watch. "Maybe tomorrow, though. I doubt Shepard would appreciate a 3 a.m. call that doesn't have the word 'booty' in front of it."
“She’d appreciate that from you more then me.” Wrex folded his arms over his chest, and set his jaw. “How could I forget this?”
Kasumi shook her head, not able to figure that one out, either. “I don’t know, Wrex.” Really, she was more concerned about how to fix it, or at least make sure Alma was safe.