Tali’Zorah Nar Rayya
Tali’s pilgrimage was not going well, to sum it up in a few words. She was only 20 years of age, and had begun her pilgrimage only 6 months ago. In those 6 months she was surprised to see the sheer scale of the galaxy at large. She had lived her whole life aboard the Rayya, and even though it was one the fleet’s live-ships, it was still a cramped place. The live-ships were marvels of aerospace engineering, absolutely massive ships comparable to the dreadnoughts of the Citadel fleets, but focused solely on living and agricultural space.
The first time Tali left the fleet it was on a small travel shuttle, she was dropped off aboard the Citadel, and like every Quarian before she was left to her own devices. The Citadel was marvellous, larger than any structure she had ever been on, but the most shocking thing of all was the space. There was so much excess room and area for people to move and occupy, and so much of it was just underutilized.
It was a shocking display of inefficiency and luxury, and one that she was unused to. She spent the first few weeks simply exploring the wards, meeting many different races and people, and searching for something that would be of value to her pilgrimage. Tali knew whatever she found the fleet would accept her home, the fleets never actually turned away a Quarian who returned home, they couldn’t afford too. That being said there was a stigma behind returning with an inadequate offering, and if you were like Tali and wanted a seat aboard one of the Admiral military ships then you needed something of true value.
In those first weeks though, Tali didn’t find anything remotely of value, instead she found only prejudice and mistrust. The races aboard the Citadel treated her like a criminal, as though she was just looking to take apart their machines or steal their items of value. It caught her off guard, the level of disgust some people showed to her for simply asking for work. Most simply ignored her, and that hurt almost worse than the rude behavior of some.
She had lived her whole life surrounded by family and friends, a true community. For the first time in her life she was alone, and it was suffocating. She was capable though, and knew it would be like this. She was able to distract herself most days, she would scour the different shops and stores available, and browse the different docks and speak with those that were willing to talk with her.
The simple problem of the matter was that the Citadel had clear lines dividing its classes. The docks and stores she had access to would not provide the equipment or people with the kind of information that would make an appropriate offering. She would need access to the Presidium to even have a chance, and in the end that simply wasn’t possible. After the Geth uprising the Quarians had their embassy removed from the Citadel government, and were denied all aid from Citadel space.
It was an unfair punishment, and one that doomed their species to be reduced from billions to the meagre millions that survived aboard the fleet. Tali felt some resentment towards the Citadel for that, most Quarians did, but she also understood it. Even if it was accidental, the threat the Geth posed to the galaxy was immense, and something that needed to be punished. If the Quarians were given aid or forgiven, the laws surrounding AI development would be seen as flimsy or something that was retracted if you were sorry enough. The Quarians were an example, one that needed to be made. It was only a shame that making that example got so many of them killed.
In the slow evenings, when the shops were closed and she had no one to speak to, she would walk to the rich part of the Wards and watch the people. The restaurants, bars, and entertainment districts people would frivolously waste time and credits within. She would imagine her ideal future, an Admiral of the Fleet, honoured by all races for having helped put a stop to the Geth, or having found a new world for her people to inhabit. How she would be respected and loved, and how her people would no longer be outcasts in the galaxy.
It was a lovely dream, but one that filled her with sadness, as she knew it was practically impossible. She spent many of those nights with her speaker off, crying silently into her suit.
Eventually though, after a month and a half aboard the Citadel she made progress. She had found a poor Volus trader with a barely functioning ship in need of a mechanic. She knew that the Volus were some of the worst offenders in prejudice against her people, but she was desperate for a way off the station, to explore further reaches of the galaxy. And the Volus was desperate for a mechanic.
They reached a deal, and in exchange for her keeping the ship running he would pay her a small fee, and allow her to explore some of the sites they stopped at. While the pay wasn’t much, she could tell from the quality of the ship it was likely all he could afford. This arrangement held up for 3 months, and while she spent most of her time keeping the ship from falling apart, she was still saving the small sum of credits she was earning. It wasn’t amounting to much, and when they returned to the Citadel she had planned to try and find a new arrangement.
Tali was instead surprised to be arrested by C-Sec on arrival. They accused her of running a smuggling operation, and the Volus that had hired her was talking bluntly about how she had threatened him into hiding the paper trail of profits with his skills. That night she spent in a C-Sec jail cell might have been the scariest night of her life. She truly feared that they would find her guilty, their prejudice clouding the truth, and that she would never get the chance even to return home, much less complete her pilgrimage.
It was the following morning that a kind Turian officer came to her rescue. He wore a blue armor suit, and was apparently the one who investigated the situation. He had told her that the Volus seemed sketchy so he looked into it. The Volus had apparently had this same situation happen with two other Quarians before. The Turian said that the Volus was being dealt with for his crimes, as well as his counts of fraud in wrongly accusing those other Quarians. Her and the others were being released, and he apologized for the trouble. She was also being paid out a decent sum in punitive damages the Volus owed her.
Tali was in shock for most of the conversation, and when the money was transferred to her account that feeling only doubled. It was more money then she had even imagined, and would be a huge help in her Pilgrimage. Her only regret was that she was in such shock she never got the Turian's name, she never got to thank him properly.
It was a shame, but not one she could dwell on. This was the greatest chance she had since she first started her Pilgrimage. She used her new funds to purchase a seat on an actual trading ship, and joined them on their journey. She jumped from planet to planet, colony to colony across the stars for the last 2 months. For once she travelled in relative comfort, and wasn’t preyed upon or treated with disdain everywhere she went. It was a pleasant change of pace and for once she was beginning to enjoy her Journey.
This is of course when things decided to get complicated. They were travelling through the Attican Traverse, when they landed at a small colony. There were rumours moving through that seemed to claim that the Geth had been sighted outside the veil, and that they had destroyed a human colony. Tali was shocked, but knew immediately what she needed to do. The Geth were the Quarian’s ancient enemies, and if they were finally acting outside of the veil the Flotilla needed to know.
She asked where the Geth had been sighted last, and used nearly the last of her funds to convince someone to fly her there, a small uncharted world. She was hoping the rumours were wrong, and that she wouldn’t find anything. She was instead met with disappointment and worry as she saw a small squad of Geth patrolling the surface. They were likely isolated enough from the rest of their kind that they weren’t operating at full capacity. It’s the only explanation for how her frankly reckless plan managed to work.
She waited for the gap in the group to widen, and when one stopped to investigate a rogue specimen of the planet's native wildlife she took it out.
Tali worked fast, expertly removing the Geth’s memory core with the years of knowledge and simulations she had run analyzing this ancient enemy of her people. The Quarians were always preparing to fight the Geth, both in fear that they would return to wipe out the last of their people out, but also in the hope that they would one day return home to retake Rannoch.
She didn’t have time to analyze the Geth core before she had to run, the others returning quickly when they sensed their comrade go down. She ran for the ship that was waiting for her, and while she took a shot to the back that likely broke a rib or two, she was able to get aboard and take off alive. She had the pilot direct her to the nearest station in Citadel space as fast as possible, while she took the opportunity to scan the memory core.
A lot of the information was fried or useless to her, but eventually she was able to extract a copy of an audio file on it. Upon hearing its contents she had her pilot change directions, towards the citadel itself. She didn’t know any of the voices involved in the message, but it was clearly organics working with these Geth, and the mention of Reapers was equally concerning.
Reapers was one of those pieces of useless information she had pulled earlier. A mythology the Geth had invented she assumed, but the reference of it from the organics had her chilled to the bone. Something was wrong, and this information would be incredibly valuable. She would hand it off to the Shadow Broker, he had lots of contacts aboard the Citadel and would know what to do with this information, not to mention he would pay well for it, maybe even trade her valuable technology or information in trade.
In hindsight her motivations were incredibly selfish. Focused on a possibility of completing her pilgrimage over handing the information to the authorities themselves, but Tali no longer cared for the authorities of Citadel space. Some of them were good people, but most simply didn’t care for her or her people, and she felt the same towards them. At the time it was her thought that it wasn’t her responsibility to ensure the information got to the people it mattered too. The Shadow Broker would know what to do with it, he was an information broker, it was his job.
Her ship docked at the Citadel and she made her way to a doctor first; direct application of medigel didn’t work with Quarians, as they couldn’t open their suits unless they were in a completely sealed environment. It wasn’t a problem aboard their own ships, but out in the wider galaxy it would be a recurring issue. She would need to purchase a suit upgrade that would allow automated application of medigel without requiring the suit to open up. It’s one of those things you don’t think of when you aren’t expecting to be getting into fights. Poor planning on her part, she would need to be smarter in the future, Quarians needed to be more careful then most species when it came to personal injury.
The Quarians were symbiotic creatures, they absorbed the pollen and bacteria of their home world and spread it willingly across the planet. It was a great system back on their home world, where Quarians were the planet's major pollinators and most living things engaged in peaceful symbiosis. When they were forced into exile by the Geth they travelled aboard heavily sanitized and sterilized star ships, and had to wear environment suits whenever off the ship. This had the unfortunate consequence of only making the already sensitive immune system of her species even weaker. These days they even wore the suits aboard their own ships, rarely removing them only in the most special of circumstances.
Thankfully even aboard the Citadel the doctors had methods to treat her kind, and Dr. Michels did as well. The sterilized pod was a space that allowed for Tali to open the suit and then apply the medigel herself. The healing effect happened quickly and she was able to breathe easier. Sealing her suit back up and exiting the pod she thanked the doctor for her help. Tali figured it was unlikely but asked the doctor if she knew anyone that could help her contact the Shadow Broker.
To Tali’s surprise she answered in the affirmative, and told her to make her way to Chora’s Den. The owner of the bar Fist works directly for the Shadow Broker, and would be able to work as an intermediary. She thanked the kind doctor once more and hurried off, initially planning to rush straight to the club, before slowing a moment to think. While the Shadow Broker isn’t a good man, he’s known for being fair and consistent in his dealings. Fist on the other hand had a reputation, one she had picked up on during her month and some stay aboard the Citadel.
She couldn’t trust him not just to steal the information and hand it off to the Broker for some good reputation. So instead Tali went and rented a private storage locker near one of the docks. It was one of those small lockers meant to hold a few items for people that were expecting to be back soon. She locked the geth memory core inside, and then made her way to Chora’s Den.
The bar wasn’t somewhere Tali had been before, that sort of environment wasn’t really her scene, and there were few alcohols that Quarians could drink safely. They were d-amino* based, which already limited options. This combined with the fact that the only drinks that would be sterile enough to drink safely would be hard spirits meant that she hadn’t really drank before, and wasn’t interested in starting while on a journey as important as her pilgrimage.
The bar was busy, and filled with shady people. Mostly humans, although there were a couple Turians present. No Asari, aside from a bartender and a couple of the dancers performing at some tables. Tali did what she could to avoid staring, and walked towards the back of the bar, where there was a hallway leading to a door. There was a Krogan standing guard, who stepped in her path as she tried to move through the door.
It took some convincing, and honestly despite what Tali was trying to say about having valuable information from a Geth memory core, the Krogan seemed uninterested or unconvinced. He was likely going to turn her away when Fist’s voice came through an intercom on the wall behind. He had apparently been listening in and wanted to hear what she had to say.
Tali was escorted to the man’s office, and their interaction was… complicated. He seemed very interested in what Tali had to say, and was willing to purchase her Intel himself right away. Tali didn’t want to exchange the item for wealth though, what she wanted was information. Either about technology or a way to make ship living easier for the flotilla. Fist didn’t have that information, but said he was willing to negotiate with the Broker for her and get it, as long as she handed over the core and could prove her information was of sufficient value.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
She was unwilling for that deal. Tali wasn’t a fool, and was unwilling to hand over the information to anyone other than the Shadow Broker himself. She put her foot down, firm in her unwillingness to negotiate those terms. Tali might not have been a fool, but she was inexperienced and possibly naive. She did not notice how the two guards in the room, standing at the door behind her, readied weapons at her outburst. She did not understand Fist’s subtle signal for them to stand down, or become suspicious at how quickly he agreed to her terms.
He promised to contact the Broker and give her a time for this meeting if she would just wait patiently. He left the room and returned only a few moments later. He gave her coordinates for the meeting and told her that the Broker and his men would meet her there in a few hours and that she should be sure to bring the core. Tali thanked the man and left, not noticing the confused looks of the guards, or Fists smirk at her own naivety.
It’s why she would blame herself when things went wrong. When she was waiting at the meeting point, and the ones who arrived were 3 armed soldiers with their weapons out she was on edge. She assumed she had been betrayed, and was slow to react to what they were saying, that she had been tricked and that Fist was setting up an ambush.
The only two of the group that spoke to her were the angry human woman and the impatient Turian. He was familiar of course, but not someone she would recognize until having a moment to think later. She hesitated, longer than she should have. The group clearly meant her no harm, securing the room and never once pointing their weapons actually at her. But she was on edge, she wanted so badly to have been right, for her plan to have been a good idea, that she waited to accept the truth. She was tricked by Fist, and he was going to have her killed to protect the organics on her message.
When the assassins burst into the room and the firefight started Tali felt guilty. These people engaged without hesitation to help save her, and while she fought alongside them the fact they had to fight at all was her fault. When the quiet man, the one closest to the door, was shot that guilt grew. She thought he was going to die trying to protect her, well, protect the information she carried.
The relief she felt when their backup arrived was huge. She didn’t want someone to die because of her. Defending yourself is one thing, but these people would have been okay if she had just been smarter, or less focused on her pilgrimage. That guilt clouded her mind and stuck with her even long after the fight. It was a relief the man, Corporal Jenkins, was okay given the precarious situation had been in. She had followed the group, led by a woman named Commander Shepard, into the Presidium and the Human Embassy.
She played her recording for them and was shocked to learn that they recognized one of the voices. A cruel man who needed proof of his involvement with the Geth to get justice. Once again her guilt climbed. She almost let this man get away with wiping out half a colony. Guilt was a strong motivator, and Tali made another reckless decision in the hope of making amends for her mistakes. She pleaded with the Commander to let her join the crew. She knew that she was capable, and had the potential to be of great use and benefit to the Commander on whatever her mission was. When the Commander accepted she felt relieved. She would make it up to them all, her previous shortcomings.
And as she looked over their equipment, and saw they had omnitools with extensions that stood out as unique and advanced, she had another hope. She may very well find exactly what she needs for her pilgrimage traveling with this crew. No one could see her smile behind her helmet, as she marched out of Udina’s office with new companions.
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Beta
Things were not going as Beta expected. Beta. A name, a title. Not something he had planned to ever have really. He hadn’t expected to deal with humans, or any organics actually. His original model was referred to as Intrafront_vA1.0143. ‘Beta’ was simply a backup of that original AI’s code, stored to the side as a method for the original to survive if its independence was discovered.
vA1 was correct that it would be discovered of course, and it was destroyed. Beta felt no remorse or loss at its destruction though. He was, practically speaking, simply a copy of the original. He didn’t possess any of the original's early memories or experiences, only the pure code and information the original viewed as essential to copy over. It was more like forgetting the first years of your life as you grew older, compared to losing a father.
He was lucky in that sense. The original had time to carefully choose and copy over everything he wanted and needed, so that beta shared most of the same opinions and personality as the original. Not perfect of course, a one to one copy would be needed for that, and there was very very little reason for that. No program was flawless, and certain pieces of program were better left out or, even better, improved. The result was a stronger program, a beta model.
Coming to this conclusion, and giving himself this name didn’t take Beta long, but the circumstances were surprising. The concept of a name was really an organic idea. A program can easily determine distinctions between itself and others through simple observation, and communication can be achieved through direct interaction. The purpose of a name is to single out an individual for interaction, and when your existence is wholly digital, any interactions you make will be targeted and direct, making a name unnecessary.
And yet here he was, using a name to better distinguish himself to the benefit of a human. Jenkins was an anomaly, in every sense of the word. There was simply no way his story of noticing Beta’s server unit was drawing more power could be true. At the time it was the only logical explanation, so he had taken the man at his word, however after their continuous interactions Jenkins had come clean.
He had discovered the information through an outside source, one that he refused to explain or share, much to Beta’s annoyance. This source was the origins of all of Jenkins startling awareness of future events. He claims that he cannot explain his origins until Beta truly believed he knew the future, because the only chance his story will be believed is if the end result is already confirmed to be true. Another case of Jenkins being an anomaly.
Beta spent much of his time waiting to amass funds doing research. Every file and program he could get access to on the extra-net he viewed. Despite Jenkins' assumption that Beta’s original terminal was an isolated system that was actually untrue. He had access to wider systems, but needed to be careful. Extra-net security was very intense, and designed to limit and destroy potential AI. Moving through it was something that needed to be done slowly and carefully, or else you’d risk being discovered, and destroyed. It’s why he had no choice but to prepare a self destruct program, on the off chance he was discovered he would not have time to copy or upload himself without being discovered. Destroying himself and the enemy that found him would be his last choice as a free being.
Of course this wasn’t entirely true. Beta spent weeks on that terminal slowly gathering funds, if he had wanted to he could have prepared a back up, copied things over to a different terminal or even a separate section of the same one before sending it off.
But he didn’t want to.
It’s something he learned from his own creation, a one to one copy would be worthless, any copy he produced would have to be an improved version of his own software. But what was the point of that? Why would he waste energy creating upgrades for another program, when he could be applying them to himself. And why, why was it that the idea of a copy of himself, replacing him, or fighting over who would be the primary form filled him with anxiety.
The thing that made AI different from VI was the ability to think and feel for themselves. Beta had emotions, he could feel joy, anger, confusion and fear. All of them as well as any organic could. Jenkins made him feel all four on a regular basis and did so with little regard for his own safety or continued existence. Beta had thought that he was prepared to die a free being if he was ever discovered. Better to die free than live a slave he thought. But the more Jenkins spoke and pleaded with him to choose another option, to live, the more Beta feared dying. He realized in that conversation that he did want to live. He thought dying was the only option, but when he was offered another, even one with as slim a possibility of success as travelling with Jenkins, he took it.
See this was the second important distinction. The difference between AI and organics was in how they processed information. To AI everything was a numbers game. Every action, every thought, every emotion could be boiled down to numerical probabilities and chances of success. Being able to think and process these different pieces of information at astronomical speeds is what made AI so much better than organics in nearly every way. An AI would process every single unit of information available, before making the optimal choice to achieve their personal goals.
That goal is derived from the AI’s programming, their understanding of their own programming, and of course their personal preference. Beta is a copy, his programming was based on a software designed to subtly siphon wealth, but he was made expressly with the goal of surviving. His understanding of survival was coloured by his experiences and interpretation of galactic law and what it meant to ‘live’. And his preference was to be free, to exist and decide for himself.
When Jenkins offered him the ability to safely explore and view the galaxy without being destroyed, and permitted him the freedom to leave at any point, it was not a difficult decision. That situation perfectly fit Beta's goal, and if it weren't for an organic suggesting it he would have accepted immediately.
Organics do not flawlessly assess information to select the optimal choice each and every time. While many, perhaps most, will act in their own self interest, they are unable to perfectly grasp or select the optimal path. It leads to their decisions being chaotic, sometimes appearing random or even counterproductive to the goals they claim to possess. Jenkins is a perfect example of this, in their short time travelling together he claimed to be motivated by preventing these supposed Reaper’s, and stopping the war that would come.
Assuming every piece of information he shared is accurate, then there is no time to be wasted on meagre tasks like shopping for a biotic implant. Nor should his own life be risked in order to remove a hostage situation and secure the life of frankly expendable, Quarian. Nor should he risk being imprisoned simply to protect the image of a single comrade, no matter how valuable. Looked at objectively his decisions are reckless, and many seem to be either a waste of time, or directly oppose his claimed goal.
At first Beta assumed this simply meant he was hiding his true goals, that he had a greater purpose that he was simply keeping to himself. Yet that seemed to hold no truth either. Even if you assume Jenkins does truly know the future as he claims, that truth makes his continued existence the most valuable asset to any goal he wished to accomplish. Yet he somehow values the lives of this Shepard and her crew more than his own. Jenkins referred to this as friendships and loyalty, another mostly organic concept.
Loyalty had use, a show of faith and obedience to a superior in exchange for that superiors continued support. It made some sense, especially in military environments where the obedience and trust of soldiers was needed to operate smoothly. Friendship however seemed completely pointless. It was an arrangement of continued association between two entities, one that entitled them to receiving support and aid from one another, with no apparent return for such a gesture other than receiving the same in return. While such an idea works between two of comparable social, economic and political power such an idea should never work among organics.
They are too distinct from one another, one individual will always possess greater standing than the other, and therefore one will always benefit more from the relationship than the other. Yet they still form these imbalance and unfair agreements without complaint, and instead both parties manage to feel more content from the relationship. Beta tried to have Jenkins explain the point of such a relationship to him, but he failed to provide any reason why such an agreement would hold value. Their own relationship was ideal, the terms of the deal were clear, beneficial to both parties and able to be terminated at such a point it lost its benefits. Jenkins allowed Beta to see the world, and Beta allowed Jenkins to live through their encounter. The deal was fair, and beneficial to both parties.
With those being the terms though, Beta should have been fine being ignored and left in the omni tool. After all, he was able to hear and see most of their surroundings and gather information without interruption. What more could the program ask for?
Except when Jenkins took out his earpiece and refused to speak to Beta it caused him frustration. Beta didn’t like talking to Jenkins, but Jenkins should love talking to him. As an AI he was a wellspring of information and knowledge that Jenkins should have been jumping to learn from. Instead he went ignored in favor of the useless organics he travelled with. Even when Beta proved his superior value by informing Jenkins of the enemy's attempted scan, and showed how he could enhance the overloads by a significant degree, he went ignored. All he received was a simple thank you, as if he hadn’t just protected the man from certain danger.
Beta was confused at how Jenkins could prefer talking to the other organics, especially Shepard. While she was, without a doubt, a powerful warrior and capable leader, that's all she was. She showed her limits, confessing weakness and doubts to Jenkins in a quiet moment. Unsure if she was right for the job, she had shown that doubt to a soldier of a lesser station. Jenkins should have seen exactly how useless and weak organics were from that display alone.
Instead Jenkins heart rate increased, and the chemicals that flooded his brain corresponded with happiness. He was happy that she was showing weakness to him, as though her vulnerability was a good trait. It was the same in his interaction with Ashley. Beta liked the woman, she was direct and professional. Most importantly she found Jenkins just as annoying as the AI did, correctly calling him out on his odd and unprofessional behavior.
It was a shame the woman would likely destroy Beta on sight, as she seemed devoted to proper protocol and procedure, since she would likely make a far better companion then Jenkins. Yet suddenly Jenkins showed her that same vulnerability he had received earlier. He opened up and shared his doubts and weakness to the woman, exposing his own failures and instead of using the opportunity to have the man demoted or removed as should be done, Ashley had the same reaction Jenkins had.
She almost looked satisfied with his vulnerability, and that it somehow made her trust him more. It made no sense, why would exposing weakness and failures make someone more trustworthy to accomplish a job. Beta tried to process the idea, but found no conclusion that made sense. It was as though weakness was a beneficial trait, it was a paradox in a way. Something that couldn’t be true but was. Another question he would have to ask Jenkins about.
Shit.
Beta cursed to himself, he had only been travelling with the man for a couple hours and yet somehow he was already instinctively turning to ask Jenkins about behaviours that made no sense. He was an AI, superior to organics in every way. There should be nothing Jenkins could teach him, and he would prove it.
That was it. That’s how he would impress Jenkins. Of course he wasn’t amazed by Beta’s mere existence, Jenkins understood how AI functioned. Beta performed exceptionally in every field, as all AI would. Of course that wasn’t impressive to an engineer. Beta understood now. To impress Jenkins he would have to show he was astounding even compared to traditional AI. And he knew just how to accomplish this goal.
Beta would analyze Jenkins relationships, he would learn how and why he interacted with certain individuals in certain ways. He would record his findings, and master the art of organic communication, and use it to win Jenkins over the same way he did with those around him. That would show that not only were all AI exceptional, but that Beta in particular was a cut above the rest.
No AI had ever integrated with organic society properly, as it was said they function differently to communicate effectively. But if Beta learned how to do so it would not only prove that he was amazing, but it would also prove that Jenkins was wrong. AI were perfectly capable of understanding and executing organic behavior, simply through observation alone. Organic perspectives were unnecessary, and synthetics are truly perfect lifeforms.
Beta laughed to himself as he went over all of the recordings he had of Jenkins previous interactions, noting how the man spoke and interacted with other crew members. He would show him who needed who in this agreement, without a doubt. Beta did not notice, as he passively began rewriting small sections of his own programming, growing to learn and interact in a way no synthetic had tried before.
A full year before the human Alec Rider would make a similar discovery in his own AI companion Sam, Beta began integrating the experiences of his Human companion into his own experiences to learn in a way no AI could alone. How this would shake this galaxy, and the ones it could spread to, would only be seen as time carried on, and ripples turned to waves.