"He was what?" Hamster in the engineering subfloor? Shepard checks herself, not quite all the way into the CIC, one hand still touching the wall, "You know, that's the first time I've genuinely thought I might've made a mistake going back to the Alliance? What's wrong with those people? He's a hamster, he's not hard to contain— hell, he lives in a tank!"

Distracted is the right word, after all. The CIC is, as usual, eerily silent as she stalks across towards the elevator.

"He could starve down there!"