A/N: I do not own Mass Effect or the Matrix
THE MATRIX EFFECT: LAIR OF THE SHADOW BROKER
CHAPTER 1
NOS ASTRA, ILLIUM
THOMAS ANDERSON'S APARTMENT
OCTOBER 13, 2184
Thomas Anderson, the former Alliance Intelligence agent who went by the codename 'Neo' was slumped over his desk. Sleeping off another session of loading and downloading information he would gather from the extranet and selling the information for profit. It was a regular occurrence since he helped Shepard stop Saren and the geth from taking over the Citadel almost a year ago, working non-stop to learn more about the sentient machines known as the Reapers and hoping to acquire alliances behind the scenes of galactic politics in hopes of fighting back against the inevitable Reaper invasion.
However tonight was just like any other night inside his apartment on Nos Astra. Just randomly collecting information and selling it to whoever was paying for it, whether it would be a random street thug or a power hungry executive. This was Illium; the economy, government, and society are strictly Laissez-faire. Legal on this planet was many things that would make it illegal in Citadel space. Such are the things that are frowned upon in Citadel space is prostitution, drugs, heavy gambling, slavery or as the business leaders would call it indentured servitude, and information brokerage.
Information brokerage, it is one of the main reasons why Thomas is now living on Illium. He remembers doing such a thing back when he was a young criminal back on Earth, collecting and trading information to a criminal gang he was working for after emerging from the Matrix and finding out that his parents were killed on the farming colony of Mindoir from batarian pirates. When he was caught, that was when his life began. He was recruited by the Alliance Intelligence Agency by a man calling himself Morpheus and trained Thomas to become an intelligence agent. This is how he got the chance to work with Commander John Shepard when he was in charge of helping the transfer of the Prothean beacon back on Eden Prime, but a rouge turian Spectre named Saren betrayed the Council when he brought geth to attack the planet and killed a fellow Spectre named Nihlus. This in turn spring boarded Shepard to become the first human Spectre.
Thomas followed Shepard and fought alongside him and his crew while hunting down the former Spectre which led to a showdown at the Citadel. Saren was under the control of the sentient ancient machine called Sovereign, but he managed to break free from its control. Saren was about to do the honorable thing by taking his own life. However, another player in the game saw to it to end his life for them. Agent Smith.
Smith was once a computer program for the Matrix, but he had managed to escape when Saren sent an army of geth to infiltrate the Matrix. Now Smith possessed a geth unit and is doing God knows what behind the Perseus veil.
Thomas was slumped over his desk, snoozing while his latest batch of information was downloading. He had five holo screens simultaneously downloading information from all corners of Citadel space and parts of the Terminus systems. Then his Omni-tool lit up and the ring ton woke him out of his slumber.
He answered the call, but the call came in the form of a message. The message reads: Wake up. Instinctively after reading that message he pulled out his pistol which was stashed underneath his desk. Somebody is watching him.
The message continues to come through. I have what you're looking for. Is what it reads. Thomas just narrows his eyes a bit and continues to read the rest of the message. Follow the white rabbit. Now he was just confused.
Before he could investigate there was a buzz at the door. With his pistol still in his hand, he approaches the vid screen and activates the security camera. There were six people standing outside. Two human males, one turian, one human female, and two asari. Thomas recognizes the brown hair man with the dark goatee in front of the group and he tucks his pistol behind his pants.
He activates the door control and allows the group to come in, but tells them that they are to sit in the living room area and nowhere else. After the group sits on the large sofa, Thomas is looking over the balcony and looks at one of the human males. "Choi. What can I do for you?"
Thomas knew Choi. He and his friends were clients of Thomas; he made regular visits and paid well. All Thomas knew about Choi was that he was a podborn like him and he always had money. Thomas didn't know where he got his money, but didn't pry into his affairs. Thomas preferred to conduct business that way
"I'm here for the thing, man." Choi said while one of the asari was sitting on his lap. "Do you have it?"
"Yes." Thomas answered, but slightly annoyed. "Your two hours late and this isn't the Citadel, you can cut the 'I'm not a cop' act." He said as he was coming downstairs and looked through the data of his Omni-tool.
"Sorry for being late. It's her fault." Choi looks at the asari on his lap.
Choi pulled up his Omni-tool as well and Thomas received a fair amount of credits. Thomas nods in approval and he transfers the information over to Choi's Omni-tool.
Choi looks at the information and smiles; he's obviously pleased with the results. "You're a lifesaver. You're my personal Commander Shepard."
The thought of that name made him cringe a little, but he didn't want to let him know that he knew the hero of the Citadel personally. In this sort of business, you don't get too friendly with the clients even if the business is legal on this planet. "Thomas. You look like you need to unplug, man. A little R & R, maybe? We're heading down to the Eternity to celebrate." Then he looks at his asari girlfriend. "Think we should take him with us?"
The asari smiles and eyes up Thomas like he was some kind of prize. "Definitely, he should come with us."
Thomas was naturally going to say no, because of his principles of not getting too close to the clients in the same fashion as why psychiatrists and therapists don't interact with their patients on personal levels unless it involves therapy.
"No, I have to get up in the morning." Thomas politely declined.
"Come on." The asari moves in a little closer to Choi while she still stares at Thomas. "It'll be fun. I promise."
Thomas was ready to tell everyone to leave his apartment, but at that moment he noticed the exposed skin on the asari's upper arm. She had a tattoo of a white rabbit. What is an asari doing with a tattoo of a little woodland creature from Earth? Thomas thought to himself. Maybe that's a question he will have to ask later, because he remembers the message telling him to follow the white rabbit. "Yeah. Sure why not. I'll go. Just let me get ready."
Thomas looks over a few things before he leaves his apartment, but he unintentionally finds a picture of him and the crew of the SR-1 Normandy. It was him and Shepard standing next to each other. Liara was standing next to Shepard on his right side while Ashley Williams was standing next to Thomas on his left side. Behind them was the krogan battlemaster Wrex, the quarian engineer Tali, the L2 biotic Kaiden Alenko, and the turian C-Sec agent Garrus.
He looks at Ashley with a hint of melancholy. He remembers the mission all too well: the meeting, reciting Walt Whitman together, the kiss during the mission on Virmire, and their intimate moment together inside the Mako. Although he didn't want to do it, he had to break up with Ash. She had just redeemed her family's name by assisting Shepard's mission and it would look bad if she was romantically linked with a rogue agent. He was surprised that she understood the situation, but it didn't help the situation.
Thomas hears Choi calling his name. "Thomas! Are you ready?"
"Yeah!" Thomas shouts back and walked down the stairs. He explains himself. "Just having a moment like… you know what it's like when you have a surreal thought and think that it never had existed or ask if it had existed?" Thomas asked still thinking about his past adventures with Shepard and moments he spent with Ashley.
"Of course." Choi smiled. "It happens to me every time I take mescaline while on a red sand trip."
His friends laugh while they all leave Thomas's apartment.
Thomas followed Choi and his friends to Eternity, a place he made visits on weekends or for special occasions like tonight. The seven sat around a large circular table reserved for large parties and Choi ordered a dancer for the group's entertainment. Thomas volunteered to get the first round of drinks.
Thomas was greeted by the asari bartender when he approached the counter. "Hey, Thomas. How's it going tonight, babe?" She said with her raspy voice.
"Fine." Thomas smiled. "Always a pleasure to see you Matriarch Aethyta. How have you been?"
"Better now that you walked in here sexy." The asari made a flirting gesture at the former agent and smiled.
"I hate it when you tease me?" Thomas smiled back.
"Well, what can I get for you?" She asked. "Is it for that party you came in here with?"
"Yep." Thomas pulls up his Omni-tool and transfers the list of orders to her.
Aethyta glances over the list and types in her own controls. "Alright. I've set you and your party up on the drink kiosk. Just ring up your drinks each time and one of our cocktail waitresses will serve you."
"Thanks." Thomas turns his head to make sure his party wasn't watching. He moves in closer to Aethyta and quietly asked her a question. "Has anyone been asking for me?"
Now it was Aethyta turn to move in closer. "Actually, there was a salarian telling me he was meeting someone. He asked if there was a spot free from prying eyes. So I told him the balcony isn't such a bad spot."
"Thanks, I'll see you later." Thomas winked at the bartender before walking back to his table.
Choi and his friends were watching the asari dancing on the table. His distracted eyes were too focused on the dancing asari when Thomas taps him on the shoulder. Choi jerks to the side and laughs. "Thomas. You're missing the show."
"I ordered the drinks, but I'm going to see if someone I know is here." Thomas said.
"Don't be gone for too long." Choi said. "I hired the stripper for the rest of the hour."
Thomas walked towards the balcony and scouted for a salarian Aethyta told him about. He does a quick scan of the area and so far he can only see two krogans talking to each other, asari quietly sipping their drinks, and turians chatting loudly over politics. Then he saw the backside of a slender being gazing at the fantastic view of Nos Astra.
Thomas walked over to the ledge of the balcony and took in the sights. He leans over and asks the being next to him without taking his eyes off the scene. "Impressive view, isn't it?"
The being next to Thomas just happens to be a salarian. The salarian replied. "It is, but I doubt you're here for your own leisure."
Thomas looks at the salarian and asked. "Were you the one that sent that message?"
It was the salarian's turn to look at Thomas. "I'm Sekat. Yes, I sent you the message."
"You also make it a habit of spying on me?" Thomas said with a hint of bitterness.
"You have to understand Mr. Anderson." Sekat said. "There are eyes all around us, especially being utilized in the same way my employer conducts business. I had to watch you from a distance and leave a trail of bread crumbs for you to follow."
"More euphemisms towards old Earth tales?" Thomas laughed slightly. "Was it your idea to write 'follow the white rabbit' back at my apartment?"
"Yes. When I found out the asari in that group had a tattoo of a white rabbit." Sekat said. "Also, I like your human story teller Lewis Carroll. I'm also partial towards the Grimm Tales and much of the old sci-fi vids from your 20th and 21st Century."
"Nice to know." Thomas now becomes more assertive. "Now that I'm here, do you know what I'm here for?"
"Yes." Sekat said and placed something next to the potted plant and made sure Thomas knew where he placed it. "I have to go. I just hope nothing bad of this will come to me."
Sekat downed his drink quickly and walked off. Thomas shuffled over towards the potted plant and investigates what the nervous salarian left behind. Sekat left behind a disk and most likely contains the information Thomas needs. He quickly places the disk in his pocket and returns to Choi's private party.
LIARA'S OFFICE
OCTOBER 14, 2184
Liara was typing away on her data pad as always. She's been busy ever since she took up the position as an information broker. It has been nothing but nonstop work, but the work she has been doing is quite rewarding at times. In the short time she's been on Nos Astra, she has already developed a bit of a reputation as a powerful broker. If she had to give credit to her success, it was from her friend and fellow information broker Thomas. His experience in the information business was extremely helpful, especially for a start-up business like hers.
Liara was looking over the latest reports when the door slid open. She looked up. "Thomas. I was worried. You arrived later than you normally do."
"Oh, sorry about being late." Thomas said. "I had a late night last night with a client. However, we got a break."
"What is it?" She asked while locking the door behind Thomas.
"I made contact with our contact." He said.
"So you have it? The location?" She stood up from her seat.
"Yeah." Thomas smiled. "I got it."
"Do you have it with you?" She asked.
"No, not with me." Thomas plainly states. "I have it hidden some somewhere and it's too dangerous to have it on me personally."
"Well, it is for the best." She said with a sigh. Even though she would like to know what was on the disk, she knew the risks of having such information. "For right now we must not call attention to ourselves. Anybody could be an agent for the Shadow Broker."
"Well, we have to assume that everyone is an agent for the time being and yes, today is business as usual. We should all check it out tonight at my apartment." Thomas pulls out a bottle of water from a mini-fridge and sits across from Liara.
At that moment, Liara's office door was being hacked; it was obvious that someone was outside trying to get in. Thomas pulls out his pistol while Liara's biotic charge flares up. Both information brokers anticipate the coming firefight. The door's red holographic panel turns green and the door slides open.
A drell and a female turian stood at the threshold of the door. When they saw Thomas and Liara prompt and ready to attack, the two ducked to the sides.
Liara recognized the two and she charged down as did Thomas by putting his gun back in his holster. "Feron. Demita. You startled us." Liara takes a deep breath.
Feron was a drell who worked for the Shadow Broker, which was until he was convinced by Thomas to quit when he realized that the broker was giving Commander Shepard's body to the Collectors. Feron turned against his organization and helped Thomas and Liara.
Demita Lucalla is a female turian with white face paint covering her cheeks and forehead. Unlike male turians, females didn't have long fringes on their heads but their mandibles were elongated, their body frame skinnier, and their hips smaller than their male counterparts. Like all turians she had served the Hierarchy's military, but she was top in her class as a weapons specialist and a proficient hand-to-hand combat expert.
"Sorry about that Liara." Feron apologized.
"When the door was locked and you didn't respond to our call, we feared the worst." Demita said.
"That'll be my fault." Thomas confessed. "I had my comm dampener on. I didn't want anyone to know what we have found."
"What is it?" Feron asked.
"Lock the door again and I'll tell you two." Thomas said while Demita relocks the door.
As soon as Thomas returned to his apartment, he immediately pulls out his duffel bag and begins to pack his things for a long trip. When he finished packing, he strolled down the stairs over to a panel next to a large painting and that's when he felt something wasn't right.
He slowly approached away from the panel and ran back upstairs. He quickly takes the picture of him and the rest of the Normandy SR-1 crew and made a quick adjustment to the programed photographs. After he reprograms the picture frame, he went back downstairs and looked for a few data pads he had scattered around.
While reaching one of many data pads, he quickly froze when he saw a red beam bouncing off the reflection of the data pad. He quickly looks up and realized that the light beam was coming from the apartment across from his. "Oh, shit!" is all he could shout when the bullets sprayed from the building and cut through the massive glass window of his apartment.
Liara's skycar touchdown near the entrance of the apartment complex and calmly exited the vehicle while Feron and Demita followed her. When they arrived at Thomas's apartment, the sight of Nos Astra police crawling all over his place was a shocking sight to see.
Demita was the first to speak. "Spirits. Did something happen to Thomas?"
"I do not know." Liara replied. "Goddess I hope not."
Just then the three were approached by an armored clad asari with a familiar logo on her chest plate. "Ms. T'Soni? Tela Vasir of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. May I speak with you?"
A/N: Hey everyone. The Matrix Effect is back. Sorry for the delay I had school and a ton of writing assignments to take care of. I hope you like the follow up.