Commander Shepard arrived at the steps leading up to Aria T'Loak's loft above Afterlife. The Omega ruler dismissed both her bodyguards, gesturing for Shepard to take a seat. "Glad to see you could take time out of your busy schedule to see me." Aria remarked.
"Does this meeting have a purpose or are you running out of people to sleep with?"
Aria's tone grew serious, "Shepard, what I'm about to share with you is information not to be repeated."
Shepard straightened her posture, "Alright, out with it."
Aria leaned back, "What do you know about Ardat-Yakshi, Shepard?"
"They're asari who suffer from a rare genetic disease that causes the melding process to be lethal to another partner."
"Glad to see you know something about my species." The Commander gave her a placid stare as Aria continued; "There's someone who might be helping them. I've made it a goal of mine to investigate further."
"Sounds like all of this is speculation..."
"Your little squad mate, Dr. T'Soni, was the one who gave me a lead."
"What do you know so far?"
"That there's s someone smuggling Ardat-Yakshi across the Terminus System."
"Why suddenly an interest in this Ardat-Yakshi case?"
"Because the one who's helping them might be my daughter."
Shepard fell silent, unsure of how to respond.
"How did you find out that you had a kid? Who's the mother?"
"Mother?" Aria shook her head, chuckling, "The terms you humans use have no relevance to my species. If you must know, I was the 'father'. Didn't even know about her until two weeks ago. I was…with her mother a very long time ago, long before you were running around the galaxy saving everyones ass."
"Have you contacted her mother? For all we know, she could be hiding your daughter or helping the Ardat-Yakshi."
"Lance, one of 'the Shadow Broker's' agents has agreed to meet in the Gozu District." Aria's omnitool flickered on, "Go to these coordinates. Lance will have a datapad containing information in our little hunt. Bring it back here and we'll set a plan into motion."
Commander Shepard set off through a doorway leading to the lower streets of Omega. Once reaching the Gozu checkpoint, Shepard scanned the crowd for anyone that looked like they were waiting for someone. At that moment, she caught sight of a nervous-looking salarian.
"Lance?" Shepard asked, slowly approaching him.
The salarian seemed to relax when he saw her, "Commander Shepard, it's an honor to meet you." Lance briskly handed her a datapad, "It seems Dr. T'Soni uncovered new information that will be vital to your search."
Interest sparked in Shepard's eyes, "Such as?"
"There's no evidence that suggests the 'mother' of Aria's daughter is aware of her activities in assisting Ardat-Yakshi. However, it seems that she's looking into finding a cure… unsuccessfully, I'm afraid." Lance paused, knowing other species needed a moment or so to process information. "That datapad contains severals leads to where she might be, as well as where the Ardat-Yakshi are taking refuge."
Shepard tapped the screen, seeing a list of names and planets. One of their first leads was a colony in the Terminus which had recently reported several missing people in the last week.
"Thank you, Lance."
The salarian nodded his regards, "I will be sure to forward any more intel regarding the matter."