A/N:
Hey there! This is my first ever fanfiction story so feel free to leave a review if there are any mistakes (or if there is anything you like).
This story came about as a result of me reading numerous ME fanfics and realizing the small number of mystery/crime/detective based stories. I have been working on this story for quite some time now trying to come up with a plot that is somewhat coherent and enjoyable.
Anyways, hope you enjoy and please C&C if possible!
Oh and the usual disclaimer; all the characters, worlds and such belong to Bioware, I am merely using their wonderful universe as a canvas for my story.
01:18 Local Time, Location: Citadel
Chapter 1: The Body
"What the hell do I wear…."
Tyrik was talking aloud, to himself mostly, as he tried to pick out a set of clothes to wear. Usually Tyrik stayed in, watching his endless marathons of TV shows or movies, or getting wasted on various alien brands of alcohol.
But today was different, today would be the first time he would leave the apartment to do something productive in over 6 months.
Arrgh it was so much easier when I was working for C-Sec and I had to wear that ridiculous uniform…
Eventually Tyrik settled for something simple; a clean set of pants, a black shirt as well as a black trenchcoat.
Hate cleaning up… he thought to himself as he walked over to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.
Tyrik was a brown-skinned human, average height, but had a fairly muscular build. His eyes were jet black and his face had a rugged textured look to it. Facial hair dominated the lower half of his face, giving him with what people would call, 'the caveman' look.
Raising his traditional multi-blade razor, he began to slowly work the blade across his face.
Holy fuck I feel naked…
Tyrik was now staring at his own face, completely devoid of any facial hair, and he was completely taken aback, he actually looked his age now; 25, as he began to throw water on his face to wash the shaving cream off.
Once he had finished cleaning up, Tyrik walked out of the bathroom and grabbed his omni-tool and attached it to his left arm. As the omni-tool flared into life, Tyrik thought back to the call he had gotten just over an hour ago.
"Yea Tyrik here"
"Mr. Haynes, we know you are no longer a member of C-Sec, but we have a case that requires your… unique set of skills"
(Pause in the call)
"No thanks, I'm busy"
"Busy doing what? Drinking another glass of whisky? What you think I didn't know Tyrik?"
-Tyrik eyes opened in shock, the voice on call switched to that of his best friend Rykim, his turian partner, who he met on his first day at C-Sec. Rykim was a happy soul, a happy-go-lucky type of guy who just took things as they went, and unlike most turians, he had no issues with humans. They hadn't talked in months. -
"It's none of your business-"
"Fuck off, I'm the one dragging your fucking unconscious body back to your apartment every time you knock yourself out, what did you think you made it home magically?"
-Tyrik paused as he began to recollect his memories-
"Look, I know you're in pain, but I need your help on a top secret case I've been assigned and not only are you the only guy I trust with this, but you are also the only one good enough to figure this one out."
(Pause in the call)
"Do you think Lana would want you to be wasting your life getting drunk in bars?"
(This time the pause was much longer and was frequently interrupted by Tyrik's heavy breathing)
"Fine, but I'm only doing this for her"
"Meet me outside Purgatory in 2 hours"
"Don't expect any miracles"
(Hangs up)
Why do they even need my help? He pondered, as his focus shifted from his omni-tool to the weapons he would take with him to the crime scene.
The table in front of him was overflowing with various wires, tools as well as various parts of guns, which were all scattered haphazardly over the table, a result of his past experiments and inventions that he used to make to help him solve his investigations.
But that was a long time ago thought Tyrik, the truth was that he hadn't come to this room in quite some time and some of the gadgets sitting on his desk appeared quite foreign to him.
He picked up his old pistol, blowing the dust off of it. Upon closer inspection Tyrik saw his name inscribed on the barrel of the weapon.
The weapon had a particular dose of nostalgia attached to it as it was a gift that he received when he first joined C-Sec a few years ago. Ever since then he had never used another pistol.
After placing the pistol on the magnetic lock on his belt, he grabbed a couple of flash grenades and a reinforced nightstick, which he used to non-lethally take down suspects.
Once he finished up, he began making his way to towards the front door.
The trip to Purgatory wasn't exactly eventful
This particular strip of the ward was known all over the Citadel for its extensive range of nightclubs as well as the fact that it was never really closed, the infamous Purgatory was also situated in this ward, a place Tyrik frequented after the death of Lana.
Even though it was almost 1:30am local time, it was very difficult to tell whether or not it was night, the sheer number of artificial lights illuminating the whole street was excessive to say the least.
But something was amiss, there was no 'thumping' music, and the streets were very empty. In fact the only people that Tyrik could see were the C-Sec officers in the far distance and the holographic crime banner blocking off public access.
Tyrik started walking towards what he believed to be the crime scene.
"Tyrik it's damn good to see you man, how the hell have you been?"
It was Rykim who was standing the closest to Tyrik, waiting for him, and he greeted him with a smile. Tyrik merely grunted and nodded before he continued to walk, Rykim following along.
"So what's so urgent you needed my help?" he asked
"Take a look for yourself" Rykim responded as he moved to the side.
Tyrik froze, a wave of shock spread throughout his body, his hairs began to stand on end and he could even feel goosebumps forming on his arms. His eyes widened as he took a step closer; this was the last thing Tyrik expected to see when he was called out.
"What the fuck am I looking at here?" he asked as he bent over and began to inspect the body.
"I've been asking myself the same thing" replied Rykim as he followed Tyrik around the body.
"The Geth haven't been seen for almost 300 years, and now we find one of them dead in the middle of one of the busiest wards in the Citadel? How did it even get on the Citadel?" Tyrik asked, turning around and facing Rykim directly.
"I think I got a pretty good idea on how it got on the Citadel"
Rykim walked over to the machine and hit it hard on the side of its "head", immediately a brief holographic projection came up before it fizzled away, something that looked remarkably like-
"Optical camouflage, the machine was posing as human! But still how and why did it end up here…"
Tyrik stood there staring at the 'body', the geth unit had been disabled, and from his first inspection, by a gunshot to the head, which he could tell from the white liquid that was dripping from its flashlight 'head', as well as the massive white splatter on the floor. He had only ever seen geth in his studies, and he knew about their bloody history with the Quarians, but that was over 300 years ago, there were too many questions that needed answering.
"So gunshot wound to the back of its 'head', from the look of the damage here I would hazard a guess it was a Carnifex. The angle of the body is telling me the machine collapsed immediately, but I have no idea if it struggled or if it was completely out of the blue…" Tyrik was now standing directly behind the body, his hand on his chin. Murders usually involved organic beings, who were much more predictable, but this? He couldn't check it's liver temp, or strangulation marks, contents of stomach etc. Is this even a homicide anymore? Do geth live? The questions were just stacking up for Tyrik.
"Any surveillance footage?" he asked, almost knowing the answer already.
"Negative, the time 04:14-06:31 has been wiped clean, we are assuming that is the 'time of death'" was Rykim's reply, as he checked his omni tool.
Something tells me that they were desperate, to expose something as huge as this… No something went wrong and they needed to clear evidence
"Did you try examining the geth more closely?" he asked
Rykim looked completely taken aback, as if Tyrik had suggested he was going to kill him.
"It could be booby trapped? We still don't know that it will blow up or not"
Tyrik sighed, he knew that wasn't the real reason, the real reason was that the only experts when it came to Geth were the Quarians and no-one was going to trust a quarian to inspect the first ever geth to been seen outside the Perseus Veil in over 300 years.
"No, we need to bring in a real expert. A quarian, hopefully they will be able to tell us more" Tyrik said calmly as he looked down at the disabled geth.
"Ty are you serious? You know their kind and what they do! They could be behind this whole thing for all we-"
"That's enough, I want a full list of all the quarians on the Citadel as of this moment, we need answers and the only way to do that is to bring in experts." he said, looking directly into the eyes of Rykim, he didn't have time for political bullshit, he needed answers, and he needed them now.
Rykim merely nodded his head and walked off, presumably to get the list Tyrik ask for. This suited Tyrik fine as he was left alone to inspect the immediate scene. The geth wasn't carrying any type of weapon Tyrik could see, pulling his omni tool up, he began a search for any foreign chemicals.
Scanning…. Scan Complete
Results:
Possible anomaly:
Traces of ethanol detected, 32.5mL
Ethanol? What the fuck? Was this geth drinking? How is that even possible?
Turning around he saw a couple of officers standing nearby talking to each other.
"Officers, I need your help"
The two officers turned around and walked towards him immediately, it feels good to be in charge
"Sir? How can we help"
"I want all the surveillance footage from the nightclubs sent to my apartment in the next 3 hours, I also want to personally interview the suspects at my home, so once you are done with them please send them over. And finally I want you to get FSCU down here to scan this geth, I believe it was 'drinking' alcohol shortly before it was shot"
His short monologue was as swift as his exit, he didn't wait for a reply as he simply turned around and walked over to the first officer he was dealing with.
"Any news Ry?" he asked as he approached his friend
"Yeah, there are more than 3,987 quarians currently on the Citadel, there are 897-"
"How many are closest to us?" he interrupted
"Uh… There is one quarian down at the Flux bar, at the Presidium Ward-"
"Perfect, I'm on my way now. Remember don't let anyone near the geth" he added at end
Rykim merely stood there as Tyrik turned around on his heel and began to make his way back to the carport. Wait I think I'm forgetting something…
"Oh yea Ry what's the name of the quarian?" he yelled out as he continued to walk, not turning his head
Rykim pulled up his omni tool once more and read out the name;
"Tali Zorah Vas Neema"