A Toast to an Epic

The heist had gone... adequately.

Commander Shepard of the SR-2 Normandy and Kasumi Goto, master thief infamous throughout the galaxy, escaped with the item of interest, produced the M-12 Locust for the crew, and even obtained knowledge on long-lost artifacts such as Lady Liberty's Head. And yet, Operative Miranda Lawson observed the recent addition to the team to be even more distant and apart from the crew than before.

"The heist was successful, Keiji Okuda's graybox was recovered and destroyed." That was fact. The Commander, although a bit soft and controlled by emotions more often than Lawson preferred, made the right call and encouraged Kasumi to destroy the greybox. Although the Alliance was not an ally of Cerberus, and if the Commander's report on Keiji Okuda's own last will and testament were true, the personal desires of recorded memories, as detailed and immersive they were, were not nearly as important as crucial information that could ruin the Alliance's diplomatic status with the Council as a sovereign supranational government.

"Donovan Hock was killed in the destruction of his gunship." Despite the mission ultimately being a success, the desired result from a success was questionable. Kasumi Goto was proving to be tougher to read than initially anticipated, and it bothered Miranda. Cerberus's hidden cameras can only find so much into her belongings to illustrate a clearer psychological profile. There's no doubt the thief knew about the surveillance network and set up her belongings to combat against this without overtly shutting it off, but rather than read books or write poetry whenever not on missions like before the mission on Bekenstein, she was sitting on the couch. Closed up, unsocial... lost. That part was a problem and a detriment to the team.

"Kasumi's loyalty is still in question."

"Operative Lawson would like to see you, Commander," Kelly Chambers told the Commander as he appeared from the tech lab.

"Thanks, Kelly." He turned to take the elevator to Deck 3.

The elevator in the new Normandy always felt like a disconnected realm of existence to Shepard, but it gave him the opportunity to review the progress made before his meeting with Miranda. He had headed to Omega to recruit the bounty hunter Zaeed Massani, the scientist Mordin Solus, and the renegade Garrus Vakarian. Before grabbing the warlord and the convict, he recruited the thief Kasumi Goto and reinstated his spectre status from Councilor Udina and the Council (more out of symbolic respect rather than official support, but it did open the special wares once more and kept him in good relations with the politicians despite being with a Cerberus stealth warship), but before moving onto the convict and warlord, he wanted to help with Kasumi's heist while they were in the cluster.

She had proven herself to be a capable squadmate against Eclipse mercenaries, heavy mechs, and a modified gunship. She was able to display an outstanding level of tech knowledge to infiltrate an "impenetrable" vault and remarkable creativity to splice a voice sample quickly for Hock and temporarily pose as Chief Roe to the security tea-

- and the doors opened.

Commander Shepard made a right to head towards Lawson's office. He first smelt the improved food Mess Sergeant Gardner had brewed up, but he also immediately noticed the holographic display to Port Observation a neon red. It stopped him in his tracks for a moment, but he had a task to do. Officer first, concern second.

When he entered the Executive Officer's Office, Crewman Jenny Goldstein was the first to break the silence. "Why does the Commander wear that ragged clothing?"

"I'm sure it's his anti-Cerberus stance," Thomas Hawthorne responded just before finishing the rest of his fresh calamari.

"I dunno, seems a bit of a stretch to simply denounce the group. They look uncomfortable."

"Hmm..." mouth full of seafood, Hawthorne turned to Gardner, who was detailing the recently-used pot. "Hey, Gardner, wasn't the commander raised on a farm planet?"

"Mindoir!" Gardner shouted from the open kitchen. Rooms were sound-sealed, so as soon as the doors closed, it was open season for gossip, even on a Cerberus vessel. "I bet he just feels most at home in those rags. I say good on him for cherishing his- ah, damn stain- roots!" He rinsed the bottom rim of the pot with a metal scrub at an intense rate.

Goldstein stirred the food in her bowl a few seconds, finding the best way to speak the next question without causing too much of an awkward scene. "I'd figure he'd want to forget his time in the Attican Traverse."

Hawthorne picked up on what she was implying. "You've seen how nice of a guy he is," he started as he scooped together the remains of sauce into his spoon. "I bet it reminds him of the peaceful times rather than the raid."

"Ah!" Gardner exclaimed at his victory over the stain. "He is quite the role model. I wouldn't doubt that to be true if it were."

The curious crewman stared at the food balancing in her spoon as her comrade finished up his own. "It's not that simple to forget a big moment in your life."

Miranda had looked up from her terminal as Shepard walked in. She was finishing up another report on Mordin's progress on seeker swarm protection to the Illusive Man as the door shut behind the commander. "Slow and steady, but progress nonetheless."

"You needed to see me?" Shepard opened up.

"Yes. Thank you for coming by." Miranda finished and sent the report before standing in her new operative black and gold armor. She had tossed the visor aside for now, but the getup was far better than her previous jumpsuit and thighhigh boots. "I have a request to ask of you concerning Squadmate Kasumi Goto."

"Is everything alright with her?"

"That's just the problem; I'm not sure," Miranda admitted. She had rested a hand on her hip and looked down. "Your mission on Bekenstein was a success, and new Locusts have been manufactured successfully for the crew, but Kasumi is far less social than before, even for her. I fear destroying the greybox may have questioned her dedication to the fight against the Collectors."

Shepard thought of the concern, crossing his arms across his chest and thought back to the locked Port Observation. Kasumi was taking it harder than he had thought she would have, by the sounds of it. She sounded sad but understanding at the time of the mission to destroy the greybox's content, but she may have disguised her true feelings. "Was destroying the greybox the wrong choice?"

Miranda was quick to respond: "Absolutely not. Okuda was clear that the content was harmful enough to erase their memories together for. Even giving Cerberus the information before destroying it would have been a risk." She had crossed her own arms as she continued. "Kasumi likely would have stolen back the greybox before we could destroy it, considering how much this is affecting her now, and possibly betray the crew and abandon us."

"You really think she would leave in that case?"

"As I said, 'possibly.' She does have the skill and motivation to steal it back if we did what I initially wanted to do with the greybox, but your choice was ultimately the correct one. No question. But now she may seem more distracted than before."

Shepard scratched his head as he decided what to do: "I'll see if I can talk to her."

Miranda uncrossed her arms and proceeded to sit back down, ready to start an update to Kasumi's dossier. "Thank you, Shepard. You're more of a people-person than I. See if you can at least get her to be as social as prior to the mission."

He turned and left the office. The sound of compressed air moving the parts to the door concluded behind him as he made his way directly to the port side of the ship. The crewmen were cleaning up the table and oddly staying quiet. The concern Miranda had about an unstable squadmate started becoming clearer, at least at first, if these chatty crewmembers were silent both to and from the offices. It's possible that the denied access to the bar and entertainment center was the real reason most crewmembers were being affected, but it only proved Miranda's point in other ways. Denying access to a part of the ship without permission is a red flag.

But when he looked to the Port Observation door, the light was back to green. Temporary bug? Change of clothes and she wanted privacy real quick? Either way, Shepard wanted to know, and proceeded to the room.

Same as before. Kausmi sat on the couch with her legs cuddled to her chest as she hugged them tightly and looked up as he entered the room. She looked normal, but the shine in her eyes were slightly brighter than usual.

"Hey! Got a minute?" she said. She sure sounded positive. Shepard decided to play it cool and not approach this as a military problem. It needed a personal touch.

"Always have time for my crew," he responded.

He expected to hear her spread gossip she's learned from around the ship. Granted, this has helped him understand the crew a lot better from a different perspective, but this time was different. She didn't get up from the couch, but it was clear he had her attention.

"I have a question concerning the heist we did," she started, slightly lower in tone, a hint of uncertainty. Before Shepard could be relieved how the problem could be solved quickly, Kasumi instead asked "Do you think it's too late to grab back the Saren statue? It's low-quality material, sure, but it could still fool another criminal overlord."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," he answered honestly, before he could continue, Kasumi then replied:

"Yeah, someone else there probably already nabbed it. Shame. Could've made us free credits on the side, maybe enough for that precious space hamster I saw you eyeing back on the Citadel."

Shepard grinned slightly with a hint of bashfulness. "You noticed?"

Kasumi smiled. "No sane organic could deny as cute of a hamster as that one."

Shepard turned to bar and found two drinks laid out and ready. He turned back to her, both the intent to open her up on Miranda's behalf, and to bond with the crewmember. "Care for a drink?"

Kasumi seemed hesitant for a moment, looking down back at herself briefly. Then a miracle happened: she turned and got up from the couch. "Sure, but I'm mixing the drinks."

Shepard leaned on the counter as she walked passed him and to behind the counter. She grabbed the canister with the red liquid first before shaking it, one hand on the lid and the other on the bottom. "Thanks again for your help, by the way," she started. "I admit, I was worried you would be intimidated with a mission requiring a bit more... subtlety... than what you're used to."

He looked back up at her. Her face was shadowed by the hood; focusing on stirring one of the two containers. Impossible to get a read on her, but it was just best to keep on talking. "Think we'll run into any of the party members in the future?"

"Accidentally, maybe, but not on some revenge plot for crashing the party. Everyone was too busy with sticks up their asses talking about whose group was badder," Shepard saw another small grin from her, still no eye contact. "You didn't notice all the fancy pinky fingers sticking out when they spoke?"

It was Shepard's turn to have a grin from the thought of evil-doers acting no better than pompous elites with powdered wigs as mercs and mechs battled beneath them; metaphorically and literally. "You're okay with how the mission turned out?"

"Yep! Had quite the adventure and got a good model weapon out of it," she stated. She had switched to the blue drink to mix, but the answer was a quick and straightforward statement. No witty line, no humor, and only a bit of lightheartedness. Miranda was right, she was likely bothered still.

"Okay, Kasumi, big question time," Shepard started; Kasumi did not look up at all, but the grin from her previous rich mafia boss joke was gone at this point.

Best not to push it yet.

"Of all the artifacts in the vault-" her neutral face returned. "- which was your favorite?"

"Shep, you can't just dish out the loaded questions like that," her voice was back to jovial, and she was pouring the two drinks together, making a purple color and a thicker drink. "Might as well ask me to recite the best drama novel with a report, complete with pros and cons."

After a moment, Shepard guessed out loud: "David?"

"Definitely 'Top 5' for me in there, but it'd be a hassle to drag out without the equipment," she answered. She clearly already had plans for each artifact in there, at least early plans from mere scans. "My answer right now would be the quarian tablets. There's a chance those tablets could be as essential to the culture of the race as Gilgamesh is to humans, and that makes it invaluable to the entire quarian fleet."

"But I'm guessing you wouldn't sell it?"

She had poured a shot for Shepard. "If it turns out to be a receipt for 'eezo,' I might for a high price, but if I'm right, that's worth a life-and-death favor, and only in form of a bluff." She finished pouring a shot for herself and was shaking the glass in a clockwise motion. "Historic value cannot be measured in credits alone."

The commander grabbed his glass and rose it up. "A toast... to history?" He asked, unsure, but his tone was playful rather than mockingly.

Kasumi chuckled lightly before raising her glass to his. "A toast to precious memories."

As they looked up to down their shots, Shepard shot his head back down and shook his head. Natural reflex of his to digest alcohol, but it let him look up. There, she was visible. Her face was much clearer as she looked up, face in the light as she downed the shot. Her face said it all: the pain of loss, and the shine in her eyes was present once more, brighter than usual. The glimmer of a risky mission was noticeable close up, no question, but this was from teary eyes, and it wasn't exactly from the drink.

But she played it off as such. She widened her arms and leaned on the counter, still looking up a tad. "My... that was a terrible drink," she frankly put.

"I'm sure five more of those might make it okay," Shepard joked. "What do you call the drink?"

"Hmm..." she brought a hand up to think briefly on the failed purple mix. Kasumi then extended her arms as presenting a product to sell: "The Mix of Gilgamesh!"

"A bit too poetic for a bad drink, don't you think?" Shepared asked. Kasumi laughed again and lost her composure, she couldn't argue with that. "How about 'The 'Mesh'?"

Kasumi looked directly at Shepard with a wide smile. "That's a better name. At least for now." She walked back from around the counter, back towards the couch. "That was nice, Shep. Not used to being social for social's sake."

She got back into her fetal position, but looked as positive as she normally looked with the same glimmer in her eyes. "If you bring back different drinks, I wouldn't mind doing this again. We need to bring down the 'Mesh's walls for first place."