So I suppose an explanation is in order. This story takes place about two years before the Eden Prime incident, as in before Shepard-Commander even hears about Saren. This story is working on the assumption that Thane and Kasumi could have crossed paths before ME2, although not in an ideal situation. Any input or critique would be awesome, because I'm still building this story and it's essentially still in the womb. You may notice some pivotal characters missing such as Keiji, but don't worry, he gets an excuse note later. Annyyywaayyyy read and hopefully enjoy.
You can find anything in Omega if you look down the right alleys.
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Kasumi looked on in dismay at her omnitool. It had run a tracker of her hidden spots around the galaxy and showed her the ruin her latest tiny safe house had been reduced to. Her former employer Caza must have gotten wind of it – her carefully handpicked paintings were torn or defaced, the crystals to the side were shattered and the terminal in the far corner was still open and connected to her files which were limited to bookmarks of art pieces.
Things had escalated so fast Kasumi was hardly able to keep up with the turn of events.
She should have handed over the data when she had the chance and ignored the stab of guilt that would have ensued. She would have, if she didn't fear what the consequences would be if anyone anywhere got their hands on that.
And there would have been consequences, Kasumi's dabbled enough in the underworld to have foreseen that disaster light years away.
It was just that now she would be the only possible casualty of this misstep. It may have been better to simply erase all the data, the notes, the plans, the theories but her fingers had hovered over the underground home console before downloading it and destroying the entire terminal. It was better to have it and not need it than not having it at all; Kasumi had no idea at the time why it would be better but she'd always operated on always having an out to anything.
Now, it was always with her – but she'd left minute insignificant bits of the data stored onto terminals, or on old OSDs or encrypted on art files just to throw Caza off track. It was at this point than instead of focusing all of his hateful wrath at Kasumi, he'd directed some of his frustration in tearing her safe houses apart, and word on the street, terrorizing her contacts had also become a better part of his day.
Bastard.
She was now left with few options – one of those options included trying to hole up somewhere near Citadel space (who would look for her in the most obvious place) but that thought was thrown out the window. Jondum Bau would be hot on her trail, as always and likely he would be alerted to her new activities due to Caza's deal.
Damn it.
As if dealing with Caza wasn't bad enough, she didn't want to have to fox-trail away from Bau. Bau was a salarian, true, but Kasumi had long since learned to never underestimate him. He was too sneaky by a half, and that logical brain of his was a challenge to be one step ahead of. Kasumi granted him her utmost respect although it was coupled with an at times hair-tearing frustration. Whenever Bau caught wind of her, he was quick to chase and had cut her off at the pass before.
Now more than ever, she needed to stay out of the Spectre's eyes and his ears if she wanted to come out of this alive at all.
Word on the street was, since Kasumi's old volus contact had informed her, that while Caza had mercs tearing up her hidden caches, he'd hired an assassin special for her. It wasn't a bother to Kasumi; she'd outrun an entire guild of assassins before, even though she always was wary whenever they came for her.
She'd only broken out in a cold sweat when Doran informed her that Caza had hired Thane Krios.
Which was why she had scuttled her way to Omega to search out one of the few people who could get her protection, or at least keep her out of sight for the time being.
Kasumi slipped into Afterlife without her cloaking device on. She'd made Aria angry in the past when she'd waltzed in invisibly and had been subsequently threatened that if she ever did it again, the asari would personally twist her hips into a hundred-eighty degree new angle to try out. Kasumi had respectfully since always entered visibly.
Afterlife was more or less the same. Kasumi noted there were a couple different dancers, but the hot red lighting, the orange strobes, the heavy press of people within the club were all unchanged. The bartenders were still all batarian or turian, that one asari was drunkenly asking if anyone had seen her kid, and in the far corner surrounded by women (human and asari) was the oldest krogan Kasumi had ever met.
She'd need to tread lightly. This was territory that could either help her or be her end.
Kasumi saw a familiar turian bartender who nodded to her. She edged closer quickly, "Jast-san is Aria-sama available?" she needed an evaluation of her status with Aria. She hadn't encountered any problems on Omega yet, but that didn't necessarily mean she was safe. Kasumi was a pest and a source of income for Omega; she brought in more than she took from other businesses on Omega, which trickled into Aria's banks although to be fair, she also put in a lot toward tribute for Omega's queen.
Still.
Kasumi wasn't convinced Aria wouldn't help her as much as she wasn't convinced Aria wouldn't bundle her up for Caza.
Jast's plain-plated periwinkle colored face was stolid when she asked the question. She wondered if Aria was in a mood. She liked Jast overall, and he'd only questioned the odd add-ons to names once. Truthfully, being fully integrated into the galaxy as she was, Kasumi was still a romantic and kept to her roots in the smallest ways she could.
"Aria's not happy Kasumi. She's pretty steamed – sounds like you're being hunted by some pretty big game." Jast cleaned a glass with a thick rag, looking at her beneath heavy eye-ridges.
Kasumi's hood prevented anyone from seeing her reaction as long as her voice was steady and her mouth remained unmoved. Her eyes went wide under her hood though. "Why would that concern Aria-sama?"
Jast leaned over the bar, "Kid you brought some mean shit down with you when you pissed off whoever hired you. You know the one who contacted you? He's a part of the ones on Aria's shit-list."
Kasumi blinked, "Who?"
Jast hissed under his breath, "Damn Kasumi, Caza works for Cerberus."
Kasumi backpedaled immediately and found she was more insulted and angry than afraid of Aria's wrath. "Jast-san, you know I always do background checks on who hires me, Caza isn't with Cerberus, he isn't even in it for a private interest, for the love of God he works as an executive at Binary Helix. He contacted me through a channel open only to the Helix corporation within Noveria after Parasini did a clean sweep with Anoleis-san. After that particular shake-down, not a lot of people were willing to do dirty biz with anyone associated on Noveria."
Jast leaned forward and his mandible flared. "Kasumi I have no idea what went wrong, but even if Caza is with B n' H, his trail still goes sideways to Cerberus – one of Aria's outside contacts got footage and audio of him talking to one of the higher-ups 'bout you. Someone called the Instigator. Aria's had to deal with that idiot before." He looked sympathetic now.
Kasumi leaned back and sucked on the inside of her lip. A shot glass touched down in front of her with a hefty clink and a nearly clear, yellow liquid went into it. It steamed. Kasumi inhaled and identified it as the asari-spun sake. She leaned over it, the sweet hot smell of it almost cathartic and she felt her facial muscles loosen slightly. It was based off the popular Japanese Juyondai sake and with the asari palette leaning towards sweet and soft; it was no wonder the asari had adopted a similar brew to it.
Human delicacies were hard to find outside of the Sol system, but the asari were fond of human inspired cuisine. This was one of the few Kasumi genuinely appreciated.
She took a small swallow of it and looked up at Jast's face. He seemed concerned, and agitated if his mandible flare was any indication.
"I always double check who hires me. Always." Despite herself, Kasumi found the question begging how had she not known it was Cerberus. No matter what credits they threw her way, Cerberus was on the wrong side of one too many things even for a thief to want to get tangled up in. Aside from their obvious pro-human stance on anything, they were dangerous to everyone and had made it clear in the past that although they valued subtlety, they had no problem of dispatching anyone that was even thought of as a threat.
Jast crossed his long arms and gave her a narrow look. "You always do your own double-checking?"
Kasumi looked down into her shot as if it could give her more comfort. "Not always, so little time, so many things to steal." Her exuberant voice sounded hollow and a twisted sensation took residence in her chest. Betrayal. One of her checkpoints had allowed the information to slip from her.
"Any idea who? I don't mind personally cleaning them out," Jast leaned down and his talons spread over the counter.
Kasumi patted one large finger. "I don't know. I used too many for the B 'n H job in order to correlate the info. After Anoleis-san was incarcerated Noveria got too iffy. Could be all of them. Could be one of them. Could be an inside job. At this point I don't think it will matter, all of my contacts and checkpoints went silent when I found out from Doran who Caza hired to feed me to the fishes."
The turian was nodding, "He hired a lot of Blue Suns and Blood Pack for your caches, we see them crawling over here asking for any information about the Thief's hiding spots." Jast's voice rumbled on offense. He disliked new-blooded mercenaries. No class, he said.
Kasumi kept the fact that Jast was the only turian with any class that she knew of to herself.
"He also hired an assassin. Apparently, I've emasculated him on some unspeakable level." Kasumi kept her voice as light as possible and remained bent over the steaming cup of asari-sake.
"You've dealt with assassins before, never made you come running to Aria for help." The talon under her fingers tapped the counter.
"He hired Thane Krios to hunt me down. As if that isn't like bringing a dreadnought ship to a bout of friendly fisticuffs." Kasumi curled her hand around the glass and swallowed more.
Jast hissed.
"That was more or less my reaction, except less hissing and more sweating."
"Hey, sneaky human," a voice barked. Kasumi raised her head above her shot glass. A tall turian with armor and an assault rifle stood to her left. She unfortunately commanded all his attention. "Aria knows you're here so stop dicking around with the bartender and go see her."
Jast snarled and the other turian stood up straighter, his white markings plain on his gun steel grey skin. Kasumi patted Jast on his talon. "Guess it's show time, I just hope it isn't curtains yet." She swallowed back the rest of the alcohol in one go, sliding the glass over to Jast. "If Aria doesn't use a biotic slam to make me into soylent green for vorcha, I'll come back later."
Jast shook his head and Kasumi drew some comfort that he kept his eye on her while the turian guard herded her to Aria's upraised platform.
Kasumi compared the feeling of dread to a criminal seeing the executioner's block up close. The climb seemed to short and too long until she was atop the platform with an elegant sofa, guards stationed around the asari set in the middle. Her dark eyes were narrow as they settled on Kasumi.
Aria made for a startling judge and executioner. There was no meaning of 'jury' on Omega.
"Sit down before I get it in my head that shooting you would be a better option." Aria jerked her head roughly to the couch aside of her. Kasumi moved quickly around the glaring guards. She sat without a sound and twined her fingers together. "Now. I've heard some startlingly true rumors that a thief was working with Cerberus and then decided that kicking them in the quad was a good idea. My first thought, which is still a very prominent one by the way, was to wrap her up like a present and give her to the operative Cerberus slime-disk Caza. Jast, who has always had a clear head on his shoulders and always been a loyal one to Omega, convinced me to give the thief a hearing."
Aria leaned over; eyes still narrow, but a blue light was beginning to circle around her forearms. Kasumi leaned back slightly, eyes wide under her hood. "This is the hearing. I ask a question, you answer it. You lie to me, keep anything from me and I will make your insides your outsides. Fuck my guards. I will deal with you personally."
Under her gloves, Kasumi felt her fingers begin to sweat reflexively.
"Question one: did you know that Caza was Cerberus."
"No, he contacted me through Binary Helix on Noveria after Parasini's arrest. He passed my checkpoints and he used himself as a contact." Kasumi forced herself to relax. Aria wouldn't kill her as long as she told the truth. Hopefully.
"Question two: what did he send you to go find for him." Aria remained in close proximity.
Kasumi took a breath. "It wasn't even really a heist. It was more of treasure hunting. I had to go down into these catacombs in Binthu."
"Get to the point. I really don't give a vorcha's ass about the details."
"It was data uploaded to a really old super computer, maybe Prothean. They found some small pyramids there with small caches of data. The catacombs were under one of the pyramids that had collapsed."
Aria began to lean back, studying her as one would study a bug they hadn't decided whether to crush yet. "What was the data?"
"I…couldn't understand most of it, honestly," Kasumi said sheepishly. "It was some kind of genetic tailoring, like modification but taken way, way out of bounds. Illegal doesn't even cover it."
Aria looked interested and her biotic glow faded. "Why hide it? Probably worth a lot."
Kasumi pursed her lips. "Cerberus isn't exactly the ideal poster child of a humanitarian group. They even terrify us humans. These modifications were essentially a bio weapon. I don't want Cerberus getting their mitts on them."
"So you destroyed it."
Kasumi coughed awkwardly. "Ah, no. I thought it was better to have it and not use it than not have it at all." She didn't need to look at the asari to know that she was glaring at her. "I mean, this could have a fantastic outcome for the Alliance military…unless the galaxy starts thinking that the human race is mobilizing. Which would be bad, but I figure that a contingency plan couldn't hurt. Just in case."
Aria seemed to think on it for a moment, "What about other races, you wouldn't let them benefit from it?"
Kasumi blinked. "Well, I'm not a scientist, but I saw the DNA structure the data had pulled up. It had been designed for twenty-three pairs of chromosomes. I know enough of standard galactic biology that humans have a unique DNA structure from everyone else."
"Don't get smart with me; your ass is still hanging out in fire." Aria looked away for a moment, clicking her tongue. "Where is it?"
"Safe," Kasumi said firmly.
"Good. Keep it there. Don't tell me where it is, I don't want to be part of the shit storm you're stirring up." Aria looked at Kasumi and the thief felt like she was on the end of an eagle's stare. "Cerberus is panting around Omega and making a lot of people nervous. Those crazy ass humans are fucking with business, Kasumi. It doesn't matter if they aren't here for the hallex dealers or the red sand, or the slave bracket, or the illegal mods or weapons – they are treading my territory, fucking with my businesses, and my hands are tied because if I decide to assault Cerberus, on my territory or not, Cerberus will attack back. And they'll do it by making Omega a place that can't be trusted for business." She turned her head away.
When Aria offered up nothing else, Kasumi fidgeted slightly and decided to prod the conversation. "So…um…my predicament?"
"Your predicament is this: if anyone comes to me asking for you, I will tell them where you are and when you were here. If they don't, then I'm not volunteering the information." She looked back, "That is what your past dealings will get with me. If I find out you've short changed me in this and that data isn't what you said it is, then you had better pray Cerberus is the only one looking for you." She nodded once at Kasumi, "If it is, then you had better hide it with your life. Cerberus doesn't need any more teeth than it has."
Kasumi wasn't sure whether she felt relieved or deflated. On one hand, she's been hoping for more help from Aria given all the business she'd sent her way, on the other hand, she knew that making Omega a target would normally warrant a one way ticket to hell so she got off lightly.
Kasumi stood before turning to bow with her hands in front of her pelvis. "Thank you, Aria-sama."
"And Kasumi. You're on your own for this. You could, of course, chance it with the Shadow Broker but you'd likely have to part with some of whatever you found. And it wouldn't bode well for your continued existence if I find out that that's what you decided to do." Aria flapped her wrist at her. "Now get lost."
Kasumi exited Afterlife and cloaked herself. It went better and worse than she thought it would.
The scope that focused in smoothly at the back of the hooded woman's head watched her brief trek outside of Afterlife, but immediately zoomed out when her cloaking device activated after only two yards of active movement outside the club.
The green finger that had hovered over the trigger was removed slowly. The sniper leaned away from the scope and watched the crowd thoughtfully.