As expected the Illusive Man isn't willing to relinquish the restrictions on Jack's files.
He scoffs when Miranda comms him the next morning.
'Obviously we can't give her full access to her files, Miranda. I thought you of all people would understand that. There are some – unfortunate events mentioned about the facility on Pragia and how Jack was retrieved. Things that could bring Cerberus in a bad light.' He pauses. 'The facility went rogue. We uncovered some regrettable actions. There is no need for Subject Zero to find out about that. She has a dislike for Cerberus already.' Miranda tries to refrain from rolling her eyes. As if Jack could ever un-hate Cerberus after her time on Pragia.
'But we didn't know about it, did we?' Miranda asks. 'About Jack... about the children?'
The Illusive Man takes a long drag from his cigarette and exhales.
'Miranda, do you honestly think I'd condone spending all those credits to experiment on one little girl? You're a scientist yourself. The research data would be useless. You'd need a sample size of at least a few hundred children.'
She turns around so the disgust doesn't show in her eyes. He's out of his mind, she thinks. She wonders how she's never seen that before. Sure, she's done some questionable things for Cerberus herself. Things she isn't proud of. Like lying to Jack. But nothing as inhumane and immoral as taking little children from their parents and torturing and experimenting on them.
She manages to stay calm when she faces his holographic image again. 'I need you to give her full access. I was gaining her trust, but now she realizes I've kept information from her.'
'She's not important. You don't need her to trust you. As long as she's under Shepard's control, she's not a threat.' The Illusive Man has a calculating look in his eyes. 'Why do you care?'
'She's a valuable asset,' Miranda sighs. The Illusive Man raises his eyebrows and Miranda pretends to be busted. 'Fine. Shepard was displeased when she found out about Pragia. Afterwards, Jack and I had an... altercation. Shepard asked me to make an effort with Jack. If she finds out we've withheld data from Jack... she might be even less inclined to trust us.'
She looks straight at the Illusive Man. He seems to buy her story, but then again, she's never been good at reading him.
He nods. 'She'll have full access. Make sure Shepard does not find out about this.'
Miranda nods and her boss disconnects the call.
She downloads the files on datapads. It's not that much extra information, mostly about Jack's mother and how she was taken away from her. She understands why the Illusive Man would want to keep that a secret. Plus her mother's suicide a few years after losing her daughter is not something that would milden Jack's hate for Cerberus. There are also some detailed logs of experiments, that were recovered after the facility was closed. They're pretty gruesome and Miranda shudders when she thinks about the poor children. And there are some logs that show how Cerberus has been tracking Jack since her escape from the facility.
She opens the security feed on her computer and switches to the camera in engineering. She peers at Jack's form, lying on her cot. At least she's come back to the Normandy. That's a relief. She's sent Jack about a dozen messages last night. Saying she's sorry, begging her to come back and talk to her, but there was no reaction from the younger woman.
Not that Miranda blames her. She can understand that Jack refuses to speak to her. It was a rotten thing to do. And she's even more sorry when she thinks about how horrible it must be for Jack to find out this way that her mother is dead. But sill, she wishes Jack would talk to her. Listen to her side. She doesn't have much to say, but she never meant to hurt Jack. It was all a long time ago. When they still hated each other. When Jack had just come of that bloody prison ship.
Jack is lying face down on her cot. Miranda can't make out whether she is sleeping.
'EDI?' she asks. 'Is Jack awake?'
'Negative, operative Lawson,' the AI answers. 'She's asleep. She has been sleeping for two hours and 17 minutes precisely. She appeared to be inebriated after returning to the Normandy. She was unable to walk straight and she chose to urinate behind some boxes in the engineering sub deck rather than in the toilet.'
The executive officer wrinkles her nose. 'Don't be tattle tale, EDI. And that's bloody disgusting. Tell her to clean it up when she wakes up.'
'Affirmative. Would you like me to instruct her on proper toilet usage?'
'No, EDI. That won't be necessary.'
Miranda sighs. She grabs a piece of paper and writes a short note. 'I'm truly sorry Jack. I know that doesn't change things, but I hope we can discuss it like adults when you wake up. The Illusive Man has agreed to revoke the restrictions. Here is all the information in your files. – M'
She grabs the datapads, sticks her note on top of them and makes her way down to engineering.
Jack's a mess. She smells like she's swum in vodka and it looks as if she's just fallen face down on her cot without as much as removing her boots.
Miranda sets the datapads down next to the younger biotic's cot and notices that there's something in Jack's hand. It's some fabric and it's pressed against Jack's nose and cheek.
When she inspects closer she realizes that it's her own panties. She is kind of flattered and she hopes it means that Jack at least feels something for her. Something other than hate.
Maybe they can talk this out when Jack wakes up. She strokes Jack's cheek and presses a kiss into the stubble on the side of her head. Then she zips off Jack's boots and throws a blanket over the sleeping biotic.
She goes back to her office and starts filing reports. However, she can't keep herself from selecting the security camera feed in engineering from time to time to check on Jack.
The girl sleeps for hours.
When Jack finally wakes up, she seems to be shouting. It's unfortunate that the cameras don't record audio. Jack doesn't look hangover and there's nobody else around so Miranda is unsure what to make of the one-sided shouting match. Until EDI's voice makes her jump from her chair.
'Operative Lawson, by your request I informed Jack to clean up her excrement on the engineering sub deck. She wishes me to tell you that you should go and copulate with yourself.'
Miranda rolls her eyes and looks at the camera feed again. Apparently Jack has found the datapads. She watches the convict kick them to the middle of the room. And then Jack looks into the camera, as if she knows Miranda is watching. She smirks, then lowers her pants and squats over the datapads. She starts to pee and raises her middle finger at the camera.
Miranda's mouth falls open in disgust. She can't believe that Jack would be so vile. Does she have no shame? That nasty, beastly, degenerate. She closes the security feed and sits there, grossed out and fuming behind her desk.
'Operative Lawson,' EDI's voice sounds again.
'-Shut it, EDI. Go bother Shepard.'
She makes a calculation of the worth of those datapads and deducts the credits from Jack's already meager account. That makes her feel a little better. In the end, the joke's on Jack, she decides. She is the one who has to spend her time in a room that smells like piss.
She still feels like crap though. She knows that Jack has every right to be angry, but still, what does she want Miranda to do? She's said she's sorry and she's not someone who apologizes a lot. Plus she's rectified her mistake by giving Jack the information.
Maybe it's better this way. They're so close to finding a way through the Omega 4 Relay and there's no coming back from that. It's useless to start something complicated with someone right now. Especially with someone as emotionally stunted and immature as Jack.
She starts to reorganize her desk space and gets rid of the waste that's accumulated itself in her office. It makes her feel useful. She bites her lip when she finds the extra blanket on the right side of her bed. It's Jack's. When she stayed the night she complained that Miranda's quarters were too cold.
She throws it in the laundry.
She feels clean and efficient after cleaning out her office and she goes back to her reports. Screw Jack. Miranda's apologized, but if Jack doesn't want to hear it, that's fine. It's over. Jack has ruined every chance they had when she literally pissed on Miranda's efforts to apologize.
