"No, thank you." She replied, giving the Turian sly smile. Swishing the luminescent blue liquid in its glass, Astalia moved to turn away from the the bar but stopped and frowned as she realised that the barman was still staring at her.
"Is everything alright?" He said almost immediately with genuine concern, his eyes appearing almost glazed over as he maintained the eye contact.
"Uh... Yes, everything is fine. Thank you again." She moved away a little bit faster now, until the barman had his gaze broken by another patron who was waving to get his attention. "Stop it." She thought to herself as she shook her head. She had felt different since coming back from Palaven and she just realised why. It had been decades since she'd seen combat, and slightly longer since she had used any of the abilities her genetic abnormality gave her. The inborn compulsion to mate had always been there, but she had managed to keep the feeling at the back of her mind. The shock of losing Kurreck mixed with her recent use of biotics had brought the craving back to the forefront of her thoughts. The feeling had almost gone unnoticed until now, as Astalia realised what she was doing to the barman. This ability, which was similar to the one she had used on the Elcor bouncer, was one of the two reasons Ardat-Yakshi were considered so dangerous. Affecting the minds of other beings was a dangerous game, and she had refrained from doing so in fear that it would break her self control, and yet now she had to in order to find Kurreck. She was only going to get worse until she found him.
"Blue? Are you alright?" Thrakk's voice come through her comms, breaking her out of the deep thought.
"I am fine." She replied, taking a sip of her drink, and moving to a nearby chair.
"You're just stood still shaking your head, You don't want people to notice you or your mark might get scared off."
"There is no way he could know I am still alive, or that his team failed, I do not even look the same." Astalia looked into the mirror opposite the her, and checked the make up she had applied to her face to cover up the yellow markings. Her eyes drifted down to the red low cut dress she was wearing, and allowed herself a smile as she thought just how pretty she looked.
"Maybe so, but people don't tell crazy looking women their secret plans."
"You would be surprised." She said, downing her drink and standing up. "I found him."
"Good luck. And be careful."
"I will." She walked to the bar and ordered another drink, making sure she didn't speak to the same barman as before. Blue beverage in hand, she set off in the direction of the humans that had just entered afterlife. One of them was wearing a black tuxedo, who was presumably security, and another in a white tuxedo. The man she recognised from the Cerberus data pad only as operative "Trigon". He had short black hair and the beginnings of a goatee and a rather stern look upon his face. As she neared them the human in the black suit became distracted with some nearby Batarians and she took her chance,
pretending to slip on the floor Astalia bumped into Trigon and "accidentally" spilled some of her drink on him.
"Goddess, I am so sorry!" She cried apologetically as the two separated, Trigon yelped for a second as he tried in vain to brush the blue drink off his chest before it stained. "Please, let me get you a something to wipe that off with."
"It's fine." He replied agitatedly. "You should watch where you're going."
"I really am sorry, I've had a little too much to drink. Please let me get you something as a way of apology."
"I'm meeting someone, so no." He tried to step past her, but she shifted herself so he couldn't. Astalia couldn't afford to lose her chance. "Please excuse me." He said, forcing a smile.
"Please, let me make it up to you. I could even keep you company while you're waiting for your friends...?" She asked, showing a seductive smile that made his falter.
"Alight, just get me something humans can drink. I'll be over there." He motioned to a nearby table. As she returned to the bar, all Astalia could think about was how out of practice she was at this before she buried the thought.
"There you are." Astalia said as she sat down opposite the man and handed him the drink. She introduced herself as Aleena and he told her his name was Garrett. They talked for a time and she bought them both drink after drink all the while prying him for information. Astalia smiled and laughed but was becoming increasingly frustrated with his lack of disclosure. He shrugged off the questions about his work despite the alcohol she was giving him.
"This might be the booze talking, but I gotta say you're looking pretty hot for an alien." He said suddenly.
"Oh my!" Astalia laughed while resisting the huge urge to punch him in his smug face. He was disgusting, and her patience was worn out. Garrett had bought the last few rounds and the drinks he had picked for them both had significantly more alcohol. Her increasing inebriation mixed with this and the thunderstorm of emotions she was feeling finally cracked her resolve. "Flattery will get you nowhere..." Turning off her comms, she smiled and leant into his ear, whispering: "But an empty room might."
"Excellent!" Garrett laughed as he stood up, swaying slightly. "I have just the place!"
The door nearly flew off its hinges as the two almost fell through it, hands everywhere as they kissed and slammed it behind them. A sharp knock on the door briefly interrupted them.
"For god sa-" Garret started quietly. "I'm fine, Jerry!" He yelled through the door to his bodyguard on the other side. "Go get a drink, I'll be down in an hour or something!" He turned around to see Astalia sitting on the bed, leant back with her right knee over her left, motioning him to come over. He rushed over and they collapsed onto the mattress as they resumed kissing furiously. His hand flew to the zip on the back of her dress, and started to pull it down until she stopped him. "What gives?" He asked, confused.
"I have something better..." Astalia said seductively. "Do you want it?". Garrett nodded. "Tell me you want it." Astalia spoke in a calm and hushed tone, her eyes now black as the night sky.
"I want it." He replied almost robotically. He was eye level with her, his face inches away from hers.
"You are going to tell me everything I want to know, right?"
"Right."
"Good." She whispered, moving closer as if to kiss him. "Embrace eternity." For a moment, they were of one mind. She knew everything he did, and he knew everything she did. They felt confusion, then shock as they realised too late who she was. Then they felt curiosity as they remembered Garrett's early days in Cerberus, his induction to the group, his rise through the ranks, a conversation that they had earlier in the week. A transmission from his boss. They were sat in a chair, drinking whiskey and listening intently.
"... Because of the current state of Palaven, we'll have no idea whether or not this Turian delivers until he gets to Omega. He's not going to risk a transmission so your orders are to stay at this party until it ends. The attachment we're sending you now has co-ordinates and access codes should he come through with the package."
"Right." They answered. "So just wait at a party? That's it?"
"That's it. Don't mess this up, this comes straight from the Illusive Man." The screen went blank, then lit up as it received a message. They took a sip of the whiskey, then leant forward, pressing the message on the display. It opened up to display subheadings labelling - "Astalia Sidare", "Gothis Tierus." And "Sanctuary." They went through the headings, the first showed an image of Astalia, labelled "Extremely dangerous", with instructions to detain and if necessary sedate until arrival at destination. The second showed Gothis, once the exchange was over with he was to be executed to tie up loose ends. Sanctuary was a Cerberus lab site disguised as a safe haven, the dossier didn't go into detail but they gathered it wasn't a good place to be. Astalia blinked, nausea and shame pulling her out of the trance. These feelings were quickly over shadowed by a huge surge of euphoria and energy as Garretts eyes rolled back into his head and he started twitching.