Chapter 1

Two hundred and ten years later.

The warm evening breeze brushed the leaves of the large tree, swaying it from side to side. At its base, the water calmly rippled, causing the large blue fish beneath the surface to scatter, concealing themselves in the shade next to the rocks. A small, colourful bird eyed the fish inside the water, its talons resting on the polished stone surrounding the artificial pond. Its small beak had no chance to even reach a fish, and even if it did, the little avian couldn't possibly lift its prey out. It learned its lesson quickly as it soaked its head trying to catch dinner.

Not half a meter away, Rina watched the bird between bites of food as she sat on a bench in her front foyer. Since she had the small garden put in weeks before, she had not seen a bird come so close to the pond which supported the tree. Not knowing much about the creature, she powered up her omni-tool, its orange glow illuminating the dinner plate resting on her lap. After a few small mechanical chirps, a synthesized voice could be head from a speaker near the glass door leading inside.

"Query, madame?" The virtual intelligence obediently asked. It's voice was that of a calm, older gentleman, the supplier for the voice originating from a human. Its accent was charming and welcoming, without sounding unsettling, as Rina felt some other VI's suffered from.

Speaking with her mouth full, she didn't bother swallowing to ask, "The bird sitting on the patio there. Does it actually pose any threat to my fish?"

The response was swift, as was the common response with most VI's. "The bird is a Crested Gesir, a bird originating on the human colony world of Mindoir. Note the small electronic marker around its left leg. The specimen has been tagged and is a registered house pet for this building. The owner lives in suite 79-03." As the VI spoke, Rina rolled her eyes. It was common for VI to add excess information to an inquiry, but it still bothered her. Within time, however, the answer she was searching for came up. "No. The bird's beak is not designed for grabbing and holding onto fish which have scales similar to the skaid fish in the pond. The bird will most likely stay for a few minutes before flying to a different location. Given the likelihood that the pet is trained, suite 79-03 is the most likely destination."

Her mind at ease, Rina sat back in her seat as she finished the last of her supper. She watched the bird for a long moment before standing up, her plate in hand. As the asari walked through the courtyard, the gesir took off, startled. The glass door slid open upon her approach, and her shoes touched down on the hardwood flooring that composed the entrance to her large, penthouse apartment.

Rina Cintel was one of Illium's most mysterious asari. Despite her occupation being largely unknown, she managed to maintain a spot as one of the richest people on Illium. 45th if that year's media was to be believed. She lived in a penthouse apartment, which spanned the entire roof and penultimate floor of a large residential building, which neighboured a commercial spaceport. A centre of trade for Illium's capital city of Nos Astra. Given her wealth and location, it was the commonly accepted public guess that she was a trader of some kind. Likely one which dealt with goods coming in from the Terminus Systems, meaning that her business generally working in less-than-legal dealings. Precisely why she flourished on Illium, a world where galactic law could be circumvented for the sake of business.

The public's guess what somewhat true, given that her dealings were fundamentally illegal. In truth, however, Rina was connected to Eclipse' underground network of contacts on Illium. She worked in espionage, corporate sabotage, and occasionally physical infiltration. Still, she kept the general public on her side, with frequent donations towards bettering the city, as well as frequent public appearances, assured that the generally populaces had nothing but favourable views on her.

After dropping her plate off, she walked into her bedroom, which looked out onto her courtyard and front entrance. In a thoughtless act of paranoia, she lowered the blinds on her windows, to make sure nobody could peer in. Foolish, because her bedroom could only be viewed from a spot inside her own apartment, and she rarely had visitors. And never uninvited ones. Still, with the blinds closed, she began undressing, removing the casual outfit she had been wearing around the house earlier that day. Once she had removed her undergarments, she grabbed a towel from a cabinet and proceeded into her washroom, wherein she placed the towel on the counter, and entered the shower.

Before turning on the water, she called out to the VI again. "Manford? Set the radio to local news." Without speaking, the VI simply filled the bathroom with the sound of a commercial.

"Are you a quarian or volus tired of being," the sound quickly was overshadowed by the loud crashing of water against the glass walls of the shower. Rina called out to Manford once again.

"Yeah, Manford. Just turn it up when some actual news comes on. I'm tired of that crap." The VI didn't bother to respond. It was intelligent enough to figure out that a response would have been frivolous.

Rina stood under the water, washing herself with a gel-like cleaning agent. Periodically, she would find herself sitting under the water, letting it cool her off in the warm air that still crept in under the door.

"Sorry to bother you madame," Manford said, temporarily using the radio's speakers. "but Captain Wasea is attempting to call through. She says that it is of some urgency."

Thinking for a moment, Rina finished rinsing the last of the soap from her leg before opening the door and grabbing the towel. "Could you tell her that I will return her call in a moment?"

"Certainly, madame."

The radio was echoing off the walls again, now blaring a news story about the benefits of living at higher altitudes. Rina didn't know or care one way or the other. She stepped into her bedroom, and walked into a small walk-in closet. One of the many benefits of Rina's large funding was her ability to purchase foreign goods from all over the galactic community. Scanning the hanging formal wear, she pulled out a silky black dress. This one in particular had been imported from Earth, the human homeworld. Specifically, this design was currently popular in the streets of their country of Italy. It was fortunate that female human clothing could so easily be modified to fit asari. Rina had to body to require almost no hemming at all when she purchased it, though that was through sheer coincidence.

Rina was of average height for an asari, standing around the same stature to a human female. Her skin was a darker purple than other members of her species, and she had a number of large, scale-like splotches around her jaw and cheekbones. She was notable for having larger hips than normal, by asari standards, though her legs were lean and toned through sheer fitness training.

The dress fell comfortably to her ankles, at which point the front and back parted slightly, to show the lower section of her calf. The purple of her skin and black stitching mixed well. Satisfied, she took the accompanying pair of shoes off the door, and stepped into her office, up a single set of stairs just outside her room.

After slipping into the high-heeled shoes, she turned on her computer, as she took a seat in a large, executive's chair, before returning Wasea's call. The captain picked up almost immediately, her head being visible in holographic view.

"Rina. Good evening," her tone was respectful, though Rina could tell she had been distracted somewhat. Her words came out loosely. Wasea eyes looked Rina, or rather the holographic image the captain had on her end, up and down, before making eye contact again. "I take it you have other plans tonight, so I'll make this short. We found a volus trader who has sold us a couple thousand units of a substance they he says will increase biotic output. I'll spare you the details, but he'll be dropping the shipments off at the commercial spaceport in two days. You can make the judgement whether it is worth your time or not."

Rina smiled a businesswoman's smile, before responding. "Thank you Wasea. I'll be by then to investigate. Best of luck with your current operation, whatever it may be."

Wasea shook her head. "Hardly. We're about to take something off world... I can't talk about it, but it won't be my problem soon, so don't worry too much. We'll be in touch, Rina."

The call was cut shortly thereafter. Satisfied with the information, Rina made a note to make time for Wasea's shipment before leaving. The captain was a trusted contact of Rina's, time and time again working as a valuable informant, as well as being a considerably powerful biotic.

Standing up, Rina activated her omni-tool once again, locking down the rooms in her home as she walked back into the courtyard, out her front door, and on to the elevator. Without much thought, she gazed at her apartment one last time before the elevator departed. It was going to be a long night.