Aurelia stared back at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her old silver dress still fitted her like a glove. Much to her disappointment. Her body should have changed by now, how it did when most females had children, widening of the hip and waist. But as she ran her fingers over her waist it was the same small shape it had been when she hit puberty.
She sighed as she looked over the old-fashioned style of her dress. It was more than a few seasons out of fashion but it was the only one she owned and she wasn't prepared to buy another, just for this one off occasion. It was asymmetrical as a clean cut over her right shoulder, went over her carapace before it was cut in two by a gun-metal grey belt, tied tight before it cascaded down her back in a plume of silly folds to join her skirt. The front was shorter than the back, something that was now unpopular in fashion as most dresses were all one length. Simple beading adorned the trim of her belt. It was the most expensive bit of her entire outfit. Glass beads never went out of fashion, she convinced herself as she tugged at her outfit, trying to make herself comfortable in wearing it.
Lastly, a single sash tied to bracelets on each of her wrists finished the look off. This was another thing thrown out of fashion, extra bits of material that were impractical in today's modern society. The dress also had a beaded hood, which she chose not to wear, thinking it was far too much.
The last time she wore this dress was at her engagement party. It was the first time she met Syro, after the arrangement had been made by their families, and her mother had the dressed tailored just for her. The pale silver was chosen to compliment and exaggerate her monotone-golden plates.
Aurelia didn't own much jewellery, just a few choice bridal gifts. She put on the collar necklace; enlaced with eezo, it was the most expensive thing she owned. Not one for shiny baubles, she always swore that she could use it as a down payment on an apartment or even a private tutor for her children.
Taking a deep breath, she strengthened the wavering feeling of sending Leiada a message to say she was unwell and would not be attending. She looked at her omnitool for messages; Leiada hadn't left her alone for one second that night but as the hours went on the asari's words became more jumbled. Aurelia assumed it was from drunken typing since the last message read.
Whoiooooooo! Paaaaartaaaay~;
L
Aurelia found herself smiling. Now there was just one more task at hand. Her breathing quickened, raising the courage within herself. Aurelia swore and swore she would never ask again, but this was the last time she would try; by the spirits, she would not be one of those wives that hound her husband.
"Syro," she called as sweetly as she could muster from the bathroom. Her hands trembled, and she found her self wringing the material of her gloves - not the behavior you would expect from someone who handled an assault rifle; she quickly shook it off. There was no reply, and already she began to regret her choice.
"Syro, my love. Are you sure you don't want to accompany me to this ball? We don't go out enough together and it will be a complete bore without you."
Aurelia followed the sound of clicking out into the hall, stopping beside the open doorway of her husband's office.
"So don't go then," came a gruff irritated response. Pressing her hand to the wall followed by her head, she resisted letting out a whimper of sadness. She tried so hard to play the doting and dutiful wife, but he made it so impossible for her.
There were no more words between them and she felt a rise of anger from her gizzard. In defiance she stepped out into full view, in her old dress, the dress she originally wore for him, her eyes tight in a leer. She just wanted him to look at her, the beautiful wife he was pushing away, that he didn't want.
To her joy, he did stop for a moment and raise lime green eyes in her direction. She wanted him to approve, or disapprove, say something, anything. But all he did was lower his head to the dull orange glow of his screen and reply, "You're wearing that?" There was a slight hint of a scoff in his tone that made Aurelia's mandibles click angrily.
"Yes, Yes I am," she said, standing proudly. She was going to wear the hell out of this old dress. Just let him see.
"Very well, I won't wait up then."
Aurelia couldn't think of anything more hurtful for him to say. She stormed out the apartment, before the temptation to smack him in his arrogant, short crested head became too great.
***OBAH***
The ambience of the Dilinaga Concert Hall was light, the drone of conversation lifted into the air, occasionally disturbed by the clinking of glasses, toasting to good health of a business deal made. But there was at least one heart in that hall that was not feeling so festive.
Tiberius resisted rubbing his left mandible again; it still ached from where his mother had grabbed him earlier in the precinct. He gave in eventually against the throb, lowering his hand quickly before his mother turned around to leer at him. There was a reason that his mother, Pricia, was known to be as fierce as a dragon-she could stun her sons into still silence with just a look. She could even manage it on older non-blood relatives. A talent she took advantage of at every opportunity.
But it only took his father, Maximus, to slide his hand down her arm and grasp the small of her waist to steal her attention back; she gushed liked a smitten girl. The steel dragon was suddenly molten. She pressed her white head to his shoulder, in a brief, desperate minute to themselves, before they broke apart as someone approached the small gathering of Catos.
"Councillor," Maximus said, nodding his head in greeting to the turian who took him by the arm and gave him a firm, stoic shake. "Let me introduce my wife, Pricia." He turned his attention to Pricia, who bowed her head in a shallow greeting. "And my two sons: Tiberius and Vibus."
Tiberius bowed his head deeply for all his aches would allow; he assumed his brother did the same. Tiberius didn't dare show signs of uncertainty by giving his younger brother a glance.
"I hear it is your first time to the Citadel and to high society," the councillor said politely to the brothers, although there was something strained in his voice. There was no need to answer; his mother did so for him.
"They came once as boys, but now they are grown."
"Indeed," the councillor said, the strain in his voice even stronger this time but he quickly turned his head towards Maximus and continued the conversation.
"The Primarch does pass on his high hopes that this exploration of yours goes smoothly," the councillor said formally to which his father smiled lightly.
"Of course, it will be a benefit to our clans as well as the Hierarchy. We are just finalising the final permits and licences."
"Yes, so I've heard, this is a joint venture with Fibion Capius?" Pricia scoffed then at the mention of Marax's father. When the councillor turned his head in surprise, she did nothing to show remorse for her actions.
"Of course, it seemed only natural to ask someone as experienced in mining to join us."
The droning sound of his father's words made Tiberius' mind wander. Until his mother turned to face him and muttered, "Speak of the devil himself." Her tone was if she had swallowed something foul tasting; her face reflected the same.
Tiberius raised his head to see the hungry gaze of Marax's father set upon the group, with son and wife in tow. Marax looked as downtrodden as Tiberius felt, but thank the spirits that this time there was no broken plate or two. His arm was tightly entwined with his mother's, who seemed to walk unsteadily towards them.
"Suprise, Suprise, Seaina is drunk again," he heard Pricia mutter beside him.
"Fibion, we were just talking about you!" Maximus announced heartily, taking Marax's father tightly by the elbow and shaking it.
"Well that will explain why my ears are burning," sly, cold tones followed. There was something about his tone Tiberius didn't like, nor the way his eyes drunk in each of their faces. There was a male Tiberius was unsure how to take. His mother despised the man; it was well known that he used to work for her father before the family business took a sudden downfall among the stock market and Firon surprisingly became very rich. There was no evidence of fraud, but it was nearly the Catos undoing and certainly sealed his grandfather's. Maximus admired the man, however; he sung his praises, much to Pricia's dismay, but she didn't argue against him. She also refused to show him any respect by acknowledging his presence.
Tiberius caught the light blue eyes of Marax with a quick jerk of his head. He slid past his parents and sneaked behind a column, a sign they often used to slip out of sight and converse themselves. It didn't take Marax long before he too slid around to join Tiberius away from the grown ups.
"You look like you got off easy," Tiberius said lightly, glancing around the column to make sure no one noticed the two missing.
Marax just snorted and shook his head. "Give it a few days when my father actually sees the wreckage."
Tiberius laughed then, before the side of his face hurt and he grabbed his injured mandible.
To this Marax raised a brow plate. "Your mother's famous mandible grapple?"
"You know it. I swear this time she would have torn it off there in the elevator. Do you know she made me apologise to that cop!" Tiberius announced in disdain.
"Sounds like you got off light," Marax retorted with a smirk.
"You wouldn't think so if you heard it. She practically had me swearing on my ancestors that I would be an upstanding citizen from this day forth." To that Marax laughed. It was good to see his childhood friend smile; he had so little to be joyful about.
"I hate these things," Marax confessed bitterly as he gestured to the room of people, before hanging his head. "It's so pointless."
"I wouldn't know. My mother thinks I'm not ready for this sort of thing. I should think myself lucky to be here," Tiberius confessed as he observed the scene of what he could from the edge of the column.
"Look at them scurrying around the room like vermin, trying to catch the attentions of their betters. Then there are the officers, dressed up in their finest. Huddled together like prized cattle awaiting inspection," Marax scorned.
The C-Sec Charity Ball was a sorry state of affairs. But Tiberius' musings were quickly disturbed by Marax spurting out a warning. "Ti, don't turn around."
It was only natural that Tiberius turned his head a little, to which Marax grabbed his shoulder and forced him back. "I said don't look!"
"Why?" Tiberius questioned.
"You don't want to know."
In that moment, Tiberius wanted to know, so he peered around the edge of the column only to see the cause of all his current anguish. "Her…" He hissed maliciously.
***OBAH***
Aurelia entered the hall wide eyes and equally wide mouthed. She had never seen anything so grand in all her time on the Citadel; her plates tingled with anticipation and equal anxiety. Leiada was quite tipsy. She had this goofy smile on her face from the moment she met Aurelia outside her apartment in the sky car. Thank the spirits those things had automated pilot. She managed to polish off another bottle of something green and foul smelling on the ride over.
"This is going to be so fun," Leiada slurred as she tried to untie her jacket to reveal her outfit, but made a royal mess of it. With those words Aurelia felt her heart sink a little. Leiada was known for being a little boisterous, but now she was drunk and off duty. Only the spirits knew what she had in store for the pair tonight.
Aurelia's worried thoughts were swiftly interrupted when she felt someone tug at her coat. Her defenses rose immediately and she turned to face her assailant, ready to defend her self. To her embarrassment, all she saw were the large muddy green eyes of a salarian waiter whose job was to take her jacket. Aurelia hung her head foolishly, removing her coat before handing the two tickets to the same waiter who observed them and welcomed them among the rabble.
"Welcome, officers." Officers? Plural? Leiada was no longer with the force. She turned her head to her asari friend, only to see her wink and whisper closer.
"I'm undercover." Her breath was strong with whatever she downed in the car. It was then Aurelia noticed her friend's outfit; it was far from sophisticated.
As if her companion noticed her thought process she shrugged. "I knew you would come dressed as a nun, one of us has to show off some flesh."
"Some flesh is fine Leiada, but all of it? That… belt? Cannot be considered an entire outfit. Where is the rest of it?"
"Don't mother me! I'm several hundred years older than you," Leiada retorted as she spotted a tray of something alcoholic beautifully glassed. She swept two off the tray, one in each hand, startling the waiter.
"Are these dextro safe?" she questioned, to which the waiter shook his head and pointed across the room.
"You will want that tray, ma'am."
"Oh well." Leiada turned, her eyes glassy and her goofy grin back firmly on her face as she sipped from each glass in turn. "More for me."
Aurelia placed her hand against her face and shook her head.
"Aurelia." She heard her name and turned quickly to see her brother dressed in his finest. She smiled sweetly and smoothed over the sash of his dress uniform.
"Don't you look dashing?" she teased, but her compliments were cut short as Leiada slipped in.
"Venari, wow, I didn't recognise you without the executor's butt firmly attached to your face."
Aurelia fell quiet and took a step back as her brother's mandibles clenched tight and she was sure she saw his eye twitch.
"Leiada. You look more suited to be standing on a street corner. Won't your mother be pleased," he said calmly before turning to his sister and leaning close. "You should really reconsider the company you keep." That was all he had to say as he walked off, upright and proud, disappearing into the crowd.
"Why do you tease him so?" Aurelia said with a sigh.
Leiada had this soft smile on her face, blue eyes fixated on the place Venari disappeared out of sight. "Because I want to know if that stick up his ass is the reason he stands so straight." With that Leiada sauntered off.
"Wait, what?" Aurelia questioned following after her companion. Did she even want to know what that honestly meant? The images that flashed across her mind made a shiver run up her spine.
***OBAH***
Marax watched helplessly as the anger within Tiberius boiled uncontrollably, like a volcano about to erupt. Tiberius always thought he kept his emotions well hidden, but he was easier to read than a large font data-pad. It didn't help that Vibus had come to join them and had his heart set on tormenting his older brother.
"I hear you got your butt handed to you by a little turian female cop today," sniggered Vibus, trying to nudge Marax who was growing more miserable by the second.
"Would you like a demonstration, brother?" Tiberius snapped back, dangerously low, stepping closer to his brother, threatening his person. Vibus shrieked back hands raised in submission.
"Leave it, Ti." Marax said, stepping between the two. He always had to play peacekeeper. It was easier when they were younger; they could just say that Vibus was too young to play with the older boys back then.
Vibus shrugged and shook his head at his brother's open distaste.
"She was quick and knew her grapples well. It didn't help that she pistol whipped me either," Tiberius confessed bitterly. To have Tiberius confess that despite all his pride had to of meant he considered Aurelia a worthy adversary.
Vibus didn't seem to care, instead looking around the rather extravagant hall, but equally bored. "We've been to some pretty piss poor parties in our time, elder-brother, but this one is the pits." To that Tiberius just snorted, slightly amused.
"When can we go?" Vibus whined, his eyes darting about searching for something interesting to look at. "This is a punishment worse than hanging," he continued to complain. "How can they expect us to find wives when they bring us to functions like this? Every turian female here is either old or worse. I've seen tic ridden varren that have looked better."
"Not all the turian females," Marax said quietly, hoping his words would go unnoticed. They didn't.
"What do you mean?" Vibus questioned, but Marax would say no more. It didn't take Vibus long to see what he was talking about.
"Oh, hello," the younger Cato said, and he raised himself higher on his toes to get a better view of what caught his eye.
Marax followed his line of sight carefully to see it firmly placed on the cop that they had a confrontation with earlier. She cleaned up well in a fine silver dress, even though it was out of date. He was certain he remembered his grandmother wearing something similar, but it suited her. Her former C-sec uniform hid such a small waist and wide pelvis from being admired. He found himself taken aback with how she looked.
Marax took in the nervous and self-conscious body language of the female while she chatted lightly with some other companions whom Marax could only assume were also C-Sec. She looked out of place without an assault rifle strapped to her back and tackling criminals for some tough justice. No, without the black and blue, she looked delicate, like a flower growing out a weed bush. How on Palaven was she on the force?
"That's the one who arrested us this morning," Marax pointed out to Vibus without thinking much about the consequences for the prideful Cato brother.
"Her? That!" Vibus started, spluttering between fits of hearty laughter.
"Oh, Tiberius, how did you ever let that little thing bring you down. You were the best in your regiment for hand-to-hand."
Without a moment's notice, Tiberius, who had remained quiet in thought as his friend and brother discussed the turian female, moved off his fixed position. He had erupted and it wasn't going to be pretty. Marax attempted to grab his hand, but Tiberius was bigger and stronger than him easily. He merely shrugged off his friend and charged straight off to the cop.
***OBAH***
"Just look at him there, shaking stuff like he owns the joint," said Kotris, one of the mechanics Aurelia had befriended when she needed to bring in her shuttle for repairs. They were all watching her brother follow the executor around and being introduced to VIPs of the party.
Aurelia couldn't scorn Venari, however. She felt incredibly proud and in the moment decided to defend her twin. "You know who our father is; you should assume that we would join a force of some kind and aim high."
With that Kotris relented but decided to turn his assault on Aurelia. "So how does that explain you then?" he said with a smirk. Aurelia exhaled hard through her nose. She had to admit she wasn't the greatest example of C-Sec's best and brightest, but she certainly wasn't the worst.
"She gonna be on maternity leave soon, raising beautiful little golden turian babies," Leiada said, a platter of something weird looking in her arms as she popped one thing after another in her mouth. This was Aurelia's idea to sober her up.
"Exactly," Aurelia perked up, thankful she now came along with Leiada. "My parents expect grandchildren; they have to come from somewhere. You of all people should know where babies come from Kotris." A fit of giggles erupted from the gathering of C-sec workers at her well placed dig. Kotris was a well known playboy; his victims had ended up pregnant once or thrice.
Aurelia let her eyes fall on the faces of the Citadel's wealthy and important. Gathered in front of her, she felt somewhat detached from those who patroned C-Sec and her charities. It didn't take long until her gaze passed over one angry face, a familiar angry face-the dark plated turian who she arrested this morning. Her heart sank as she realised she was unarmed and he was stalking towards her.
He stopped suddenly when all eyes of the party turned to him. Aurelia wondered if he had lost his nerve. He nodded his head in a curt greeting, but those silver eyes fixated on Aurelia like something about to swoop in for the kill and she didn't find it civil. "Officer," he said calmly and politely enough, however the scowl on his face was anything but pleasant.
"Citizen," Aurelia answered equally politely as she sipped from her flute, resisting the urge to down it. She needed to be a picture of calm to defuse the situation here. "Are you still abiding the law?" It was supposed to sound light-hearted and playful, to divert his scowl away from her without causing a scene. However it came out much curter than she intended.
"Yes," he replied, low and hard, his jaw tense as he grinded his teeth. "I see the spinster has arrived to the party alone. Where is your mate?" His courteous mask was falling at an orbital decent rate, and had Aurelia clenching her jaw tight as he called her, once again, a spinster.
"He's at home working, I believe," Aurelia answered through gritted teeth.
Tiberius was about to say something else, before Leiada stepped into full view. "Well aren't you a large glass of tall dark and handsome."
Spirits bless that asari; the tense atmosphere of the group erupted in a fit of laughter. His name was Tiberius, Aurelia recalled. He didn't know what to do with himself as his mouth hung open in stunned silence and his eyes trailed down the length of Leiada's body. 'Typical,' Aurelia thought.
"You like mischief, don't you?" Leiada said before grabbing his wrist. "Come on." She dragged him away, but not before she turned back to give Aurelia a little wink.
As they disappeared into the crowed, another familiar face made itself known. The red marked male who lost his car. "Where did he go now?"
Aurelia stepped forward and greeted him, pointing through a parting of heads to where the two chatted happily together. "About to get himself into a world of trouble with that one," she chirped rather reserved. She was cautious; after all, she'd nearly arrested him this morning. Still, she didn't want to cause a scene, not on her brother's big day; there were as many eyes on her as there were on him.
The red marked male, shook his head and sighed. "I'm more concerned about your friend; Tiberius is quite chaotic even if she is a spectre," he answered with a snort.
"I seriously doubt that," Aurelia returned skeptically. "This one time, Leiada stole the Varacan, which was docked for repairs, to take down a shuttle. She destroyed it."
The male snorted, not taking his eyes off the pair. "That's nothing. One time Ti 'borrowed' my father's yacht and crashed it into Menae."
Aurelia laughed then. He was certainly not the cowardly man-child she expected when she apprehended them this morning; however her laughter suddenly stopped as she processed the information. "Wait. A boat?"
"Yes."
"On Meane, the moon?"
"The very same," he replied
"But that's impossible…" Aurelia answered in disbelief.
"Don't ask me how he managed it, but he did. I remember seeing the recovery bill myself."
"Then we better stop them before they do something drastic like destroy the Citadel."
His gaze seemed to consider her carefully. Their earlier meeting had not gone as well as this one was going. "Marax Capius," he said, tentatively offering his arm for her to take.
"Aurelia Pallin," she replied, taking him by the wrist and shaking it firm and sure.
Marax must have interpreted her wrist grip as a good sign, visibly relaxing before he quipped, "Come on. I don't think we have long before the galaxy implodes." Aurelia snorted bemusedly before following him into the crowd.
***OBAH***
Aurelia was positively charming Marax had decided, their earlier confrontation forgotten. She had a sharp wit and equally intelligent mind. She was scanning the room looking for their two chaotic friends who were upsetting more than their fair share of VIPs.
"Where are they now?" Marax asked, sitting at a table that had a good scope of the entire hall.
"Leiada is drunk enough that she has finally noticed the auction shinnies. They can't cause any trouble over there," Aurelia replied calmly. There was quiet nobility about her, which was quite infectious, something Marax didn't notice when he first met her. Then again, having a gun pointed in your face didn't give the best opportunity to observe someone.
"So what's her story?" Marax started, nodding his head in Leiada's direction, taking advantage of his first real opportunity to discuss the woman he had been following around the hall for ages. The drunken spectre was holding a piece of thin-strip, scrawling something on it before showing it to Tiberius who was trying to laugh quietly.
Aurelia shook her head. Whatever information she had she wasn't giving it over. "It's not my place to say; but let's just put it down to issues with her father and mother."
"Sounds like she fits right in with us then."
"Oh?" Aurelia enquired, sipping on her drink. Marax observed that it was non-alcoholic.
"Tiberius. He has a good name and a long lineage. A technical genius. Passionate, but it seems like all that outside pressure makes him not focus and drives him down a path that could possibly destroy him."
His golden companion didn't seem to pay much mind to Tiberius' praises. "And what of you, Marax?"
"There isn't much to say; I'm just a son of a self-made man. I'm no Cato. Antiques of my ancestors don't line my halls, nor do I have a great burden on my shoulders." She tilted her head at him, with an expression he could only translate as quiet consideration. But he shook his head. "And yourself, Aurelia?"
She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Hmm...I could bore you with the C-Sec sob story, but it will pale in comparison to sons who rebel against their burdens and find them less worthy than their friends."
Marax laughed uncomfortably. She was right; he did feel small in Tiberius' shadow and he wanted everything the turian had-from his loving and caring parents, a mother who cared enough to discipline him. To how everyone noticed him first; due to his strange colouration and ever more unique markings.
After Marax's laughter died out, an uncomfortable silence fell between them. The atmosphere was saved by the spectre coming to sit down at the table; Tiberius casually followed.
"Why do you have this satisfied look across your face, Leiada?" Aurelia was quick to observe.
The asari did have a guilty look of satisfaction as she smoothed down her dress and stared back at Tiberius intensely. "Can't a girl sit down? We wanted to know what you two were talking about, looking so cosy together."
Aurelia didn't look convinced and folded her arms like a cross mother.
Marax turned to look at Tiberius, who looked like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He said nothing and remained quiet.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the results from the silent auction are about to begin. Please take your seats," an announcement suddenly burst into the room and people scurried to find an empty seat in a murmur of noise.
Councillor Tevos took the podium, to which a round of applause happened and stopped briefly.
"Thank you all, for joining us here at the two-hundred and fifth C-sec Charity Ball. The proceeds from the auction go to bolstering the equipment for C-sec and of course, her two biggest charities that support our injured officers and families of deceased officers." Applause erupted around the room again, and the asari councillor raised her hand demurely, to make it cease.
"Our first prize is a lovely luxury yacht." She started, and a few excited whispers began around the room. It was now Tiberius began to grin, shooting the asari spectre a look.
"And ladies and gentlemen we have a very generous donation for this one, ten million credits." There was a shocked gasp around the hall as people tried to guess who placed such a generous amount.
"Hugh Janus," Councillor Tevos announced, and a stunned silence filled the room, followed by some nervous giggles.
"Huge Anus?" the councillor repeated, which was followed by more confidant laughs, Tiberius and Leiada being two of them.
"Spirits, no!" Aurelia announced quickly shooting a look at Leiada, who looked incredibly pleased with herself. "What have you done?" she continued, grabbing the asari by her arm. "You're going to get you spectre Status revoked."
"That's the plan," Leiada replied lazily, trying to free her arm from Aurelia's grip. But the turian female didn't relent and dragged the asari to her feet.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to have a technical difficulty. Please give our operators just a moment to fix this mishap," Tevos said calmly, although her face was flushed a deeper blue than it was originally.
It was in this confusion that Aurelia dragged her asari friend out of the room, trying to be as discreet as possible. But the asari turned back to Tiberius and pointed to her ear. 'Call me' she mouthed, before she disappeared completely beyond a sea of people.
Marax wasn't sure what just happened, but their harmless looking at the prizes wasn't as harmless as Aurelia had earlier announced.
Tiberius yawned and stretched, grabbing hold of his cowl, and adjusting the thick padding that covered his carapace. "I'm not fond of asari, as you know Marax. But that one I do like." He turned, flinging his arm over the chair to watch the chaos that he took part in.
Marax just sat in quiet horror, unsure what to say.
***OBAH***
The glow in his office seemed to have a sinister aura about it. Perhaps it was the message that he was reading. He released a strained exhalation; it felt like years since he had even taken a breath. His body shivered and quaked as he read over the words again.
Everything felt so temperamental-his new job, his new wife, his new status and this apartment. It was all too good to be true. He was a simple turian with simple values. His family were farmers by trade and by the spirits, he didn't want to be shifting dirt for the rest of his life like his father.
It wasn't often that a turian went into the economic markets, but here he was, a turian accountant for a large firm. His maths were not salarian or volus strong, but he was told he had the charisma and thus was given his own accounts to manage. His family had half beggared the ranch to fund his ambition and education.
He rubbed his hand against his face, unsure how he fell into this crisis. He looked at the accounts again. He only had to do this a few more times, he prayed. His omni-tool bleeped; Syro was receiving a call. His eyes flicked up to the clock. It was late but Aurelia wasn't home yet, perhaps it was a good thing. His fingers trembled as he answered it.
"Hello?" he said cautiously, his voice breaking, and he wished he had attempted to clear it before answering. "Yes, I'm about to do that now."
The room felt incredibly dark and cold and a chill run up his spine.
"Of course, tell your boss that he can trust me. I know what I'm doing. No one will find out."
It felt like a lie. Syro had no idea what he was doing. He looked around at his desk and the haphazardly scattered data-pads. The mess of his desk equalled the mess in his mind. Suddenly, it felt like his heart had stopped. As the electronic voice cut through his ear and chilled his soul.
"Tha-that's uncalled for. I know what you would do if this wasn't a success," he replied hastily, rising to his feet in a panic. The silence fell into the room again, and Syro could do nothing but stare out to the creeping darkness.
"Don-don't you lay a digit on her. I'll go to C-sec. I'll do the time if it means I'm taking you down with me!" he said, his tone betraying that he wasn't as brave as his words. He froze, suddenly realising what he had said. These people were supposed to be his allies, yet they treated him like this. Syro's imagination began to run wild of what they would do to an enemy.
"You are right. It isn't worth the risk. I apologise. I said that hastily. Just don't hurt her; I'll do what you want." With that the call ended and he leaned back in his chair.
Pressing his hands against his face, Syro resisted the urge to let out a cry. "Spirits don't forsake me," he whimpered out to the darkness ready to swallow him whole.
