This second Normandy looks as odd as the first one, human and turian structures entangled in a way that makes it difficult to discern what originates from where. She looks sleek and silent and strong, just like her predecessor which dealt the killing blow to Sovereign, and Saren thinks of all the great things he could do with a ship like this as a human female with clothes as tight as her soft skin and contempt all over her face escorts him to the briefing room while Shepard disappears for a minute, maybe two.
The other female introduces herself, talks about how she brought Shepard back but doesn't brag and makes it sound less than the astonishing scientific breakthrough it is and more like something that just needed to be done. She talks about Cerberus, an organisation he's heard of but never paid attention to because he thinks all humans are terrorists at heart, and mentions what Shepard failed to; that their mission is to take down the Collectors. He is unsurprised that they supposedly work for the Reapers since, as far as he knows, the exchanges would be beneficial for both parties and he is equally unsurprised that Shepard has been recruited to perform the task of stopping the elusive creatures. But what he doesn't understand is why this dark-haired woman, who doesn't seem to like Shepard at all based on her tone when she speaks of the Commander, has spent so much time on bringing a dead soldier back. Surely they could have spent that time coming up with another solution, another way of dealing with the Collectors.
Saren is mid-thought as the door slides open and he is momentarily perplexed at Shepard's appearance. The lack of armour makes her look small, weak, breakable and he toys with the thought of slamming both females into a wall and tear Shepard's jugular open with his teeth or push his sharp talons into her abdomen and rip her vital organs out but it is a thought that is habit rather than genuine malice. Should he do it he knows that he will be returned to the maddening blank white prison cell, and if she's been brought back once he is certain she could be again and he is not particularly interested in finding out what she would do to him should she opt to take revenge. He owes her, at any rate - if nothing else, to leave her alive.
Shepard barely glances at the other female, simply goes over the rules - he is to be escorted by an armed crewman or a member of her squad everywhere, he is going to get a bunk in the cargo hold where no one is put at risk should he go crazy, he will be handed his weapons before joining her on missions rather than retrieving them himself - and while she slowly paces back and forth he watches her. There really isn't much about her that's intimidating; compared to him she is short, slim, giving him the impression that she should be weak and he is again annoyed that the galaxy is so in awe with this inferior creature who caught you and broke you and freed you. Even the Cerberus woman seems to respect Shepard's accomplishments despite her own astounding feat of cheating death.
When he focuses on the Commander's face, he notices the angry spark of red in those vibrant eyes as well as the fact that her scars are glowing. He hadn't seen that in the sharp light of his cell, had only seen the back of her when she brought him to the ship, and now he lowers his mandibles a little in a subtle grin because the Cerberus woman mentions that the ship's A.I. will monitor him constantly and the way Shepard's features tighten in annoyance makes him want to laugh at her.
"It seems your death has made us even more alike than before, Shepard", he says and lowers his mandibles further when her hands clench into fists.
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"I doubt it", she replies, voice strained. "The computer doesn't tell me to attack colonies."
"I doubt you're standing up without extensive cybernetic work after just two years. Don't be blind to the obvious similarities. You're not that stupid."
Shepard resists the urge to connect her fist with his face and turns to Miranda. "Let Mordin put the tracking chip in and then get Saren down to the hold", she says, taking care not to let her anger twist her features. She turns to the door, walks out and feels his eyes on her back, her neck, tangled in her hair. With quick strides she moves through the armoury and the CIC before taking the elevator down to crew deck where she lets herself into the port side observation room and wordlessly demands the attention of the area's only occupant.
"Hey Shep!" the thief says, her voice as light as her movements when she shifts position on the couch. She seems about to speak, but her Commander doesn't leave enough space between words for an interruption.
"You said you needed help with a heist." Shepard folds her arms, resting her weight on her back leg. "I figure that since we're in the neighbourhood, we might as well take care of it now. I'll plot a course and meet you by the shuttle when we're in orbit." She turns without waiting for acknowledgement, heading up to the CIC again to work by her terminal.
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When the elevator doors open in the hold, Saren barely glances that way. People have been walking in and out, pretending to pick something up from a storage crate or needing to ask the people working there about something. It is obvious that they want to confirm his presence and he lets them, only growling when they stare for too long. A girl with red hair and green eyes - like Shepard, but definitely not like Shepard - walked up to him and was all bright smiles and adoration for the ship's CO and he wanted to throw her out the airlock but knew he would follow and resisted. She left soon, however, perkiness somewhat diminished and he has been left alone since.
But now Shepard appears and he almost wants her to walk up to him and break the boredom. His omni-tool has still not been connected to the extranet and while the artificial intelligence has informed him that there is a library in Starboard Observation he's had no desire to ask one of these humans to escort him.
Shepard barely glances at him before walking up to the shuttle, which has been lowered onto the floor, and as he follows her with his gaze for just a few seconds something flickers at the edge of his vision and another human female steps out of thin air.
"There you are!" she says, stepping lightly away from the wall mere meters away from Saren. How long has she been standing there, cloaked? He feels surprisingly uncomfortable despite the knowledge that many other eyes have been watching him continuously since he came down here.
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Kasumi says very little as the Kodiak dips into atmo, taking them to Milgrom, the capital of Bekenstein; a world so distant from Shepard's reality that she doesn't know what to think. While the thief makes last-minute arrangements via her omni-tool, Shepard stares out the window at a landscape soaked in golden late afternoon sunlight and wonders briefly if they will remain long enough for dusk to turn the rich shades of early evening into monochrome and almost looks forward to that. She hasn't experienced the dirtside shift between night and day in years.
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After a pickup and a change of clothes, they're in a skycar and Shepard furrows her brow at Kasumi's compliment, feeling uncomfortable without her armour and combat boots. There is a small shield-generator in the clasp at her throat, at least, but even though the young woman at her side assures her that their gear will be available to them shortly, she'd prefer to go in with guns blazing.
"Why a statue of Saren?" she asks as they go over the plan. Kasumi gives her a one-shoulder shrug, as carefree as Shepard will soon learn that she nearly always is.
"It was the only thing I was both willing to part with and unable to sell. No one wants to be associated with that mess, even in private, and I didn't find the time to melt it down into gold bricks. This way it still serves a purpose."
That almost draws a smile out of Shepard, the first one since she greeted Anderson.
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Once they're in the vault and Shepard feels the reassuring weight of her armour over her shoulders, things finally go her way. She takes a moment to look at a few of Hock's (no doubt illegaly obtained) pieces as they search for the greybox, and while she finds many of them beautiful she feels no compunction when she fires a bullet into one of the sculptures, effectively obliterating it, when Hock won't shut his face. She doesn't know if there's a plan or escape route once she's ignited the crime lord's fury and that is just the way she likes it, living on the very edge of mortal danger where every breath filling her lungs might be the last one.
Of course, she makes it out. She always does.