Chapter 3

I am on Virmire again. I know it's a dream, that any time i can wake up. But I'm there again.
The geth are swarming over the nuclear power plant base. If they overwhelm it and defuse the bomb they will destroy the city across the continent. 300 000 souls. I hold the trigger in my hand which will activate the bomb which will blow up the facility. However if I die, the woman I left behind will die in a sea of fire. Luke is shouting at me, demanding we set the ship down to rescue her. He pulls a gun, I hear Ashley's vitals dropping as the geth's beams perforate through her armour. Tick tock. I hear Wrex headbutting Luke, shouting for me to make a choice. Tick tock. I hear her calling her fiancé's name. Tick tock…I pull the trigger, and it all goes white.

I wake up from my nightmare, again covered in sweat. My heart is raising, my head is spinning. I take a moment to calm myself before I go to the bath room and take some medicine. I swallow it all down, flushing it with water. I look at the clock, 4 AM. At least I had three hours of sleep.
I stare into the mirror and look at the monster I've become. Is this the hero of the Citadel? A insomniac who takes pills to wake up and function? A soldier whose worse than nothing in a gunfight? The rage rises up in me and I punch the mirror hard. Small bits of glass go flying, replacing my face with several smaller versions as the glass cracks. My hands starts bleeding, it takes me a moment to notice and a few more to apply some medi-gel on it.
I force myself to eat something, and I wait till 9 o'clock when Kaiden will pick me up for our appointment with Harold Boone.

He dropped me off at home after that firefight in Chora's den. He asked me if I will be fine, I lied and said I would be fine. I cant trust him, for all I know he is reporting back to Saren. To the Council. To Anderson. I even made sure Garrus would hold up his promise to put Joker in a reliable protection program. Paranoid, another fine trait to add to me growing resume.
I wait until the doorbell goes and get up. I open the door as Kaiden nods at me.
"Sleep well?" he asks. I give a nod and take my seat next to him in the skycar as he drives us off to Boone tower. Kaiden doesn't ask about last night, if it's normal I froze after that fight. He saved me several times, both from Joker's accusations and when C-Sec came in. What game are you playing, Major…? He's waiting for me to say something. I best open my mouth.

"So what do we know of Harold Boone?" I ask Kaiden. Let's see how much you know, little spy.
"Harold Boone is the CEO of Boone Industries and one of the most powerful men on the Citadel." He says." So powerful when the sex tape leaked out of him and Miranda Lawson, not only did every single person who downloaded it find his video missing the next day, even those who downloaded it to an external drive, but five hundred credits from their bank account was "donated" to a Quarian homeworld fund. Two days later a janitor for Boone Industries was found dead near the Keeper tunnels. No connection of course."
"And all for a sex tape that wasn't worth much.." I take out a cigarette and light it.
"You saw?" he asked.
"Here's a thing about human curiosity Kaiden, if you ban something people will try to find out why it was banned. Needless to say when I found said tape I wasn't to pleased. It was a office camera so it was easily hacked and to see some people have sex on a office desk it wasn't to much to look at. Hell I wouldn't have given it five hundred credits but there you go."

"Well, saves me the trouble then." Kaiden chuckled." So why do you think he called us?"
"Several men with cybernetic upgrades tried to kill us after we found out he bought a knife which was used to kill an archeologist who lived in one of his apartments. Either option A he is luring us into a trap or B…" I exhale the gray smoke, savouring it.
"B?" Kaiden prods after I take to long to answer.
"This rabbit hole is deeper then it looks." I reply." Any leads on that drell?"
"I called in a favour from Bailey." Kaiden said." According to him, one of the external shuttle logs mentions a drell bought a ticket for a shuttle to Omega."

Boone tower can already be seen from this part of the Citadel. It's taller than the other buildings around it, towering over them pardon the pun. The air ships carrying neon lit signs of Boone Industries increase as we get closer to it. Security mech adverts, new cars, school equipment. It has become part of the city view of the Citadel so much you stop paying attention. Except the new advert along the building draws my attention. It shows a man and a woman, the race switches from human to turian to two asari and so forth, holding hands as they have some cybernetics placed around several parts of the body. The text changes as well. "Imagine a world without mental handicaps, without Parkinson or Alzheimer. A world where you can have your limbs back, better than before. To transcend the limits our makers gave us. Imagine no more, the Second Renaissance is now."
"People fall for that?" Kaiden asks.
"Harold Boone just made three million credits when you just asked, you tell me." I reply.

We park the skycar on the parking plot and walk inside. The lobby is filled with people from different races with several cybernetic upgrades. Some visible, others not so much or none. We walk to the Asari at the desk who smiles at us.
"Welcome to Boone Tower, headquarters of Boone Industries. My name is Anira, how can I help you?"
"I am Commander shepard, this is Major alenko." We both flash our badges." Your boss wanted to talk to us."
"Oh of course, my apologies I didn't recognize you." She smiled as she gave us two name tags." Just head over to the elevator and flash these at the terminal, it will take you straight to Mr Boone's office."
"Thank you, miss." Kaiden smiles and nods as we both head over to the elevator.

We step inside and flash the nametags. The doors close and we skyrocket toward the topside of the building. We watch outside as we rise above the clouds of the presidium and the skycars. I wonder idly how long it would take for me to hit the ground if I would fall. Five minutes? Did Ashley have five minutes to think about how her life ended? If her sisters would try to march on without their big sister? If Luke would move on with someone else? Naming his daughter after her?

Kaiden is humming something which raises my brow. He stops, offering a quick apology before the doors open. Harold Boone's office is strikingly very different from whatever Luke is. Portraits hang on the wall, tracing the Boone family line back to the end of the 18th century. White marble statues of beauty are all around. I even see a skull on his office table, a memento mori. Everything screams renaissance. Even his antics collection to the side which has several alien bits seem to fit in nicely despite the fact that some items were separated decades to thousands of light years. Save for the freshly made Turian Talon.

At the desk I see Harold Boone writing something down with Miranda Lawson stood next to him. Both wear fancy business people clothing, even from this far I can smell the cologne and the perfume. Acting as if that sex tape never happened. You can act all enlightend as you like, you are just as human as us, Harold Boone. A animal.
"Ah Commander Shepard, Major Alenko." Harold says with a smile and gets up, offering his hand. I remain stood while Kaiden does the effort to go over and shakes his hand and Miranda's." Please sit down." He motions to the two chairs that suddenly pop up out of nowhere. Hologram?
We both take our seats. "Can I get you anything? Tea, whiskey?"
"No thank you." I reply, looking at Miranda for a moment.
"Is there a problem, Shepard?" She asks.
"I didn't expect you would be here to." I reply.
"Miranda is my second in command and one of the few people I trust in this business." Harold says with a smile." Whatever you have to ask me, you can ask her."
"I rather it's just us, Boone." I reply.
"Afraid I will hear Alliance secrets and spill them over to Cerberus?" Miranda folds her arms." I heard the rumours Commander." She looks at Harold." It's fine Harold, I have a meeting to go to anyway." She pecks his cheek." See you at dinner."
"See you at dinner, dear." He replies.

I watch her walk off, her hips swinging left to right. Kaiden cant help but keep looking, I cough which brings him back to the present.
"You called for us." I say.
"Yes I did." Harold says." I have clues that might aid in your search."
"Why?" Kaiden asks. Harold holds up his hand.
"Please, please, let us proceed in an orderly fashion. I know both the Alliance and the Spectres are looking into Miranda's past and are looking for any reason how just or unjust to throw her in jail. I would like that to stop."
"We have evidence that might link you to a homicide, Mr Boone." I glare at him.
"Might is a key word, Commander Shepard. Also it's quite hypocritical coming from an Earthborn who made a living doing all kinds of morally dubious things before enlisting into the alliance to save some jail time." He replies, all kindness gone and replace by a cold calculating voice.
Kaiden does not look at me, but I know he must be shocked by this revelation…or not if Saren told him, or Anderson. " I changed."
"People don't change that much. Some people are born wolves, some are sheep. You may be wearing sheep's clothing but you teeth are shining through, Commander." He leans forward." Do we have a deal?"

"Done." I reply." Now, what do you know?"

Harold smiles and leans back." The talon which you saw I indeed bought of Mr Moreau through one of my employees. I however did not know a similar weapon was used to kill Liara."
"You and Dr Tsoni were friends?" Kaiden asks.
"Yes."
"How close?"
"If you imply we had an sexual relationship Major, I'm sad to disappoint you. I prefer terran woman, and I have been in a good relationship for several good years now." Harold replies." No, me and Liara met at a gala a few years ago. Unlike the other Asari who were stuck up and vain, she was reserved and did much to hide her brilliance at her field. So when she pitched the idea of an expedition I gladly financed her dig. That dig put her on the map and gave me several nice artifacts. A few weeks ago she came to me with another dig. She claimed to have found a way to Illos. "

"illos?" I ask.
"A prothean world, lost through the echoes of time. As always I helped chip in as well as a Volus called Barlo Von. A few days ago they came back and Dr Tsoni was going to make a shocking reveal to the universe…but sadly was killed two days ago."
"Who killed her?" I ask.
"The same men who tried to kill you." He replies." The so-called Brotherhood of the old Machine. When my source told me you were headed to the man who provided their killer his weapon I send my top men to make sure you both stayed alive until C-Sec came to save you."
"What source?" I ask.
"You know him as Legion. Before you ask I have no idea who he is, but if it weren't for him you both would be dead by now."
"And the top men…those were the woman with the tattoos and the gunslinger?"
"Jack aka Subject Zero and John Boone, my baby brother. They both met in Purgatory during the former's escape. Since then they have been a Bonny and Clyde gun for hire couple." Harold stands as he explains and goes over to the antics collection. He picks up the turian talon and hands it over to me." You can investigate this weapon if you like, but you will find it has not been used."

I put the weapon down and use my omni tool to scan it. The profile matches EXACTLY like the talon Mordin investigated.
"And the cybernetic men?" Kaiden asks meanwhile.
" Not my tech, as your top minds both at C-Sec and the Spectres have pointed out I'm sure." Harold replies." However I found something interesting…" He types something on his monitor and soon it shows a news channel. In the upper left corner it shows OMEGA TV with a news report of a cybernetic woman gone insane. It shows a woman, human, who was clearly upgraded using her weapons and claws to kill all those around her as she shouts in pain and agony.

"This happened yesterday, the woman disappeared in Omega's sewers." Harold says.
A cybernetic woman, an arms dealer and a drell who bought an turian talon. All three lead to Omega.
"Thank you very much for your time, Mr Boone." Kaiden says and stands up as I do." And we will honour our bargain."
"One more question." I have to ask." As a man who barely looks after his brothers, why do you want us to help your girlfriend?"
"Who said I didn't?" Harold smirks." As for Miranda…we both have a similar relationship with our fathers. You never wondered how Luke shot so well? How John moved so fast or how come I'm so intelligent? Steel is strong Commander, but the flesh is stronger."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kaiden asks.
Harold merely gives us a smile and sits back down." Once a wolf, always a wolf. Good luck to you both."

On the elevator ride down I make the call to Bau while Kaiden makes the call to the Alliance.
At the end he looks at me." I just got an message from a Lt James Vega, he said he just picked up Barlo Van."
"One of Dr Tsoni's financers?" I ask.
Kaiden nods." He says he knows what they found on Illos."

TBC