(Earlier that day)

Dr. Halwood's heart pounded one beat harder when the doors of his office slid open, it was a visit he had been expecting but the abrasive sound of doors would easily pierce his ears if we weren't paying attention.

"You asked to see me?"

"Yes take a seat Edward." Dr. Halwood took a moment and admired how well presented Edward always looked. It gave him an air of arrogance which made bargaining with him somewhat difficult. "It concerns your brother."

"Which one?" Dr. Halwood eyed Edward's face; it came across as rigid and emotionless. This was his normal expression when he knew what was coming.

"Palius." He was gathering the thought capacity to explain the problem when he figured it would be easier for Edward to deduce it on his own, that way he would likely think of a solution to the problem. Dr. Halwood remained silent to coax Edward into speaking.

Edward ran his finger along the corner of the expensive wooden drawer in the office. "Palius isn't co-operating with your orders is he. You want to get rid of him but in a way that doesn't make it look like you were behind it, otherwise the Illusive Man will see his time and money wasted. Now I know it's the Illusive Man because the security in this place is a joke. I can't let you kill Palius either because he's my brother so I think we should find a way to force him to escape, but I'll stay in contact with him so we can still use him to benefit Cerberus. Hopefully this way the Illusive Man should be more forgiving."

Dr. Halwood pushed his glasses back up the ridge of his nose with a smirk on the corner of his lips, Edward's eyes widened and his pupils constricted, he'd realised that he had been used the whole time.

"I expect nothing less from you Edward but make sure you get him to see Andrew before he leaves, they both need the motivation."

Edward spent the next few hours in Dr. Halwood's discussing their plan before Halwood picked up the phone to order the execution of the Salarian doctor and picking up a pair of stun batons.