EPITEIA POLICE STATION, DAY ONE
15:08 pm

The deep take everything. No matter how much distance there was between me and the Citadel, I still could not escape the godsdamned inquiry report.

Adaraka made no attempt to join me. He had a familiarity with this Abi, just like how he knew who the murder victim was. In small communities this was to be expected from the police force, but my curiosity got the better of me.

I crouched by the main door to watch, and could just see them through gap of the wall. Adaraka was still bent over Abi's skycar, but this time she was smiling at him. His hands gripped the lip on the roof as they spoke, and it was oddly intimate, as if at any moment he would lean in and touch her.

The broken camera drone was fed in through the window. I assumed the press for a turian colony was almost non existent, that she wrote about missing pets, school plays and whatever piecemeal the Hierarchy fed her for a quaint newsletter. Why did she doorstop me? Turians aren't exactly known for cutting edge journalism.

He stood up now- Adaraka was not happy about something. Abi laughed in reaction, and the car was illuminated in orange from her omni-tool. I could just make out the reverse of an image on it from my position; I had seen it enough times in the past month to know what it was, even from here.

It was a shot of me, leaving C-Sec HQ the day I was almost discharged. Not a flattering photo by a long shot- my inner eyelids had blinked when the camera flashed, so of course it was the one used for every fucking news report so far.

I clenched my teeth to keep my anger in check; Adaraka wasn't amused, either. He pushed her arm away, and Abi hit the dashboard in frustration. "No," I heard him say, loud enough to carry to me.

My own arm turned orange as my omni-tool blipped. "Your blood sugars are low, Detective Krios; you should eat something," VITA said, pleased with herself. I slapped at it until she went away- the deeps take this one too, Gods thrice fuck it. This piece of garbage was why C-Sec planned to bring the Citadel to its knees via strikes.

They noticed nothing, oblivious to dumbfuck VIs and their stupid notifications. Perhaps I've spent too long on Zakera's beat to judge this as anything but a conversation; I was used to dirty journalists and dirtier cops, and not the small town versions of them.

Had I gotten so paranoid that everyone was out to get me? I only met Adaraka two hours ago, what could he really do- sell my story to the highest bidder, and in turn ruin his career? Trust worked both ways; I pushed my way through the main doors of Epiteia's Police and Security HQ quietly, and left them to it.

The place was tidier than I thought, though less open plan than C-Sec's precincts. Doors and rooms lead off who knows where from the lobby, a deliberate design in confusion. Despite this, the station was tiny by my standards. That this place was the centre for the entire colony's policing network was a disturbing thought, all things considered.

An elderly kava machine opposite the main desk flashed itself out of order, and I could do nothing but observe the room's only occupants while they finished. A small turian ran the front desk, stuck with a resigned, here to help expression, yelled at by a woman twice his age.

There was no chance I could escape their conversation, even if I wanted to. "Why is this so hard to understand? Someone stole my Phaeston statue and is trampling my flowerbeds," she said. Her light clothing was edged in a fussy silver, including her talons.

I imagined her kind was the normal here; she was an old school Epiteia turian, one of those that used this place as a resort before the refugees had come, though the desk sergeant didn't seem to care. "It wasn't stolen if it was put back," he said.

"They put a dress on it! It's undignified for a Spirit of Creation. I have taken pictures for evidence, though I was loathe to do it, poor dear. Do you need to see them?"

I would have very much have liked to see the pictures, but alas. "Madam, until you catch the, ah, ornament groper blue handed, we can't help."

The woman chirped in indignation. "It's not right, it's not. My lilies are from Palaven's botanical gardens! Do you know how rare they are? It's those refugees, I'm sure it is. Why do they do it? I mean, I don't go around poking your garden and molesting your statues, do I?"

I coughed into my fist to smother a laugh; the desk sergeant's mandibles twinged only slightly, to give him credit. "Not if you can help it, no," he replied. His eyes jerked to me and he raised a brow. "Let's start with you filling this in for me," and offered her a datapad. I knew what was coming next.

She looked at it like it was roadkill. "What? Why do I have this?" Every precinct and every station the universe over had it; it was the 'please go away' one size fits all application form, given out to the more trivial requests of our time.

"Step aside to fill in the form, madam, others are waiting to be served. There's room by the seating area."

She refused to move. "I don't want a damn form, I want whoever is murdering my flowerbeds to stop."

"If you'll excuse me-"

I decided to interrupt- nothing would be done, otherwise. "DI Krios of the Citadel Security Services," I said, flashing my badge. "I'm here to see your investigation team."

As the woman flinched at my voice, the desk sergeant beamed at me. "Of course sir. I'll just get Sully to-"

The doors squeaked open as Detective Adaraka joined us; he finally had left the journalist alone. "I'll handle it, Galnius, don't bother getting up. Next time you can use the officer entrance, Detective Krios- I can show you where it is."

As soon as the double doors of the foyer hissed shut, I knew we were safe to talk. "Form 905 used often here?" I asked.

Adaraka snorted. "Like you wouldn't believe. We're expected to find every lost glove and deal with all the stupid neighbourhood watch crap that lot obsess over. Though with the increase of people, we're getting more 601s and 602s," he said, naming the codes for theft.

"I can imagine. And a 501 today."

-Not a suicide.' Vulis narrowed her eyes as I looked at her. She gave me the benefit of the doubt before she denounced me as stupid, I could tell. 'I can show you a rough trajectory-

"Sadly, yes."

We walked down a corridor of incident rooms in silence, and I looked him over. He was still annoyed; whatever Abi had said to him had rattled his carapace. "Problems with the journalist?"

He breathed in before speaking, stopping us both before we reached the main incident room. "Yeah, nothing we can't handle."

I wondered if I was included in that statement. "Oh?"

He rubbed his eyes, then leaned against the wall. "Abi is- look, you're like a new toy. Once the press statements have been released, she'll calm down. If not, I'll deal with it- I can talk to her."

Small communities were terrifying with their familiarity. "I can handle one smalltime reporter," I said. "For now, I would like to connect to your intranet. I have reports to read."

Detective Adaraka snapped to attention. I had pushed my authority, and he responded. "No problem. I have to see the captain soon, but I'll leave you to it. You're sharing my office with me for the duration, I got you a terminal."

He left me alone with a ration bar and a cup of water before he left. I spat out the remains of my se'aus into the garbage and got down to the bulk of my work for this case- endless fucking reading.

Vitelia Aberdas, eight years old; Plivia Duvitus, aged twelve; Juvus Caeplin, aged six. Those were the children who I had been tasked to find, dead or alive. They were victims of the war, their families listed as officially dead; all three were adopted legally into families from the Epiteia colony, when-

-the room was cold, and Oriana had lifted the blanket over us both, eyes not moving from the screen. 'Please find my girl,' a keening mother said. Her grief seemed genuine enough. 'She had her Commander Jane and Archangel action figures with her, and was wearing a red suit with yellow stripes.'

'Poor thing.' Oriana murmured over the droning of the newscaster, her pale hand curled around my thigh. She smelt of soap, and a faint scent of chlorine stuck to her hair as I kissed her crown; she must've gone for a swim after work. 'Do you know anything, Kolya-

I shoved the remains of the bar into my mouth and focused on my terminal.

The first witness report I wanted was at the top, written by a Lieutenant Averic Aix. He was part of the naval legion in charge of this cluster, and wrote to say he found no slaver or pirate activity in the area at the time, but offered to keep an eye for any signs of the children. Nice of him, but ultimately lip service.

They could still be stolen to order, of course. I would have to contact immigration and go through all the flight records of the colony, something Officer Sully and Detective Adaraka had made a start on, to no avail. Search teams, mostly volunteer, still combed the colony for any sign of the kids, alive or dead. I did not feel optimistic about a discovery there, either.

The rest of the files were transferred to my omni-tool in minutes, but my mind was on the Abtion murder, fresh as it was. Not that I could do anything until CSI Vulis gave me her report, but it didn't stop me thinking about it.

In C-Sec there was always a large amount of waiting for evidence to turn up, no matter the case. There was always delayed ballistics and autopsies to review, or for a reluctant commander to sign off a search warrant. I once had to watch six hours of vid feeds from three districts, and that was after the VI program had narrowed it down from three days. It put away a serial rapist, though.

It was solid police work that solved crimes, not the whims of a genius detective like the vids show. You picked up a square peg and dutifully found the square hole; no officer picked up a round one and hoped the evidence would fit, it wasn't done.

But his murder was still there, framed on the wall by my memories as I stared at the chipped white plastic. Bathtub, rifle, legion, missing.

There was the bathtub: the face paint, the shooting, the time of death. Where did the victim intend to go after his bath? The rifle: missing, where is it, who has taken it- why was the pistol left, if they were collectibles? His legion: the holo in the living room, the only thing on display. "Why was it so important to him? What did he know?" I was mumbling to myself, I realised.

Then there was the missing, the reason I was here: those three children- are they connected, what did Kaeruns know about them? There was an interview I could listen to, but the memory of the holo would not let me go. I was stuck on recalling each individual face as I heard a throat clear itself behind me.

"Yes?" I said, answering it. I realised whoever had come in had seen me staring at nothing, mumbling about homicide.

"Detective Krios? Erm. Hi?" The voice was high and clear, obviously human. Not as pleasant as Oriana's alto; too high pitched, hesitant- the speaker always seemed on the verge of asking a question.

I should probably stop comparing every human female I meet to my girlfriend, it wasn't entirely fair. "Officer Sully, I assume. Hello."

"Sorry to, ah, interrupt?"

"You're from London," I said, turning to face her. She was brown haired and brown eyed, the same homogeneous blend of human I was used to seeing in the Citadel; she was also short, standing at around hundred and sixty centimetres. A mottled burn went down the left side her throat and splashed what I could see of her left arm.

"Yes! The original one, not the colony. Good ear. You speak Sol-English?" Sully was relieved I had made an effort at conversation. Her thin shoulders relaxed now, a small smile at my words.

"Some. Enough to know the insults, should my translator malfunction," I said. I knew lizard in several languages, obviously. "Have you come to introduce yourself?"

The hesitation had returned, but she offered her hand anyway. "Sort of. I have to take you to Captain A.D -Ah, Captain Aciltis-Dixon, I mean. We all call her A.D."

Her hand was dry, at least. Some humans were disgustingly moist. "You're 'the other alien,' as Adaraka so charmingly put."

She laughed, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, he has a way about him." Sully fiddled with the sleeves of her shirt, an oddly childish gesture for an officer of the law; probably one to hide her burns. "Anyway, we should move. Best not keep the captain waiting."

"Of course." I bowed my head for her to lead. I was taken to a nicer part of the station as she walked ahead, one where the floor was polished and the walls were free of scratch marks. Captains were always housed in the neater rooms of a station, without question.

Sully used her omni-tool to open a large door, leaving me to it as it closed shut. The captain remained seated as I entered, and looked up from her datapad. She was beautiful for a turian; her golden eyes offset a rich, honey coloured hide, framed by dark plates and purple Cipritine markings.

I put her as in her fifties, though could be older, considering the discreet care she put in her appearance. Three gold bangles decorated her forearm, and one had a small plastic basketball charm attached. I only knew what it was due to the precinct's obsession at playing it outside the carrier hangar. It was a human sport that translated well with turians and asari; I found it dull.

I assumed the presence of the bracelet had something to do with the family holo on the table behind her. A large, dark skinned human wrapped his hand around her shoulder, a pair of children between them. One was a small human child at around eight years, lighter in skin tone than his assumed father, and a little turian girl I would put at five, all red hide and pale plates.

Everyone looked happy, but holos could lie. It was odd the captain even had it on show, especially at her level. Commander Bailey and Captain Haron were family men, but refused to have their home life anywhere near their work desk. I wouldn't even have a picture of my Fish on show, let alone Oriana. They were precious things to be kept separate, just in case.

But Captain Camicia Aciltis-Dixon was proud of her mixed family, and she wanted you to know it, too. "Nice to finally meet you," she said, not rising from her desk. "I have heard many good things about you, Detective Krios. Please sit."

I wondered what exactly, but did what I was told. "Thank you."

"Is your accommodation to your liking? What with the increase of refugees to the colony, we had to put you there. As I understand it, your species require a dehumidifier. One should arrive tomorrow, according to the docking schedule. I ordered one when I knew you were coming."

I blinked at the politeness. "That's thoughtful of you," I said. I had brought my own, but another was always useful. Perhaps I could actually use the shower with two running. "The prefab suits my needs. I have even explored the paths around the lake, it's in a beautiful location."

"We're proud of our scenery here in Epiteia, even if most of us don't swim." She looked briefly at a report on her table before speaking, watching my reactions carefully; she was captain for a reason, and it showed.

"Is there a problem, captain?"

I was given a winning smile. "I'll level with you, Krios- when I asked the Hierarchy for help over this, I didn't expect them to send anyone, least of all from the Council. In the grand scheme of things, three missing children is a drop in the ocean compared to the rest of the galaxy's problems."

The words fell off my tongue before I could stop them. "Kalahira guides and welcomes all into her arms, regardless of size. You cannot measure one drop's worth in the embrace of the sea."

I had parroted my father and the priests out of habit. "That's… poetic," she said, leaning towards me. "A custom of your people?"

A headache pinched at my brow. I resisted the urge to touch it. "To some. Not many speak the words any more, but the idioms remain."

"Of course they do." She tilted her head at me, then cleared her throat. "I understand Detective Adaraka took you to the Abtion crime scene today. Did you find anything?"

Bathtub, rifle, legion, missing. I blinked away the memories before I spoke. "So far we have nothing to connect the murder of Kaeruns Abtion to the case of the missing children, other than the fact he used to work at the orphanage. However, there are still leads to chase- namely, the murder weapon to find."

Her amber eyes dipped. I read sadness in them, then relief. "Shame about his death, he did a lot for the colony." There it was again, the familiarity; Adaraka was the same. "I'll issue a statement today. It won't stop the gossip, but it'll save some hurt for the families of the missing children. Any news is false hope, which I won't encourage."

The sooner I reached a conclusion about this case, the sooner I could go home. "I will interview these families tomorrow if I may," I said.

"Of course. It would be interesting to see what a fresh pair of eyes can make of it all, if there's something we've missed."

This Captain A.D meant no sarcasm, her words were genuine. "Always useful," I said. "I use my colleagues for a similar purpose. It is a good procedure."

She clasped her hands before looking at me, and I knew I was being measured by whatever level of worth she valued. "I heard you had trouble with our press outside the station," she said, after a beat. "I'll speak to Abi tomorrow, our children go to the same school."

Again with the creepy local familiarity, but I suspected she only knew about Abi's attempts at journalist because she was told. It appeared that Adaraka kept nothing from his captain. "I don't think she appreciated the override I unleashed on her recording equipment," I said. What I did wasn't legal, but no Captain would take a mangled camera bot as a serious offence.

It seemed Captain A.D didn't care, either way. "Perhaps not. I'll soothe it over," she said. That was an interesting choice of words; post war unification propaganda was everywhere, and enforced. What a delightful conversation that would be outside the school gates.

Even though Epiteia had aliens like Sully and Captain A.D's partner, the Hierarchy still controlled it. I wondered if the residents influenced each other, as we all did on the Citadel. "She did not get much. This Abi was more interested in me than the case."

She smiled wryly, amused at my . "Understandable. You're exciting to have, at least by Epiteia's standards. How are you getting on with our station?"

"So far Detective Adaraka has been most helpful." Captain A.D nodded, pleased; Adaraka seemed to be the golden boy here. "I was also impressed with your crime scene specialists, CSI Vulis and her assistant were efficient."

The captain had raised her brow at my praise. Vulis did not have many friends at Epiteia's station, going by her reaction. "Good- that's good."

"I have not met many more, aside from the officers present at the scene and the desk sergeant."

"There's not much else to know, really." With a grunt, she lifted herself out with the handles of the chair; I realised then she was pregnant, but her desk had hid her stomach. "Well, I'll let you get on, Krios. Feel free to come to me for anything." That wouldn't happen. No cop would ever visit their captain for tea and a handout, least of all me.

Captain Aciltis-Dixon held out her hand to shake. It was a dismissal, but a polite one. "Nice to meet you, captain," I said, returning the gesture.

"Keep me posted, please. This case is… it's very dear to us here at Epiteia. It's affected the community deeply. I hope we can fix this." She meant that. I looked briefly back at the photo behind her, and wondered if the little girl came from the same place as the missing children.

The door closed with a polite hiss and I found my way back to my desk, this time joined by Adaraka. "Go okay with A.D? Sully said you were in with her," he asked me, staring over his holoscreens.

"Pleasant enough." I narrowed my eyes at him. His loyalty was with his captain, not me. Time to watch my mouth. "Anything on the rifle?"

"On it now," he said. "No ships or carriers have taken off or landed in the area, so we got that at least- it's not off world yet. Just hitting up my contact now, no response. He usually comes through within an hour; I'll go talk to him after we visit the historian."

"Hmm. Good." I was getting bored of staring at my terminal, and opened my se'aus tin for another pinch while I read my email; we would go after he was finished.

To: Detective Kolyat Krios, C-Sec District 12: ZW-3498
From: Detective Bateseda T'lori, C-Sec District 12: ZW-4126
Subject: I did you a favour [ Attached]

Sup K,

Fish is ok. Ori was in your apartment after me, gave her the address for your swanky resort. How's the activities anyway? Got a massage yet? I heard turians do it with hammers.

-Bats

PS: watch the vid
PPS: it's not porn

Opening the video from T'lori would be a risk. Despite what they said, it probably was porn. Even knowing this, I flicked my eyes towards Detective Adaraka to check if it was safe to watch, only to see him engrossed by his terminal.

The video opened to T'lori's smug blue face in my living room. "Hey Krios," he said, standing by my bookshelf. I turned down the volume just for my ears. "Since you asked me to look after your weird hairy fish, guess where I am."

"Amonkira's sagging ball sac," I muttered. Why, why did I give him a keycode?

Adaraka looked at me, but didn't say anything; I could see him trying to watch the vid from corner of his eye when he turned back to his work.

T'lori had picked up a mythology anthology that was centuries old. It wasn't so much that it was an antique and precious that bothered me, just that it was mine and he was touching it. "Ha, it's your drell shit. This is ancient, right? What happens when I put it here, does it fuck you up? I bet it does. Ooh look, now it's with the datapads. I think it belongs there, does it belong there, Krios?"

I tugged my jacket straight and glared at the vid. No, I won't rise to this. T'lori was behaving like an ass, as usual.

Despite myself, I still watched it play. T'lori had moved onto a scroll of asari poetry I inherited from my father- most of the books I had were his. That one though, I liked; I had even met the Justicar who had gifted it. "You own a Canticles of Light? Really?"

T'Lori at least put that back on its plinth after- even he had limits. "Buddy, if you want to see the good of my people, I can lend you Into The Blue 3: Wayward Maidens- them's some good titties. Part two ain't so bad either. Don't bother with four, no one needs to see elcor dong."

No, no. I will not be baited; I should close the video and move on with my life. As soon I reached out, I saw his blue hand yank another book from the shelf. "A load of human crap here too, but you got a fetish. What's this one- Philosophy Of Thomas Hobbes." T'lori had opened the book so loudly I heard the spine protest. "He's one ugly bastard. Your porn is weird, Krios."

I went through an old breathing exercise I learnt from a priest years ago. Inhale, exhale. I am stone on the shore-

"I'll just rub my blue hands all over it some more and put it here, how about that?" I could do nothing as he slid the book amongst a collection of my prayer books. "Citadel protocol anyway, always knew you were a racist dick. I mean, keeping all these cultures divided like this," he said, tutting. "They should be free to mix! Honestly, I'm just helping you out here."

That was my breaking point. Before I could stop myself, I had opened up the mail system.

To: Detective Bateseda T'lori, C-Sec District 12: ZW-4126
From: Detective Kolyat Krios, C-Sec District 12: ZW-3498
Subject: BATS STOP TOUCHING MY SHIT

JUST CHECK ON FISH YOU ASSHOLE
WHY DO YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY TO TOUCH PEOPLE'S SHIT
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF I FUCKED UP ALL YOUR PORN
THERE'S A SYSTEM TO THESE THINGS

Aslkdja;lskdjaklsjds'da

T'lori had shoved the camera right into his face now, close enough for me count every obnoxious freckle. "Guess I should go. Have fun on the beach resort, my friend! Oh, I'm sorry, I mean lake. Don't let the water get in your frill, I heard that's bad for you guys."

The video had stopped: I breathed out and deleted everything I had typed. "Son of a bitch," I said, muttering still. Adaraka had given up his pretence of ignoring it.

"Not good?" he said mildly, tapping his thumb against his chin.

"Hnngh." I felt the hiss of my anger die in my throat. "My colleague back home wanted me to look at something," I said. "I am responding."

To: Detective Bateseda T'lori, C-Sec District 12: ZW-4126
From: Detective Kolyat Krios, C-Sec District 12: ZW-3498
Subject: [No Subject]

Bats,

TY for checking on the Fish. Please don't touch my books again.

-K

PS: You're an asshole.

I sent the message off before I could change it. The vidmail had been deleted from my storage, but it's not as if I could forget what it was. "Well. Remind me not to ask you to look at something," Adaraka said, leaning back in his chair.

"Wise choice." I rose and flicked my jacket into shape, annoyed at my lapse of anger. "Work matters are fine, of course. Come, let's go interview the historian. I need a break from reading."