Hey everyone. Thanks again for all your lovely support! I will soon be working with a beta for the first time =^^=. Hoping that it will smooth out my writing and constantly going back to edit previous chapters, which I have been doing a lot... Anyway, Enjoy.
Chapter 6: C-Sec
Pain was once again the first thing she realised out of the haze of unconsciousness, followed by the distant sound of voices, like they were in another room or there was a wall between them and her. She tried not to moan or move, wanting to get a better handle on her surroundings and be fully aware before she alerted whoever that she was awake. She was laying on some sort of flat surface or slab, with the barest of mattress underneath her. The voices became more coherent after a few seconds, but she dare not open her eyes yet, not knowing if they could see her. All she knew was that there was a light above her, she was on her side and she wasn't in a pod at least, but she was getting tired and frustrated at waking up in these situations.
"…like another crazy, homeless duster case if you ask me. She's going sleep off the blow probably for the next couple of hours sir. Medic says she'll be fine. We can question her once she wakes up…. No, sir. We didn't find any ID on her and she's not on the system….. Yes sir, will notify you as soon as she comes to." Came a feminine voice from behind the wall.
Questioning? Question for what?! What happened….. Ugh, head hurt….. Think Damit! Last I was off the Normandy, went for the test and then….. The memories suddenly come flooding back and she shot open her eyes, not even the bright light could make her more than blink a few times before she adjusted. She dare not move yet, but surveyed the room with only moving her eyes. She was in some sort of cell with only a toilet and the bed she was laying on. There seemed to be a force field for a door. If this is a cell, then I must be in a police station…That's good! I can explain this was all just an accident and I'm scared out of my shattered skull, and get back to the hospital or the Normandy to Dr. Chakwas!
Christine slowly began to move to sit up, finally allowing herself to groan from her throbbing head. She noticed a sticky patch of blood on her temple, probably the blow she took; but is was already dry and smelled of some sort of antiseptic. She made her way to the force field, not wanting to test it out by touching it, but also trying to see as far down the hall on both ends as she could. There was no cells on the opposite wall, so she couldn't see if there was anyone else here, except for an Asari officer at the end of the hall by the door, going over a datapad. Christine swallowed her nerves down. Come on Christi, suck it up, they are the good guys here. Just call her over and explain everything. She swallowed one more time before calling in a shaky voice "E-Ex-Excuse me? ….. H-Hello? T-there was a misunderstanding, I-I'm not s-supposed to b-be here."
At the sound of her voice the Arari spun round and stared at her in disbelieve as if she can't bring herself to believe that someone was calling her, then promptly snapped out of it and headed for her cell, hand rising to her ear for her radio. "Sir! She's awake already, should I bring her through? ….. Yes sir." The violet blue Asari with white lines on her face stopped in front of her cell with a serious look on her face, then removed something from the back of her belt that looked like a strange rectangular box that fit in the palm of her hand. "Ok Ma'am, please step away from the barrier and turn around with your hands on your head. I'm going to come in and cuff you to take you to questioning, you made quit the mess in the wards you know."
Christine was stunned for a moment, but then just nodded and did as was asked of her, not trusting her voice and not knowing what else to do. The only logical reasoning she had in her head was that they were the cops and wouldn't hurt her if she cooperated. Once she was cuffed in a strange orange glowing cuff, the Asari led her out and down the hall. She tried to hide her shaking hands but she was so scared it was a mission not to let her whole body tremble. Not only was she cuffed and being led to who knows where, but she is once again at the mercy of an alien in an unknown situation. Mentally she was coming apart at the seams from fear, slowly unravelling; one pull away from falling apart completely, but she tried to keep it wrapped up for all she was worth.
Once the door opened and she was led out into the lobby, she froze in her tracks. It was packed with aliens and humans of every sort, panic creeping up into her throat. A gentle shove from the Asari officer behind her made her keep walking, wide-eyed at every alien that came too close or brushed by them. "Hey, you ok in there?" came the officer's voice from behind her, making her look around in her frightened state. She gave her an odd look but motioned for her to continue saying only that they were almost there. They pushed on and were almost out of the crowd when a dark skinned Turian bumped into her grumbling something, but that was all she could take. She screamed in terror so loud everyone around her held their ears, and everyone else stopped what they were doing and stared at her. She didn't notice, only seeing danger all around her and ran to the nearest dark corridor to get away.
Officers tried to grab at her but she dodged all of them until she reached the hallway, where she ran right into the arms of a man, grabbing her and holding in place. "Easy there girl, easy." He said in a deep voice. Christine was squirming for all she was worth but wasn't budging. The Asari officer caught up with her by now, speaking to the Human one holding her. "Thanks Jeffries, she needs to go to interrogation room J10 for Chellick. She seems to be scared of everyone around here so let's take the hallway there and not the hub. She might be a duster, which could explain her reaction."
"Sure thing Amenis, lead the way. The faster we get there the faster she'll stop squirmin'." And with that they both move down a hallway and through some corridors. Christine eventually stopped wriggling about so much, resigning herself to being caught again, but also the panic in her having subsided enough for her to think logically about it all, now that she was out of the crowd of aliens.
Great, I'm just making this all worse for myself by running from officers. Why do I keep snapping like that? She thought to herself. Before she knew it, she was in a smallish room with a single light in the middle and table and two chairs, and the officers were seating her in one. She noted that the chairs and table were bolted to the floor as well. Must be so people don't toss around the furniture in a tantrum or something.
Once she was seated and calm enough, both officers left the room; leaving her with only her thoughts. She didn't let her thoughts wonder too much this time and tried to focus on what she would need to explain to whoever came to question her. She didn't know what else they might be asking her regarding the bag of stuff she picked up, but that officer did say something about contraband. She sighs and drops her head and looks at the floor, scuffing the metal plated floor with her one foot repeatedly. An hour seems to drag by with nothing happening. She presumed that one of the walls probably had a one-way mirror of some kind, all the cop shows or movies had those. But why they waited and only observed her she didn't know.
After starting to get really bored she lifted her head to lay on her arms on the table, not the most comfortable position but she has fallen asleep in exams before, so she ignored her minor discomfort. A few minutes after she started drifting off, the door shwiched open, revealing the Asari officer from before and a new Turian officer. At the sight of him she curled up a bit in her chair, as far as she could get from him without getting out of the chair. They notice this and the Turian raised a brow plate at her antics but didn't say anything. He put down what looked like a plastic cup of water on her side of the table, before moving to the other chair and taking a seat. He had light cream coloured plates, with white face paint and bright green eyes. Christine just eyed him, not moving or speaking, face as blank as she could hold it; while he assessed her from across the table before he spoke. "I brought you some water if you were thirsty." He stated in a neutral tone. Must be the good cop routine…. Christine mused to herself, looking down to the glass and then back to the Turian.
"I'm fine." Is all she manages to croak out of her fear constricted throat. He eyes her suspiciously now before he continues.
"I'm Detective Chellick, and I have a few questions for you in regards to this afternoon's incident." He states and seems to wait for her to acknowledge it. She nods in return and he starts his questioning. "First off, what is your name?"
"Ch-Christine Kruger" out of the corner of her eye she notices the Asari make a note on a datapad, wait for a few seconds and then look at the detective and shake her head at him.
"You're not on our databases, Christine; care to explain why?" he asks, still in his neutral tone.
Christine thinks carefully of her answer, because she knows they won't believe her if she did tell them right away, but she could tell them the truth without too much detail and hope they could trace it from there "I don't know… they said the same on the Normandy after they rescued me from some desert planet….. dunno how I got there exactly… " Well that's mostly true.
He gave her a perplexed look, and looked over at the Asari, who was typing something on her datapad, then gave him a shrug and a nod. "Very well, we will contact them to confirm your identification. Now, what were you doing in the markets this afternoon before you were chased down?"
Christine pulled up her legs to her body, wrapped her cuffed hands around them and rested her head on her knees before answering. "I was just walking through, and this Salarian bumped into me and dropped a bag of something. I picked it up and was about to take it back to him when the officers came around a corner and started chasing him. Another Turian officer put a hand on my shoulder and said something and I just panicked and just….. reacted….. I didn't mean to hit him….. I just ran and was so scared…." She said, curling into a tighter ball and not looking Chellick in the eyes.
He seems to think of her answer before continuing "Very well then, would you please fill out your statement of what happened on this form for the records?" at that mention the Asari officer stepped forward and put another datapad in front of her on the table. Christine cringes away from the Asari as she moves close by her. Both officers giving her sceptical looks at her reaction, but the Asari just steps back to her corner and they now both seems to wait on her.
After a few more tense seconds, Christine extended a shaking hand and picked up the datapad and slowly started typing away, not saying a word, but hesitating at some of the lines in the form. Chellick kept an eagle eye on everything she did, assessing or judging her, she didn't know, but somehow pleased as well. When she was done, she threw the datapad at him and resumed to curling up on the chair, shaking like a leave.
"Are you sure you're not having withdrawal symptoms from something? Amenis, what did her toxicology report say?" came his remark at her reaction while picking up the datapad and starting to read it over.
"Nothing sir, as in absolutely nothing. Not even vaccines." Came the reply with obvious scepticism. Christine just eyed them, not knowing what to say to all this, but getting progressively more and more nervous of the situation, when suddenly Chellick spoke up with a booming voice, standing from his chair.
"What?! You expect me to believe this? You can't be born in 1990?! What are you trying to pull here?" Chellick was willing to start believing her story, but now this? But when he looked at the woman, he didn't think a human could curl up in such a small, tight ball; and she was now whimpering in fear, hands raised in his direction, hiding her face. He didn't know if he was looking at the best actress he has ever seen, or if he was seriously misjudging the withdrawal hallucinations she was going through. He calmed himself down and sat back in his chair, trying to calm the frantic woman before he continued. "Look Miss Kruger, it's not good to lie to a C-Sec officer, and it will be impossible then to take your statement serious if this is the kind of information you give us. I hope you reconsider th-" Chellick was explaining but was cut off by the sudden frantic voice of the Asari.
"Sir! We have no communications! And my datapad is going crazy…" as she said this, the datapad started to spark and she dropped it to the floor where it proceeded to start smoking before it went dead and stopped sparking. The officers looked at each other and then to Christine, which looked even more dumbfounded than they did.
"I thought this room was clear of bugs and disruptors?" Chellick asked angrily. But the Asari just gave him a look that said there shouldn't be any, and they looked at Christine again, who was looking between the two of them, from one to the other and back. "Search her for any devices." He ordered.
The Asari officer stepped forward and brought out her omni-tool to scan her, but this time Christine wriggled off of her chair into the nearest corner at the sight for some reason. When she stepped closer again and started scanning, Christine was holding up her hands defensively again and breathing heavily. Too close, she's too close…. Hide, must hide….. trapped… trapped…. Can't get out, must get out… must get out…. Was all that was running through her mind.
"Sir, my scan is drawing a blank, as in it doesn't even pick her up as being here…. I don't know what's going on… she had nothing on her except for the clothes on her back and a translator when she came in." came the unbelieving reply.
"Then check her physically, she must have some sort of device that's causing the jamming that you missed! Check the translator!" he was growling now and getting up to move over to her as the Asari came even closer. Once she laid her hand on her shoulder, Christine snapped again, but it felt different from earlier, she would later note. Instead of just the run instinct she had before, it screamed FIGHT since there was nowhere to run.
No, No, No Nonono "NOOO!" The Asari looked at her startled but was too late to react as Christine headbutted her as she came up fast, sending her reeling backwards; but before she went far, Christine pulled her head back and a knee went to her gut and then a shoulder to the back of the head, sending her crumpling to the floor. When she looked up, the Turian was already almost on top of her, but she was faster. She dodged him grabbing for her, and then a right hook punch, before she used the momentum of her dodge to turn it into a round house kick to the face. He stumbles but recovers, but before he could come at her again, she gives him a few quick punches to the unprotected area of his gut, before tripping him and punching him in the temple, knocking him out.
She quickly whirled around to find the Asari not moving on the ground as well. She was panting heavily staring at their still forms for a few seconds before she moved to the door, examining it. She didn't even notice the sparking cuffs lying on the floor. All she wanted was to get out and find a safe and dark corner to hide in. The haptic interface was once again blaring an angry red at her. But this time she didn't even think about it, and just put her hand on it, letting a spark jump from her hand, unlocking it like she did when she ran from that other ship; only this time, she was on some sort of auto-pilot, only barely aware of what she was doing or what was happening.
The door wooshed open and she peaked out. No one was currently in the hallway, so she slinked out, hugging the wall but moving fast and quiet from one hallway to the next until she found an empty office. She decided to hide behind the desk there, and locked the door behind her with another spark from her hands, but this one seemed to also disable all electronics in the office, even making the lights go out. She felt her way to the desk in the dark, sliding behind and underneath it.
Once her heartbeat slowed down enough for her to start relaxing the panic away enough, it hit her what she had just done…. again…. without her meaning to harm anyone, but was just so damn scared. She curled up in a ball and started crying. What have I become?!
"Sir, one of the interrogation rooms just went dark, no comms, vid or audio feed. Even the power grid doesn't seem to exist around it, but it's still using power."
Salik looked up from his datapad at his desk, going over a missing person's case from the hospital. Something about it being difficult to get the case going since the person wasn't on their systems. The person seemed oddly familiar to him, but hadn't yet had the time to place her. "What is it Cadet? What's the cause?" he asks as he gets up to have a look. He was supervising the new techs at the monitoring stations. Not the best part of his job, but he rather make sure himself they are competent before they take their more permanent posts.
"I'm not sure sir. Detectives Chillick and Amenis just started questioning a suspect and then it all went dark. There is nothing wrong with any of the rooms next to it, sir. I have no idea what's caused it." Answered the human cadet. She was trying every possible test in the book, but to no avail. "It's like a black hole is just blanking out all signals from there."
"Hmmm…, send a team to investigate, I don't like this. Why would it all go dark just as an interview starts? Tell the team to be ready for anything, I'll meet them at the hub and then lead the team myself." Something was very off about this to him, better to error on the side of caution. He left the monitoring station to get his gear and meet the team.
"Yes sir. Team will be there in 10."
12 Minutes later and they were at the interrogation room. The door was open and fried. As they rushed in, weapons raised, all they found was Chellick and Amenis out cold on the floor, with no other sign of struggle, and all the electronics fried in the room. And oddly, a full glass of water on the table, untouched. "Get a medic in here stat! Put the station on alert, we have a suspect on the loose!" All the nonessential personnel scrambled to their posts, while the medics came rushing in. Something was very wrong here and Salik was going to get to the bottom of this. Just as he was about to request a station wide search, his omni-tool beeped with a call.
"Salik here. …. Another room went dark? Same circumstances? ... Right, We'll investigate immediately." He ends the call and turns to his team. "Team two, with me, weapons ready. We just got another room that went off the grid." And they all followed his lead down the hallway.
Christine had cried more in this last week- Was it a week or more? I'm not sure- than she has for most of her life. She just can't adapt with everything changing so much around her the whole time. She's frightened too, not just of her surroundings and the aliens, but of what they have made her into…. It has to be what happened all those times she was unconscious or semi-awake. Some freak show that didn't even know what she was or what she could do…. She was a constant danger to those around her as far as she was concerned. The only time she didn't really freak out like that was when she was on the Normandy… they were nice to her there, so maybe she could be safe with some people, but not all.
While she was racking her brain trying to make sense of everything, she heard footsteps coming from the hallway outside the door, before she heard voices. "…-the one that's gone dark? Good. Ready, on my three" Christine tensed, peaking at the small gap on the floor under the table, not making a sound or movement.
"One" She held herself tighter…
"Two" she closed her eyes and held her breath.
"Three!" the door was pulled open on the emergency manual latch, and three flashlights entered the room swiftly, scanning the room for potential threats. After a few seconds, one rested on the table. The light bobbed a bit, and Christine opened one eye and let her breath out softly and slowly before she passes out. Some scuffling in her direction indicated they were coming around to her, before a light blinded her. She held up a hand and gasped at the assault on her eyes.
"Don't move, C-Sec! Keep your hands where I can see them." Came a male voice. Christine quickly held out both hands in front of her and shielded her eyes, whimpering and trembling. She was quickly cuffed and pulled out from under the table, then shoved to the door with a pistol at her back. She stumbled out into the light and adjusted in a few blinks, to find a few pistols trained on her, and a Salarian in front of her with a scowl on his face. All she did was tremble and stare at him.
"Are you sure she is our escaped prisoner that caused all this chaos? She's nothing more than a frightened woman hiding in the dark? Does she even have a disruptor on her?" he asked to his subordinate. She was promptly scanned and given the all clear. The pistols were lowered and the Salarian now focused on her. "Now miss, could you please tell me what you are doing hiding in a C-Sec office?" he asked her, crossing his arms.
"I-I was scared….. ran…. Hid … no more….. I hurt people…. Sorry…. So scared… just ran…." She was staring at the floor and fiddling with her hands as she struggled to get the words out. the Salarian gave a thoughtful hum at her answer and then promptly turned around.
"Emmerson, take her to questioning but be gentle with her. She's traumatised from something. Give her food and water if she needs any. I'll call it in and take it from there."
"Yes sir!"
And with that she was wordlessly taken away to another small room with a table and chairs. She didn't even bother sitting in the chair this time, hiding in the corner again, ignoring all offers of food or drink.
"Sir, we have the woman that was brought in with the red sand dealer and who supposedly took out Chellick and Amenis…. Yes sir, she is in a new interrogation room, guarded till we question her…. Sir, I don't think that is wise, she is tr-….. No sir, I think this case is related to that hospit-… yes sir…. She will be waiting for your personal questioning." A frustrated sigh escapes him. This is not going to end well.
Later, while is watching the start of the questioning, it hits him like a freight train, nearly knocking him over at the revelation. It's her! The colonist that came in with Vakarian! Maybe he can shed some light on the situation… Pallin will have my head for this, but he's not listening to me or my theories.
He steps out of the Academy to a quiet corner and phones the only person he believes knows what's going on with this mystery person.
"Vakarian here, this better be urgent Salik. I'm in the middle of a mission."
"It is important. It's concerning your colonist friend that came with you earlier today….."