Chapter 6-Shadow Broker
AN: Here it is: chapter 6. Long awaited (for a whole day), and hot off the presses (relatively). The plot is finally revealed, and once again there's some more characterization. Thanks for reading!
Irasi found Otho in the crew quarters, eating a meal of what appeared to be some kind of mush. "So," she started, "I have a few questions for you."
The doctor swallowed and looked up at her, "Alright, I figured you might. Shoot."
Irasi took a seat across from Dr. Otho. "Why did the Shadow Broker want to save me?"
"Can't say. At least, not for sure. If I were to guess, I would say he wants to talk to you about Peak 15. You were one of the only ones around just before it blew up. Could be he wants to know what happened." Otho chuckled quietly, "Or it could be some other reason. The Shadow Broker doesn't reveal his plans to people like me."
"What other reason could there possibly be?" Irasi asked.
"Well, you were an asari commando before you took a shotgun slug to the stomach. Now you're an expatriate. Maybe the Shadow Broker simply figured you would make a good agent. Or it could be something else entirely. The Shadow Broker doesn't do anything without cause."
Irasi nodded, "Ok, I think I understand what you're saying. There was probably a good reason why he saved me."
"Probably," Otho replied.
"But what about you?" Irasi asked. Otho looked perplexed by the question, so she clarified, "How long have you been working for the Shadow Broker?"
"Since he started paying me," Dr. Otho joked. "But seriously, I've been an agent for the infamous Shadow Broker for almost seven years now. He helped me get out of some trouble with the Hierarchy, and in exchange I agreed to patch up anyone he sent my way, and take on the odd spying job now and then. This mission is the first one that's required me to risk my own neck, and also the last one the Shadow Broker will send me on." Dr. Otho sighed, "After this, our partnership will be dissolved and I can go off to do—something else."
"Like what?"
"Like marry an asari and retire on the Shadow Broker's money. He's paying me enough for this mission that I'll be able to live like a prince on one of the smaller planets."
Irasi laughed, and for the first time she saw Otho as a Turian, and not just some secretive doctor who had happened to patch her up. "Does it have to be an asari?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, I have a thing for strangely colored skin."
Irasi laughed again, "I must get you all kinds of hot and bothered, then."
"Absolutely. If you weren't an Ardat Yakshi I'd definitely look into losing you before this delivery to the Shadow Broker happens."
"I'm. Not. An. Ardat. Yakshi." Irasi replied through gritted teeth. She struggled to maintain composure.
"I know that," Dr. Otho replied, "just playing around." He got up to leave, "I don't recommend the Roi-Ri, the chef assured me he knew how to make it, but it would seem he was lying."
Dr. Otho did not talk with Irasi for the rest of the voyage, and she thought she understood why. He had let her behind his defenses; not much behind them, but a little. And she had responded by losing her temper. Not that that's my fault, she thought, I bet if he went through the same things as me he'd be just as angry to be called an Ardat Yakshi. Even in jest.
She stayed in her room, tired of all of the attention she got on the rest of the ship. The lecherous gazes from some of the crew, especially the humans, were bad enough. But worse were the looks of pity from the batarian and asari from Sur'Kesh. Irasi didn't know how much they knew about her, but it was clear they suspected something of the prejudice she had dealt with for so long. It made her want to scream. I don't need your sympathy! I've lived long enough without it, and I ended up making more out of my life than either of you. To avoid losing her temper, Irasi avoided those two like the plague, and when she did see them she reminded herself that she should not take what was intended as a kindness as something insulting.
The captain announced that the frigate entered orbit above Palaven, and Irasi went to one of the frigate's windows to look at the planet. Having grown up on Lessus, she was used to greenery and abundant water. Even Sur'Kesh has forests once you get away from all the skyscrapers, she thought.
Palaven was not green, and there was little visible water on its surface. The planet was very brown, and Irasi caught herself wondering how life could exist on this planet at all. Surely the Turians need water to survive.
"Aquifers," Dr. Otho said. He must have snuck up while I was busy looking at Palaven. Irasi worried that it was a sign that her senses, which had become so acute while she served as a commando, were slipping. When she looked at the doctor perplexedly he explained, "It's the first question most people have when they first see Palaven. 'How can anyone live on such a rocky planet?' The answer is aquifers, giant underground rivers that bubble up every few miles."
Irasi understood then, how the sprawling cities were supported. She wanted to apologize for her behavior a few nights before, but couldn't make herself do it. Instead, she just stood there with Otho while the frigate caromed toward one of the spaceports of Cipritine, the world's capital.
Apparently the ensemble of soldiers that had saved Irasi on Sur'Kesh all knew where the Shadow Broker's base in Cipritine was, for they didn't communicate directions as she and Otho followed them. They simply turned at the appropriate times, eventually ending up at an elevator. The batarian turned to Otho, "This is as far as you go." Otho nodded and turned on his heel, as the batarian waved Irasi into the elevator. The squad joined her, and one of them keyed in a code that she couldn't see.
The elevator shot downward. The trip lasted for a very long time. Irasi wondered if they were travelling all the way to the center of Palaven. It certainly felt like that was the case. Finally the elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing what looked like a small military base. Irasi had seen a few military bases in her life, and this Shadow Broker base looked just like those, but perhaps with more technology.
"When do I get to meet the big SB?" Irasi asked.
The batarian grunted, "Right now. Follow me." He led the way down a long hallway and into a room on the right. He turned toward Irasi, who threw him a quizzical look. The room was, after all, completely empty. The batarian pointed at a metal circle on the floor, "Stand there, and then you will meet with the Shadow Broker."
Irasi did as the batarian said, and immediately a hologram of a smoky figure lit up before her. "Irasi Nianome," the figure said, "good to meet you." The figure waited, as if expecting a response.
"I'd say the same, but you haven't introduced yourself." Irasi replied, somewhat pointedly. She was resorting to insolence, as she often did when things were happening that she didn't quite understand.
The figure's eyes narrowed. Or rather, the two foggy areas the figure had instead of eyes narrowed. "It should be entirely obvious who I am."
Irasi laughed, "You are an epithet, nothing more. I would know a name, rather than address you by such a ridiculous title." She waited to see what the figure would do in response. He took an angry step forward, seemingly forgetting that holograms couldn't do any actual harm.
"Yes, you never were one for titles. And it's not hard to see why, if my dossier on you is to be believed." The hologram stepped back again. "But in this case I think it would be wise to use my title, given as to how you won't get a name, and I think of all people you have ever met I am most deserving of the respect of a title."
Well doesn't he think highly of himself? Irasi mused. "We'll see about that, SB."
The figure smiled, "For now, my initials will be sufficient. And besides, I didn't fetch you here to quibble over names and epithets. What I want to discuss is something quite different."
Irasi raised her eyebrows, "Oh? Like what?"
"I want to discuss what you can do for me. I saved your life, and in such a way that you are free from retaliation for your past—deeds. Now let us discuss what you can do to repay me."
"The way I see it, the things you are attributing to yourself were all Otho's doing." Irasi knew she would have to acquiesce to the Shadow Broker's demands eventually; she was just being difficult out of habit.
The figure thought for a moment. "When an asari shoots another asari, do you blame the gun?"
"No."
"Exactly, Irasi Nianome. The gun is not to blame because without someone to fire it there would be no damage. You blame not the tool but the architect, and rightly so. You look not to proximal cause, but rather the distal cause, do you not?"
Irasi grunted; she thought she knew what he was getting at. "You think you're the real reason behind Otho's actions."
The figure laughed for a long time before responding, "Think? My dear Irasi, I know I am the architect behind Otho's choice to save you. I not only funded the whole operation, I gave him the plan."
Tired of arguing, Irasi conceded, "Alright, I can see your logic. So what do you want me to do for you?"
"I'm glad you're willing to listen. What I want from you is simple, really. You see, I have a lot of difficulty penetrating asari society, given how-closed off- your culture is. By the time asari leave their homeworlds and I can recruit them, they've already fallen into their roles. This makes it exceedingly difficult to get agents who have any power with the Republics. But you and your situation present an opportunity, one that I've never had before. I want an agent who is also a justicar. I want you to be that agent."