"So, where are we going, big guy?" Oriana asked.
"Illium. You need to get back home."
"...I thought I was your consultant."
"For this mission. The mission's over."
"Don't you want me around?"
"It's not that. Having civilians on board, especially for classified ops, is highly irregular, and could get me into trouble. There are those who are just waiting for me to slip up so they can demote me, so I need to play things...carefully."
"Launching a full assault on a person's private property was playing things carefully?"
"He had the Fucking Statue of Fucking Liberty in his basement, and I was merely establishing a beachhead for the Einstein. That's different than getting a civilian killed by taking her into a warzone."
"Well, according to Pressley, the paperwork I signed was going to be good for a while, like, a year."
I call up Pressley.
"Pressley, what's this I hear about Oriana being hired for a year?"
"You said you wanted her along for the mission. The mission to keep an eye on the Normandy is going to take a while."
"The 'mission' was to infiltrate Hock's estate!"
"Sorry, sir. I...misinterpreted. besides, You may want her along to perform this function again. She's more...sociable than we are."
"Bullshit you misinterpreted. I don't think for a second you're that stupid, Pressley. If this is some petty shit over how a mere MC was given command over you, I swear you will spend the rest of the operation against the Normandy in the brig."
"Of course not, sir. I merely stand by what I said, and I believe Miss Lawson will be of great assistance to us. And it is my duty as XO to make sure we have all of the manpower we need, rather than having to make a trip to Illium every time we need someone flesh and blood along."
"The problem is, Oriana's a civilian, Pressley. If we get her killed, which I am not naive enough to believe I can guarantee won't happen, we are in legal hell."
"We had civilians on the Normandy…"
"The Normandy was a SPECTRE ship! If anything bad happened, Shepard could flash his Space Gestapo badge and get away with it! We, as a 'mere' Alliance vessel, are actually held accountable for shit!"
"Mega, you're overreacting. I signed a waiver." Oriana interrupted.
"Not the point. I can't have my XO going behind my back. That's as bad as having our ship's navigation system being a sleeper agent."
"So, everyone, I have bad news, good news, and neutral news." Shepard announced on the Normandy PA.
"Bad news is, EDI's an Alliance double agent under the command of the person assigned to kill us all if he thinks we're up to anything sketchy, and all of the Anti-EDI countermeasures are fake.
"I knew it! I knew she was up to something!" Came from the cockpit.
"The good news is, the person assigned to kill us all if he thinks we're up to something apparently doesn't hate us as much as we thought he did, as we still have air in the ship."
"...That isn't as reassuring as you thought it'd be, Commander." Kelly Chambers informed him.
"Also, the neutral news is is that there is a conspiracy involving an AI over a century old, sapient mechs, and people's brains stuffed into jars, that is apparently helping us fight the Reapers. If we are to contact a Quarian named Tali'Zorah, she is to, under no circumstances, find out about this. It could trigger a relapse. Thank you for your time, Shepard out."
He mulled it over a few seconds, and turned the PA back on.
"Anyone trying to blow up the AI core will be put in the brig. We don't want to piss of the AI that can kill us on a whim, or report to the Alliance that we're terrorists, and need to be destroyed."
"I would also like to state that I have no intention of harming anyone on board, and the extent of my duties to the Alliance is to send them a copy of our reports, in order to be sure we are not participating in criminal activity. I am actively prohibited from doing more than that. Also, I have no intention of taking over your duties as pilot, Jeff. After all, I do like the way you... handle me."
A pause.
"That was a joke."
"I am a consenting adult, so stop getting on Pressley's case. I've said it once, and I'll say it again. You're overreacting."
I close the comm.
"...Why did you sign on for a year, Ori?"
"Uh, because you're my friend? And this is much more interesting than sitting in a classroom...Even if there are a few cute boys in my class."
"...You think of me as your friend?"
"Would I take the time to play online with you if I wasn't?"
"Playing games is one thing. Being stuck on a ship that's going to be in active combat is another."
"Do you not want me around, is that it?"
"...I don't want to put you in danger, is all."
"...Is this about how we first met? Where you took out the Eclipse mercs my biological father sent after me?"
"...Sort of. You are very well aware of the fact my intentions were not so...altruistic when I first tracked you down."
"You wanted to use me to get back at my sister, who was your best friend and yet tried to kill you, but you had a change of heart. I know. You told me."
"That's just it. Why do you trust me, when I admitted to trying to...hurt you for something that had nothing to do with you?"
"Because you didn't, and you copped to even having the temptation? Wanting revenge for someone backstabbing you isn't bad. It's not knowing where the line is that's bad, and you drew the line at the right spot. So, stop feeling guilty for something you didn't even do."
"...Even if I was tempted to?"
"People aren't taken to court over stuff they were tempted to do. Because it's going through with it is what proves you're a bad person. You didn't go through with it, so you're not a bad guy. So stop being a mopey bitch, bitch."