[ Chapter 11: Liquid Gold ]

Councilor Tevos brought a brooding darkness with her that morning. It was harbored beneath her eyes; a gloomy shade that pooled in the shallows of her sockets to mark the deprivation of rest. Their next appointment had been scheduled for the earliest time possible, consequently being the very first moment of the Citadel Tower's work day. Aria had actually stepped out of an elevator en route to the asari councilor's office when she encountered Tevos herself, making her way to the very same destination. It was that moment when she noticed the dour shadows of Tevos's gaze, which ensconced whatever cryptic message the councilor sent across the silence of their greeting. With the watchful eyes of C-Sec guards upon them, they exchanged no words. Instead, Councilor Tevos diverted her eyes and resumed her trek to her office, leaving Aria to follow while speculating about the dreadful news she might have carried with her.

But even when the office's door shut behind them, freeing them from that unbearable silence, Tevos still said nothing throughout the entire time spent setting down a satchel against the side of her desk, proceeding to remove its contents, and laying out a few items of functional importance onto her workspace, including a thermos, while Aria sat abiding within a tense cloud of ignorance. The councilor moved as if Aria were not even there, as if her body was only guided by automatic motions that had risen through pure habit over the months, and not by an actively present consciousness at all. The behavior was a grim portent, steadily eroding Aria's patience until the passing seconds seemed to stretch to obscene lengths of time.

Tevos finally took her seat after what felt like eons, feeling the morning's warm luminescence on her weary shoulders as she locked eyes with her potential ally. Even Aria, as restless and discontented as she must have been, had retained an oddly respectful silence until Tevos was ready to proceed. Perhaps from fears creeping out of the reaches of her mind, distracting her from displaying any outward aversion. No, Tevos thought, it was more likely to be sheer skepticism lasting from the previous day. Aria still did not believe the councilor's horror stories of an inescapable war, and yet, something flitted in her cold stare, a dubious glint of consideration that the terrible stories could be true.

The councilor, slightly debilitated by her sleepy mind, felt a tinge of empathy.

"I have for you," Tevos began, piercing the delicate silence, "the proof you requested."

Aria did nothing. She but remained there with a firm jaw, a subtle tilt of her head, and with the smallest squint at the very corners of her eyes, drawn from the window's admittance of the white, early-day glow. They both fell into silence again as an audio recording from Tevos's omni-tool filled the air.

"Listen, Delran," came the turian councilor's voice, "if Aria T'Loak escapes back to Omega, we're going to see her again. We know this for sure. This is no longer a matter involving our personal preferences about the extreme measure of war, but a matter of Citadel security. A day will come, likely when you and I are long gone, when T'Loak will come after the Citadel again, in some form. I can't see a single reason why she wouldn't. In this action, we are protecting our future generations. Would we rather fight the current inhabitants of Omega today, or wait for them to grow to unmanageable numbers? This is a mathematical situation. We must view this in such a way."

Councilor Delran replied, "I agree with you. I know Councilor Tevos will be very upset with us. But we need to exercise our authority. She's not fit to carry out this diplomatic action. She's blinded by her own interests. Her own grudge. She, being the newest addition to our trio, has something to prove, and I fear that she'll sacrifice future security just to show the masses that their new asari councilor is a capable hero of sorts, having protected them all from the horrors of another war. Of course, that's my speculation. I know she cares deeply for her people. But so do we. We care just as much. This decision is not ruthless, but self-sacrificial to ensure the health of our children. It is time to put T'Loak down."

"So it's decided? We're going through with this? Once the contract is vetoed, there will be no turning back."

"I am sure of this. To have a live Aria T'Loak skulking around this galaxy is too much of a liability. I will not be taking that risk. I may not be as merciful as Councilor Tevos, but at least we fill her deficiency in foresight. I thought asari were supposed to be excellent in that respect…"

"Well yes, that's the general trend. But what of the curious decisions the matriarchs have been known to make? Occasionally we witness absurd mandates that later bloom into something quite unexpected. Do you think Tevos has a design for the future? Are we destroying that for her?"

"If she had a plan, she would have likely told us," Councilor Delran deduced. "If she could see so clearly into the future as to confidently predict movements of someone as capricious as Aria T'Loak, she should have been able to predict our eventual reactions to the mess we're currently bogged within. She would have told us. The situation was too fragile for her to keep something that important from us. I think she's been merely acting out of desperation lately."

"And given that state of clouded judgment, and lack of reason, we must stand up to intervene."

"Precisely."

Tarconis hesitated for a moment. "Even if the contract holds acceptable terms?"

"Even so, yes. Even if Tevos only gives minor concessions completely within reason, they will not keep T'Loak away. They are but a small taste of blood—and with that acquired, it will grow into a hunger for more, and she will be back again one day. We must stop her now, as this may be our only chance. Aria T'Loak is Omega's head, and once decapitated, that station will likely thrash about in a panicked, chaotic turmoil. Schisms will erupt. Struggles for rule will distract them from Citadel advances. The moment T'Loak dies, we will have likely won the war entirely. She is the force upholding whatever unity Omega and the surrounding Sahrabarik has right now, and without her, they will become smaller, independent, vulnerable factions. "

"Yes, Citadel casualties should be minimal with that strategic advantage. Very well. How should we go about this? I can send a notice to every C-Sec operative, every security guard, every employee at every docking bay. I suppose I shall, the moment the contract is officially rejected."

"We'll put Spectres on her. Just make sure this remains completely covert. If T'Loak develops the slightest inkling of suspicion, she could disappear. She would never make it off the Citadel without our notice, but it will definitely become more of a fiasco to apprehend her."

"Yes, of course. I think we should approach this swiftly, and cleanly. I don't want to get any civilians caught up in an all-out brawl. Only STG and Spectres with masterful assassination skills should be appointed, and an upfront approach with our hard-hitters should only be relied upon as a last resort. Say, if she makes it all the way to the bays. It will be well-orchestrated. Everyone's trained. We have snipers and biotics; infiltrators and undercover hunters. She is utterly trapped. She has already lost."

"All right. That is how we will handle this. Tevos says they'll be done either today or tomorrow. We must declare war and initiate the hit the very moment we deny the contract, correct? The very moment. Heed that. We can afford not one second of lost time."

The glow of the omni-tool faded from sight as the audio file closed. Tevos amended her posture, expecting Aria to erupt with rage and burn through the stillness of room with a shout, but she did not. Instead Aria sat in the chair as if she had heard nothing at all, appearing positively absent, and all creases of anger had vanished from her face, replaced with an indecipherable, empty aspect that deeply intrigued Tevos.

Aria T'Loak rendered detached by fear—now that was outlandish to the highest conceivable degree. Her fear was supposed to be expressed in the form of fury, storms of shouts, and biotics, like the reaction belonging to a beast realizing its own mortality and taken to thrashing about in despairing denial. But no, she was utterly quiet, staring at a random spot on the councilor's desk as if her soul had deserted her body all at once, leaving behind an empty shell. It was her true face of terror. A blankness, a nothingness, a void. Her posture had sunk, and now the peaks of her high white collar were level with the line of her jaw. Tevos wondered what was going on within her head; had her thoughts really stalled altogether—a state her face heavily alluded to—or was Aria twisting about inside herself, writhing, raging, or even panicking?

Deciding to let the gravity of their unfortunate situation properly settle into the pirate queen, Tevos ceased close observation of her to remove the pristine lid from her thermos, gently setting it down onto her desk. Before she could pour anything into it, Aria spoke.

"I'll make it off the Citadel alive," she claimed, gradually lifting herself out of her barren demeanor as her eyes narrowed with resolve. "They've never handled someone like me before. They have no idea what I'm capable of, especially when I'm in a bind."

The councilor proceeded to calmly pour for herself the beverage she had brought, seeming unfazed by the other asari's declaration. "I see you're feeling particularly immortal today, Aria T'Loak," she mused aloud with an amount of nonchalance that invited Aria's glare back to her features. Seeing that the warlord had no rebuttal to accompany it, Tevos took a small sip of her warm drink. "Would you like some?" she casually offered. "It's tea. This brew helps to soothe headaches."

"No," Aria's foul expression did not alter as she refused, shaking her head, and leered at the asari councilor in an accusatory manner. Tevos was kindly offering some of her drink like she knew it would be Aria's last, as if the gesture were in pity of a miserable creature on its way to a slaughterhouse. Aria would not be pitied. She was not going to die that day. She was going to outsmart them, outmaneuver them, overpower them all, just like she had done throughout the rest of her life. This day was no different. They would witness the wrath of Omega's organic incarnation as she tore through them all.

"Are you certain?" Tevos asked again. "I have spare cups in here. I can retrieve one for you."

"Don't patronize me," she venomously warned her. She was too preoccupied with devising an escape plan to deal with the councilor's irritating complacency. Of course she was calm. Though Tevos's listless conduct was partially influenced by a sleepless night's sedation, both her life and home were comfortably safe.

Councilor Tevos folded her hands together. "It's not patronization. It's a peace offering for today, as our cooperation is going to be essential for the successful evasion of this… plot. And I realize that you aren't much of a team player, so it may take some extra effort on my part to convince you of the benefits."

"I can be anything if I need to. Even a team player," Aria refuted, but then something occurred to her. "You said 'evasion of this plot'. You have a countermeasure?"

"I do," Tevos affirmed, but before elaborating, asked a final time, "Tea?"

Aria exhaled in frustration, briefly glancing away before nodding once. "Sure," she acquiesced. At least the councilor had a plan, for in complete honesty, Aria was not certain at all if she would be able to escape from the Citadel alive. She had no allies with her, no cover fire if things got ugly, and no extensive knowledge of the infrastructure to help her slip away. A horrendous, pathetic error had been made on her part. Aria had been so very complacent and confident in her ability to sail through the remainder of negotiations unhindered, deciding that it was best to have her most competent allies return to Omega to rule in her stead until her return. But it had all been used against her. The situation appeared bleak, and although she would never admit it aloud, the preservation of her life now heavily relied on the whims of the asari councilor. It was humiliating. Aria sat contemptuously while Tevos rose to retrieve the spare cup she mentioned.

When Tevos reached the area of her office where it opened to the balcony area, she opened a pale grey cabinet, sifted through its neatly-stored contents, and spoke to Aria, "I was up for the better half of the night thinking about this, making calls, taking notes, the such." She selected a milky white cup with no handles, closed the cabinet again, and started to return to her desk. "As you might suspect, I am technically an extension of Asari High Command. I spoke to some of the officials and matriarchs—mind you, it was also the middle of the night for some of them—and they were able to give me a few options. Good ones, too." The councilor lowered herself back into her chair with the effortless grace that usually belonged to the most regal of matriarchs, and set the cup down. It was nearly annoying to Aria, her mannerisms and bearing.

While watching Tevos pour the tea, Aria began shaking her head. "Why are you doing this?" she asked with a tinge of irritation. The councilor's motivation was quite mysterious to her. Why in the world had Tevos gone through so much trouble, a night full of hours and hours of calls and careful planning, just to avoid a war that she knew Citadel space could easily win? Just so no one had to die? No, that was too naïve. Too soft, too ideal. No political leader cared that much. After all, they never had to lift a gun during times of war. All the blood was spilled for them, and they were always the ones who reaped the rewards if they played the game well. She had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

"Doing what?" Tevos requested a clarification after momentarily lifting her tired eyes. She finished pouring Aria's drink and set it down before her.

"You must have some ulterior motive," Aria said. "Some sort of ultimate plan for all this. An investment for the future. Are you keeping me alive in hopes that you can one day control Omega through me? I can't see any other reason. I still can't trust you. You're going to gain something from it, and I want to know what. I want to know how you're going to profit from my life. I will not be used for another's advantage."

Councilor Tevos blinked. "My only motive is avoiding a war, to spare lives that need not be wasted. I thought I made that quite clear from the very beginning."

The councilor's inadequate reply perpetuated Aria's scornful glare, even as she lifted a hand to retrieve the cup from the desk. She stared down into the drink. Its coloration seemed lighter near the surface, only condensing into warm golden shadows at the depths of the cup, and though the wafting aroma was a pleasant, pacifying one, Aria hesitated before indulging herself. "Maybe this is how you're going to end me," she said, voice rising from a brooding mutter. "Maybe you're in on this with everyone else. You tell me you've got a plan. A miraculous plan, literally contrived overnight, that has us safely in position for peace. Everything's going to progress smoothly from this point. Everything's taken care of, and all you need is my compliance. Sounds like quite the deal." She swirled the tea around within the cup. "And you offer me this drink. I've become too reassured to decline, so I take it, I drink it, and it turns out… it's poisoned. If I were in your place, that's how I would do it."

Tevos regarded her with a raised brow after lowering her own cup from her lips. "A flawless and cunning murder indeed. But… only after poisoning myself first."

After a few more seconds spent gazing down into the beckoning liquid, Aria supposed, "Perhaps you made an antidote for yourself."

"My, you are paranoid," Tevos idly remarked while setting her tea down. A glint of amusement had entered the councilor's eyes, somewhat brightening the otherwise fatigued, dim green of her irises.

"Healthy paranoia is what's kept me alive this long," said Aria. She continued to watch the light gleam along the wavering surface of the tea in fair waves, and she slowly realized that the trembling, fluid undulations contained her fate.

A predicament in which every task force and elite operative on the Citadel may have been ordered to attack and kill Aria on sight was not to be dismissed to the vagaries of probability. She had to treat the scenario as if it were absolutely true, regardless of whether it was. She could not afford to deny it any credit, for death was much too close. In that sense, she reasoned, if the asari councilor was in on the same scheme as her fellow councilors, Aria was already dead. Of course, arrogance always offered her a sliver of hope, for she adamantly believed that no one could best her in combat, but this was different now. It was going to be her against a hoard of Council agents, some of the deadliest warriors the galaxy could offer. Death was very, very close. She could feel its all-consuming hunger creeping along her flesh.

She glanced up at Tevos again, who was giving her the analytical gaze she often wore. The dreary darkness still cradled her eyes. If Councilor Tevos wanted Aria dead, she thought again, then she was going to die. That was nearly certain, whether from poisoned tea or from a swarm of task forces and Spectres intercepting her the second she exited the Citadel Tower.

This brief moment was one of the largest gambles Aria had ever made in her life. The only reassurance she could find, as she brought the cup to her lips, was if her health suddenly began to falter within the near future, she could have her hands around Tevos's throat in seconds. If she was to die in this office, she was going to take the councilor with her. That manner of death would be much more satisfying than dying at the hands of Council hit men and letting her deceiver live. The tea glided down the center of her chest like hot liquid gold.

Meanwhile, Tevos had been withholding a cheery countenance possibly produced by sleepy, slightly inhibited judgment. She had no intentions of poisoning Aria T'Loak. The fear had been but a fabrication of the warlord's own troubles, but it would be both unwise and inappropriate to mock her for it. Once again, the councilor empathized. "All this trouble," she quietly began, "and for what?"

Aria frowned, awaiting an elaboration.

"Why did you throw yourself at the Citadel?" Tevos asked her. "What was worth risking your life and all of your accomplishments for? Was this merely a case of greed, of desiring more than you could hope to carry?"

She tolerantly nodded, briefly considering the inquiry before answering, "Above all other priorities and desires, I want to make Omega great. I need money to do that. I need alliances and respect." Aria downed the last of her tea and returned the cup to the councilor's desk.

"Yet here you stand at the threshold of your death and the possible fall of your station, with only myself, someone not within your control nor circle of influence, standing between you and your end."

"Are you trying to ridicule me?" Aria growled, the mood of her eyes darkening into cold scorn. "Now that I'm considerably vulnerable, you have the courage to ridicule me? You wouldn't under any other circumstance, would you?"

Tevos collectedly responded to her surfacing hostility. "You misinterpret," she said. "I just cannot fathom what could have driven you here. To take these massive risks… it is beyond boldness. It's... madness."

Aria looked away again, a habit Tevos was beginning to understand as her way of stalling anger. She was redirecting her attention, severing her sight from the subject that brought her ire. A mode of self-management, more than anything else. "Why don't you just ask the other councilors?" Aria, now confident in her self-control, returned her eyes to Tevos. "Or anyone else on the Citadel, for that matter? Did you listen to the reasons why they want to kill me?"

She nodded once. "They fear you will return to fight the Citadel one day, perhaps in vengeance, or greed for expansion."

"That fear came from the belief that I'm some sort of virus. A mindless contagion spreading throughout the galaxy without preferences or discrimination. That's how they see me. My motives are clear to them. Clear as day, and they didn't even have to ask me." When Aria paused, her jaw was held tightly, lips pressed firmly together, until she continued, "I don't care about the Citadel. I have never once desired to overthrow its leadership. I have absolutely no interest in this station, and yet that's exactly what they expect from me. There's the Citadel imperialism again. The sciolism, the baseless arrogance... Presuming that this place has universal worth."

It was becoming quite evident that Aria was slipping into another caustic bout of resentment toward the attitudes of the Citadel. She was looking away again, staring downward as to not blind herself with the bright light shining onto her through the window. The rays drained Aria's skin of its usual hue and made her jacket appear impossibly white. "They think I'm a plague," sneered the Pirate Queen. "They think Omega's filled with vermin, with primitive pathogens who lack emotion and thought. The Citadel thinks that just because their people fill out paperwork when they kill someone or when they forcefully subjugate or condemn other bodies in whatever way they see fit, it makes them superior and enlightened, compared to the fractured, disarrayed conduct of the Terminus Systems. And so we're seen as a lesser people." When she returned her gaze to Tevos, her shoulders were held with dire purpose. "Somehow, noncompliance to the order they've established is indicative of inferiority. They have that mindset because they like to control everything. If they can't control it, they tame it, and if they cannot tame it, they destroy it. They think they have this… this predisposition of being better than everyone else in the galaxy, solely because they were born into this. But we're all dust, all the same in the end."

Councilor Tevos held her empty cup by its rim, gradually tilting it about as she maintained a mutual gaze with Aria T'Loak. Her eyes subtly wavered, revealing the activity of thoughts still running through her head, and Tevos noticed something else: a faint challenge in her stare, as if she were waiting for Tevos to disagree, to ask her to explain more thoroughly, or any other reason at all that would grant her the opportunity to express concepts which had been bitterly fermenting in her mind for years—decades, centuries, even. Had those words ever escaped her before? Had she ever so much as had the opportunity to speak these notions? Tevos could hardly fathom a scenario in which Aria sat down with one of her officers and had a lengthy conversation regarding societal influences, cultural, and even existential perceptions. The councilor attempted to create a plausible scene, cycling through candidates, settings, and circumstances. Curiosity getting the better of her, she decided to inquire about it.

"Do you speak of these topics often?" Tevos asked. She had disguised her voice to feign passive intrigue, also attempting to reinforce the mild deception by pouring herself more tea. "And would you like any more?"

"Before I answer your questions, I have one for you. Why are you being so civil?"

"I treat you with civility because it is necessary, and it makes our deliberations more productive. Also, because I am much too weary to quarrel with anyone today."

It was deemed a fair answer. "...Fine," Aria responded to the offer of more tea, then occupied herself with the sight of Tevos refilling her cup. "And my answer to your first question is no."

"Why is that?" She passed the cup back to Aria.

"Because I hated you," Aria said before taking a generous drink. Whether merely a placebo or not, the tea seemed to help calm her nerves, and made her normally violent answer sound like light conversation. "I wanted you to know why I hated you. Wanted you to feel my anger from across an entire room, through just words, because I could not physically fight you. On Omega, leaders of factions challenge each other to battles. If someone makes it far enough into my territory, I fight them. Alone. Very unlike the Citadel, where the closer you get to a dignitary, the more the concentration of guards increases."

Just as the councilor had suspected, she had indeed fallen within one of probable categories she had identified. Enemies, more or less, but it was unknown if that status remained intact. "Do you still wish to... 'fight' me?"

Aria shrugged. "Times have changed. It would be very unwise to attack a major factor in whether I'm going to make it off the Citadel alive. I know how to adapt when I need to."

Councilor Tevos watched the Omegan take a drink and lost herself to a reflection. In her own opinion, Aria's obvious intelligence was misguided and wrongly purposed, but it did not take away from a sense of tragedy she felt toward the events that would have occurred without her intervention. That may have just been her conditioned imperialism speaking, as Aria had explicated, but what a shame it was, that most people believed a bloody execution was her deserved fate. And perhaps it was; but that still did not take away any of the tragedy.

It was strange, that Tevos now felt sympathy for her. The feeling had probably been borne from actually talking to Aria and realizing that she indeed was a person instead of just an abstract embodiment of evil to defeat. She was a person with goals, propensities, and developed philosophies. And she brought foreign ideas to their table, specifically the somewhat nihilistic idea that killing was a trespass committed by them both, whether veiled by the paper of law or openly embraced as the harsh way of the universe. Tevos could not be swayed to the extents of Aria's views, however. She felt too much empathy in the face of suffering to accept unjust deaths as trivial, dismissible occurrences. But still there lingered bits of truth in Aria's words, the truth that beyond their personal convictions, beyond every lifestyle and every petty battle waged over conflicting interests, they were all equal in one sense: they were comprised of dust, and one day all these issues would cease to matter. It was a melancholic way to think, and certainly detrimental if one conducted their life too closely to these thoughts, but they remained in Tevos's mind, reluctant to leave her in peace.

They had digressed. Tevos rerouted their conversation again, not wanting to dwell too intensely on Aria's perceptions at this time.

"I admit that I cannot completely blame the councilors for fearing you," Councilor Tevos reasoned after her lengthy pause. "Not even I can remain upset with them. They only acted in a way that they saw most fitting. But it nevertheless comforts me to know that you have no plans to ever go to war with us, because that validates my somewhat deceptive loophole purposed for the circumnavigation of the bounty the other councilors planned to put on your head." Seeing inquisition appear on Aria's face, the councilor explicated, "Yes, I broke some rules, as well as general guidelines concerning the checks and balances of power that ratifies our trio. I, one councilor, essentially overruled the two others. I would not have done so unless I had faith in my own judgment and capabilities to handle this alone." Tevos's confession of questionable conduct moved her to occupy herself with the remaining tea in her cup.

Aria wasn't precisely impressed by any means, but within her existed a figment of reputable regard for the councilor. "Well it's good to see you had the gall," she admitted. It was really only fortunate for Aria because said gall was presumably the factor that would keep her alive, but she had always been guilty of respecting people who took matters into their own hands without hesitation or reliance on anyone else.

Those sorts of people made good allies, she thought. Stable fighters, and when in a quandary, adaptable enough to overcome any imposing challenge. The only discrepancy lied in their trustworthiness, as they tended to defy the chain of command whenever they saw fit, but Aria could usually predict those occurrences with remarkable accuracy. Councilor Tevos seemed to be a slightly different breed of those people. She displayed more shame in breaking rules. Not regret, but a hint of mourning from finding herself in a situation where acting unlawfully had become necessary. Aria saw that as an undermining weakness, and it was also the reason why her gradually-forming respect for the formidable councilor had not evolved quite enough for her to be impressed. Either way, she wouldn't be admitting it any time soon.

A change of topics recaptured Aria's attention when Tevos spoke again. "Now," began the councilor, "I'm sure you want to hear what I and Asari High Command have to offer you. But first, I will answer some of your lasting concerns. To an extent, your preservation is a factor in this. I want to preserve you for multiple reasons. They are thus: you are an asari, giving you a long life expectancy, and so that also gives a long life to any agreement we make. You are also an organized ruler and hold the favor of the majority of Omega's population. That also adds to stability over time. And finally, as you've just confirmed now, you have no intentions of using your resources in a direct conflict against the Citadel. Throughout history, we have suffered many altercations with Omega and the Terminus Systems in general. Most of them minor skirmishes, but a few small wars are also recorded. An unwanted change in leadership could easily herald another. Therefore I reason, if Aria T'Loak remains in power of her realm and honors a new treaty, we can enjoy centuries of peace and possibly even benefit from one another. Perhaps in exchange of information during times of need or crisis, things of that nature. So you see, at the root of it all, it would be wiser and more profitable for us both to uphold a tentative alliance rather than remaining at odds."

"I don't seem to have much of a choice anyway," Aria said with a false gaiety that only succeeded in accentuating the displeasure lurking beneath.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," said Tevos. "So… we both know that the other councilors are going to veto any attempt we make at a treaty. However, the Council has no say in the treaties established by each race's central government. Asari High Command has agreed to help us with that contingency. If you sign with them, the Citadel will be prohibited by law from engaging a mutual ally of the Asari Republics unless the asari themselves consent to the declaration war, or if you declare war on them. They will not be able to touch you. Now, the only remaining issue is getting you a conference with High Command. I've already begun arranging one, and I only require your compliance to set it into motion."

"How are you going to get the conference?"

"It may turn out to be more… tumultuous than ideal, but I managed to convince Irissa to discreetly reserve a comm room for our usage."

"Irissa…?"

"My close friend. The one you knocked out on Thessia."

"Right."

Tevos pulled a datapad over to herself, prompting the projecting screen to light up with information. "Anyway, Irissa's taking care of that," she said. "I may have to ask even more of her, unfortunately, because it's going to be difficult journeying over there as you might suspect. The sight of the asari councilor walking beside the ruler of Omega may cause chaos and C-Sec intervention. They will likely think I'm your hostage, or a similar problem... Perhaps I can convince Irissa to lead us on our way there, scouting ahead for crowds or diverting the attention of guards. I suppose I shall take her out to a nice dinner one of these days. She's already done so much, and she was so reluctant to help in the first place…" The councilor trailed off as she skimmed through the text on the screen.

"Why is she reluctant to help you?" Aria asked. "This seems to be an issue that wouldn't be taken lightly by your closest associates."

"Oh, she despises you," Tevos mundanely replied without looking up.

"I see," Aria said and paused. "Can't you just tell the guards to get the fuck out of your way? Use your executive authority?"

"It's not that simple. You could be commanding me to say that. C-Sec knows how to react to various situations, that one included. Another problem is the cameras. They'll see us from surveillance even if they do not personally encounter us in the halls…"

After a short interlude spent searching her mind for ideas, Aria swiftly produced one. "I can arrange something for that. Back on Thessia, when we took out their cameras and communications, Ralot Dar'nerah used a jamming program one of my engineers came up with. I can get it for us whenever I want."

"Excellent," Tevos brought her gaze upward again. "You can modify it, correct? Tailor it to only affect the cameras along our way to the comm room? I don't want to sabotage our security any more than we need to for that brief interval of time."

"They can do it. If I tell them to do it, they'll find a way. I'll contact you if they can't get it done for some reason. But that brings me to something else. How do you know C-Sec isn't listening to us right now? What if they're eyes and ears for the other councilors? If they're conspiring behind your back, what makes you so sure they aren't spying on you now?"

"Whether they are listening to us right now or not is irrelevant. I've come this far, I've worn myself out and I've been terribly distraught over the course of these countless past days, and I have examined our position extensively. At this point, even if they knew every thought that fleeted through my head, they would still not be able to do anything to stop me."

Aria reclined in the chair, looking at the councilor with a certain light in her eyes; not the one which reflected the window's allowance, but one that came from within. "I like that," she mused aloud.

"You like what?"

"Arrogance, when it's due. It's the declaration of a well-played game, the absolute certainty that comes when you've flawlessly executed something," Aria's subtle praise originated in her delight to hear a familiar attitude of powerful confidence, and she initially believed that voicing her thoughts would have been completely benign. That is, until she realized that praising the councilor's comment consequently meant praising her as well. She would have instantly revoked the approbation if it wouldn't have made her look extremely odd. Instead, Aria banished all traces of pleasure from her face, and settled on changing the topic. "What are we going to do for the rest of this meeting, more stalling?"

"Yes. We must, unfortunately."

"Well, I suppose I can find the time. It's no better than sitting around in a hotel room or wandering the Wards, but I guess it's not much worse either. In the hotel I mostly spend my time talking to the ones currently administrating Omega in my place, telling them how to deal with all the shit they can't handle themselves. And the Wards... they're certainly more interesting than the Presidium. Smells less like bleach and more like a city. But the food's still terrible."

"I'm sure the Presidium has better food, if you were more willing to visit it. Though I'm not sure how receptive the residents would be to your presence. How do you fare in the Wards? Does C-Sec stop you? How do the people react?" Tevos asked with genuine curiosity. She had complete access to any possible incidents C-Sec may have reported, but the councilor hadn't any free time to seek out data that was not directly related to the issues at hand. And if Aria had caused any trouble, she would have likely been alerted at once.

"Well they don't scatter like they do on the Presidium," Aria answered with a bit of amusement. "And even if I did decide to tolerate the Presidium, I still doubt I'd find anything worthwhile to eat. Given Omega's proximity to batarian space, we get a lot of their cultural influence, food included. They eat a lot of meats, spices, these... heavy, sort of smoked flavors. Their diet is actually fairly ideal for people in my line of work. Calorie-rich for biotics and plenty of protein for muscle. But aside from food... C-Sec's always got their eyes on me. I went to a bar the other night, and I saw an undercover turian a few tables away. I knew he was C-Sec the moment I saw him. So I went over there, sat down right next to him, leaned over, and whispered, Hello, Councilor. He nearly fainted. Did you happen to hear anything about that?"

Councilor Tevos was quiet for a long while. They were chatting again, and although Aria still remained loyal to her usual icy sadism, she was addressing her as if all the animosity between them had evaporated. Was this phenomenon something cultural, she wondered? Was that simply how people treated each other on Omega—introducing themselves with hostility, for the purpose of adhering to that ancient contract of survival of the fittest, and only lowering their guns when the parties discovered the gains to be made if they allied? Or could it have been the tea that was representative of their materializing alliance; a soothing brew like liquid gold, like courage, like ingesting and then exhibiting optimism in the belief that she would indeed live another day? When Tevos found herself thinking for a longer period of time than acceptable, she finally responded to Aria, "If he reported that, it hasn't made its way to my desk. Likely not deemed as high enough of a priority."

"Too bad," said Aria. "I thought it was rather clever... Well don't just sit there staring at me like some mute elcor; I'm not going to pull all the weight of this stalling business alone."

The councilor proceeded to aid their impromptu conversation, moving it along by recalling and telling Aria T'Loak an anecdote about the elcor embassies, and how one of the current ambassadors was a mild-tempered, respectable fellow; his only major flaw being his slow speech, even for an elcor, coupled with his weakness for conversation, that together created some of the longest deliberations of a single topic that Tevos had ever taken part in.

Time passed, as well as many jests involving the events they had planned for the following day. How surreptitiously cunning and sly were they, destined to succeed without a hitch. No holes remained in the plan by the meeting's end. They had all been patched with clever strategies, donations of ideas coming from them both, and there manifested a surreal moment in which Tevos became vividly aware of the unity suspending between the two unlikely accomplices, a feeling so enigmatic and shocking that it was nearly palpable in nature. She could hardly understand what was happening, but she was grateful for it. The surprising emergence of cooperation was guiding them toward a mutually beneficial solution.

"Are you fully prepared for tomorrow morning, Aria T'Loak?" Tevos asked her as Aria prepared to leave. "I trust that you are adequately skilled at discretion? I emphatically remind you that under no circumstance will you harm anyone."

"Sneaking around is not a preferred tactic of mine," she said while pushing the chair in, "but as I said before, I know how to adapt when I need to."

Aria departed, leaving Tevos to call in Irissa to impose upon her yet again.