MASS MISCALCULATION
Episode 11- A head's arrival
After thanking Boss many times for helping him with the matter concerning Sidonis, the two headed back for the ship. When they entered the airlock, they found Aaron standing near Joker, as if waiting for the two. He didn't look happy.
"Hey, Aaron. Somthin' the matter?" Boss asked as they entered.
"…Garrus, you don't have to be here" Aaron said in a forceful tone. Before the turian could object Aaron summoned fire into his hand, prompting Garrus to leave.
"Aaron the hell's wrong with you?" sighing, Aaron dispelled the fire.
"…We need to take a trip"
"…Trip?"
"We're going somewhere on the Citadel to have a few… choice words"
"Aaron, we don't have time for that, I mean when's Shepard supposed to be getting back from his supply run?"
"By my calculation, Shepard should be done with his tasks in one hour, ten minutes, thirty seconds" the glowing form of EDI piped in.
"There, you see? So come on, we're going on a trip" Aaron said. It wasn't a choice.
"-sigh- alright, fine, I'll humor you, but this better not be a waste of my time" Boss grumbled as he left with Aaron. At that moment Jacob ran up to Joker as the two left.
"Joker, you seen a pistol laying around? I can't find it" Jacob explained.
"Yeah, I saw Aaron holding a pistol, might have been from your armory, I dunno. When I asked he just said he needed it for some 'business'"
Council tower
Boss and Aaron were now on top of the tower which contained the council, the tower quite possibly being the tallest thing in the Citadel. Boss and Aaron, clad in his usual virtual attire, had sprinted up the wall from the back, and were now standing on the top.
"Aaron, aren't you worried someone will recognize you without armor?" Boss asked.
"Oh relax, when we do what we're about to do, it won't matter anyway" Aaron assured.
"Alright fine, then why the hell did you drag me up here?"
"Just wanted to have a friendly chat; how'd Garrus go?"
"Went fine, killed Sidonis, Harkin probably died of blood loss, so good"
Aaron sighed before he turned to face Boss. "Look. I've been thinking, and I want to know the truth: why did you really come here?"
"Um… cause you asked me?" Boss asked, rubbing his helmeted head.
"No, I mean to this dimension"
"Um… to rescue you?" an increasingly confused Boss asked.
"…Is there another reason?"
Boss sighed. "Fine, you got me. Look, when I became Emperor my manservant, Zinjai, said that the zin had the technology for time travel, so we were gonna use to it fix everything. Problem was, you were here, then they said some science junk about changing time while you were here would screw us"
"Yeah, if the realities there are changed while I'm here it would send both universes into haywire due to-"
Boss shook both his hands. "I don't care about the science junk!"
Rubbing a hand on his chin, Aaron sighed. "So… you only went here to get me to fix our universe?"
"-gasp- Aaron, no. Your like a brother to me, I came here to save you! Being able to fix everything was just kind of a… bonus"
"A fuckin' 'bonus'? Getting to fix the Earth was a bonus?"
"I don't know what you want from me dude, first your mad from me saving you, now your mad at me for wanting to restore Earth, what the hell do you want from me"
"I just want to know… if we ever manage to get back, what would be the first thing you would do?"
"Fix Earth"
"…Okay yeah, I can relate to that, but after that?"
"I dunno, save Aisha?"
"Fuck it, third!"
"…Go back to the stone age and make cave drawings of the Saints?"
"That's where I draw the line, look, I probable have a way of getting us back"
"…What are you sayin?" Boss asked, changing his posture to show interest.
"Yeah, but first you have to do something for me"
"And what would that be?"
Aaron sighed, turning around. "…I want you to go back and save Julius"
Boss immediately walked up to Aaron, putting a hand on his shoulder and turning him around to meet his face. "You want me to save that traitor!?"
"He wasn't a traitor! Look, I've been thinking, is what you did in the old days… right?"
"The hell, Aaron!?"
"Look, I talked with some of the Saints, mainly Pierce, you know what he told me? Sometimes you would drive around in say, Steelport, he told me you would just drive around, killing aimlessly, waiting for the cops and military to show up, then blow them up with rocket launchers"
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"Look, I don't mind killing, but when it's just random guys on the street…"
"Aaron, look-"
"Maybe Julius was right, maybe… maybe the Saints have gone too far, gained too much"
"Aaron!" Boss screamed at the top of his lungs. "Look, I realize that you don't agree with some of the things we do, but the Saints are mine, you get me?"
"But Julius…"
"Let me tell you something, did you know that Zinyak managed to pull people from our minds in the simulation and make simulated versions of people that had all their memories and emotions? He basically revived people from our pasts in the simulation, and one of those people was Julius, and do you know what he said to me? He said that it was my fault Earth got blown up, that it was my fault because of my nature, so he was still a traitor, despite the good things the Saints have done like when we saved fuckin' AMERICA, he still blamed me for everything"
Aaron chuckled. "Damn, really?"
Boss nodded. "Yeah, the guy was stone-cold, even after everything that happened. You two may have the same line of thinking, but Julius was a traitor, unlike you"
"… Yeah, I guess Julius did go… a little too far. Fine, we don't have to save him. Sorry for, uh, doubting you I guess"
"Ya think? Now, about getting back-"
"I still need to work some details over with Kinzie, but I think it should work. Might take some time, but we still need to do the suicide mission"
"After what happened to Matt and Asha, yeah, we hit the bugs than find a way to get back. So, now that all that is settled, anything else you wanted to do up here or did you just come up here to talk 'bout Julius?"
"Well, ya see it's -nervous chuckle- we are on top of the council tower, the biggest building in the Citadel where the council members do… whatever the hell they do, and as we speak there are probably hover cars full of C-sec converging on us, so with the amount of time we've been talking I say we've got, oh… thirty seconds? Anyway, we're up here 'cause we're gonna cap the council"
"…Aaron, what the fuck, I thought you didn't like mindless killing?"
"Well those councils guys are dicks, turian wanted my weapons, salarian wanted to study me, asari has it out for me because of the justicar thing, human guy, Anderson, I think he has a small grudge against me for the Alliance casualties I made, but I think he went somewhere else to talk with Shepard, so we're good" Aaron explained as C-sec hover cars started closing in. "Look, they're bastards, 'cept Anderson, so we're gonna put a bullet in their shoulders, but don't kill them"
"Why the hell not?"
"Eh, we'll do that right before we leave this dimension, plus Shepard would chew my ass out, but for now I need to ask you this: isn't there a holographic thingie in that suit of yours?"
"Well yeah, but Kinzie was messing with it so if you want me to project something it'll have to be within twelve feet of me"
"Alright, first project an image up unpainted armor around me" Boss did so and an image of Boss's power armor projected itself over Aaron, minus the paint job. "A'ight, now can you cast a projection on yourself? The fleur will kind of make this pointless" Boss nodded and cast the same projection on himself, both he and Aaron now looking as if they were in gray power armor. At that moment C-sec vehicles decided to surround them as they hovered in the air.
"Uh, Aaron? Is there a plan?" Boss asked a he stepped back.
"Yeah, there's a plan. Step one, break into council chamber. Step two, shoot 'em. Step three, improvise"
"Solid" Boss replied in a sarcastic tone as Aaron jumped off the tower, Boss following his lead.
Council chamber
It was another long and boring day of signing petitions and listing to bureaucrats as they ranted on about ways to improve the current economy by limiting they funding for exporting travel goods, and other political matter, such was the life of the council. Recently they had received word that a possible threat was on top of the tower, but the three members dismissed it, the human council member taking a leave of absence. Any thoughts of leaving changed when they heard the giant window displaying all of the presidium behind them shatter, two people clad in strange gray armor standing before them. Before any of them could ask what the meaning of this intrusion was, one of them whipped out a common pistol, shooting each council member in the shoulder, before they both nodded to each-other and jumped out the hole in the window as the council members groaned in agony.
Mid-air
"Aaron, don't you think that was a little much?" Boss asked as the two glided from the tower, heading to the Normandy.
"Nah, I don't think so" Aaron said with a shrug.
"Shepard's gonna chew our asses out. Plus, what was the point?"
"Venting frustration, proving a point, hell if I know but it felt good. Plus I didn't shoot anything vital, some medi-gel and they'll probably be good"
"Probably!?"
"I wasn't very careful with aiming" A rocket flew past Aaron's shoulder, the two Saints looking behind them to see multiple C-sec cars behind them, officers aiming out the window with weapons.
"The hell, since when do cops get rocket launchers!?" Boss and Aaron screamed as they ceased their glide, falling straight to the ground. They landed in a market district, bystanders looking at them in shock, but didn't have much time to look as the pair sprinted away.
"Damnit, these guys are still on us!" Aaron said with increasingly worry, looking up at the cars following them.
"Maybe if someone hadn't assaulted the councilors!" Boss shot at Aaron.
"I don't need your contradiction! Or your sass! Look, you got anything else on this holo-projecto thing!?" the two sprinted into an alleyway, having only about a minute until the cars found them.
"Let me see, uh, tank, toilet, sex doll-"
"Um, what?"
"Virtual mocap suit, Oleg-"
"Shoulda known Kinzie would put this stuff in…"
"Zin, laptop… that's it!" Boss replied in a slightly panicked voice.
"Damn, uh… I have an idea, but you might not like it"
"Better not have anything to do with the doll"
"Ew, no, trust me on this one"
The C-sec cars closed in on the alleyway, confident in there ability to capture whoever these two were, than interrogate them. However, when they came to the alleyway, the officers saw something they never expected to see; probably the biggest human man they had ever seen sitting on a antique of a toilet. Baffled, one of the cars landed, a turian officer marching towards the man.
"…Problem, officer?" 'Oleg' asked in his Oleg disguise, trying to do his best Russian accent.
"Um, did you see two individuals run by here, armored in strange armor?" the bewildered officer asked.
"Yes, they actually sprinted up that wall behind me, strangest thing I've ever seen"
"And can I ask why your on a ancient toilet… in the middle of a alley?"
"A man has to go when he has to go"
"your pants are up"
"Listen" 'Oleg' said, standing up and showing his impressive height, the officer slightly shuddering at how tall he was. "Do you know, how hard it is for a man of my stature to find a decent latrine when in my time of need?"
"Uh…"
"And do you know what it is like to carry around this thing all the time in case that need arises!?"
"But there's not even plumbing!"
"Do you want to stand here arguing with a man who could eat you like a chicken wing or are you going to chase those two!?" 'Oleg' yelled at the top of his lungs, causing the officer to shake even more and run back to the car, said law enforcement vehicle lifting up as all the cars went in the direction 'Oleg' pointed out. When he was sure they were gone, 'Oleg' sighed, saying, "They're gone" as the holo-projector gave out, standing where the faux Oleg was Aaron and the toilet turning into a Boss kneeling. Boss shoved Aaron with one hand, asking, "Why was I the toilet again?"
"You want a repeat of what happened at that Russian bar that one time when you tired to fake the accent?" Aaron countered, crossing his arms.
"I… but… oh screw you, it was the waitresses' fault…" a dejected Boss muttered.
"…Still can't believe that worked, 'cause if I was in the cops shoes I'd be a little more suspicious"
"Well… guess there's someone up there looking out for us. C'mon, let's head back" Boss ordered as the two sneaked back to the ship.
Normandy
When the two came back, they only made it halfway through CIC before they were ambushed by Shepard and Jacob, the latter being first to speak up. "Where's my pistol?" he asked. Aaron lifted the pistol and put it into Jacob's hand, forcing the fingers closed as he patted it. Jacob sighed as he went back to the armory. Shepard was next, asking, "What the hell did you two do?"
"Um… stuff?" they both answered. Shepard grunted in frustration as he brought his omni-tool up, playing the local news out, a human female speaking.
"Less than thirty minutes ago our esteemed councilors, minus the human councilor, were assaulted by two armored hitmen clad in unique armor. The two burst through the main window of the council chamber and immediately preceded to shoot each councilor in the shoulder, than jumped out the window. All three councilors will be fine, doctors immediately coming to the sight of the assault and applying medi-gel, saying they would make a full recovery with no future ailments. The two hitmen alluded C-sec forces as soon as they fled the scene of the crime, displaying abilities only know to be possessed by terrorist and widely-known space pirate and otherwise known by mercenaries as 'galactic gangster' Aaron. Previously it was thought that he was the hitman, but that assumption was quickly dashed as soon as the fact that there were two was brought into light, which bore these questions: Was Aaron involved and can somehow transfer powers, has someone created suits of armor capable of copying his powers, or is some other force at play gifting humans with these powers at a secret research center, Aaron being a subject gifted with powers but escaping? Currently, the human councilor is being interviewed for any possible leads. We are out of time, this has been 'Citadel Watch', bringing you news straight from the Citadel"
Shepard was fuming by the time the news report ended, the omni-tool powering down as he stared at the two Saints. "Well?" he asked.
"…It was Aaron's idea" Boss quickly said, pointing at Aaron. Aaron just sighed.
"Yeah, it was"
"The hell were you thinking!?"
"Hey, it's not my fault those guys hate me! And want to study me"
"Maybe if you weren't an out-of-control freak abusing his powers they wouldn't have taken notice!"
"you say that, but even if all I did was help people and didn't do one crime they probably would still be gunning for me"
"Ugh, this is unbelievable… look, you part of the crew. But if these… these shenanigans keep up I will have no choice but to throw you off of the Normandy!"
"Alright, alright… fine, no more doing whatever the hell I feel like, I listen to you… but when this mission is over me, Boss and the Saints are out, right?"
"Hell yeah" Boss answered.
"Good enough for me, listen, usually we'd be gone since I'm done with the supply run, but you remember those 'three heads of Cerberus' assassins?"
"Guys who almost kicked our assess? Yeah"
"Well, the Illusive Man thinks you're a little… out of control, so he's sending one to join the Normandy"
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! Which one?"
"Ouroboros"
"Fucktastic, the weird one who talks like a geth, when is he getting here?"
"Illusive said he's getting here via shuttle, and he was on the other side of the Citadel on a mission, so he'll get here when he gets here" Shepard gruffly stated as he walked out. Boss looked at Aaron and asked, "So these guys kicked yo ass?"
"Shut up, I had a handicap. Look, I'm gonna go do… something so… bye" Aaron turned around as the elevator door opened, Aaron stepping in and going down to deck three. He arrived and went to his room, but sensed something was… off. He looked to his left and saw a cloaked figure reaching towards CID's storage cube, anger filling Aaron as he activated fire cloak, grabbing the cloaked figure by the wrist and throwing it against the wall, the figure decloaking to reveal Kasumi.
"Bitch, the hell you doing!?" Aaron screamed, aiming his hand at her face as fire surrounded it.
"I was… just curious about that thing. What is it, anyways?" Kasumi innocently asked.
"You are very close from having that smirk melted off your face. Look, I can forgive you being kleptomanic, but if your going to steal something, steal one of Shepard's things, not mine. 'Cause I am not in the mood right now, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah… look, I'm sorry"
"Look, just get out of here" Kasumi obliged and walked out of the room, Aaron setting CID back and walking out, having nothing to do decided to explore the ship. The first thing he saw was the med-bay, and something he thought he would never see; Chakwas laughing as she was talking to Ben King over a bottle 'o booze. Finding no words to describe what he was seeing, Aaron decided to pop into the room to see what they were talking about. The door opened and the two looked to see Aaron step in. "Ben! Doctor! Whatcha guys doing?" Aaron asked.
"Well, before we got to the Citadel me and the doctor were talking and she was saying how she lost this bottle of ice brandy when the first ship got blown up, and Shepard was too cheap to buy another so I decided to buy it for her"
"Oh, nice. So, what were you guys talkin' 'bout?"
"Oh, I was just telling Ben here about the time when, back on the original Normandy, I was fine-tuning Kaiden Alenko's biotic amp and when he was testing it out, he had accidentally biotically flung Jenkins across the bay and into a pile of crates! We feared the worst but then he popped up and said" the doctor got up and extended her arms, "'That was awesome!'" both of the guys chuckled at this.
"Reminds me of the time back in the old days when me and Boss bought a RPG. Then I blew up a car and was sent flying. I swear, I did the exact same thing, the only difference being the guy in the car died"
"Ah, the old days. Shame what happened to the old crew… Jenkins, Kaiden, Pressley… all gone" the doctor said morbidly.
"Well, sometimes you have to stick it out. I mean, look at me, I stuck it out and it went well didn't it?" Aaron asked.
"You got put into two comas and then got super powers" King said dryly.
"That's beside the point, the point is I stuck it out"
"Well then a toast, for 'sticking it out'" Chakwas proclaimed, holding her glass up, Ben doing the same. Aaron, lacking a glass held up his O.M.G. in it's standard form. "Well, I'm gonna go, wanted to explore the ship, talk to some people, get that jazz flowing" Aaron explained as he left. Still bored, he looked around and saw Kinzie leaning on the wall leading to Miranda's office- feverishly typing on a omni-tool.
"Girl, the hell you doing?" Aaron asked as he walked next to her.
"Keep your voice down, I'm hacking into Miranda's terminal" Kinzie said in a hushed voice.
"Oh, okay- wait, huh?"
"Couple of reasons, one to erase any information Cerberus bugs picked up about you, Boss, me, or the rest of the Saints. Two is I'm pulling as much information on the QEC that I can"
"Can I please ask why?"
"Not really"
"…Why?"
"Ugh, look the thing that ported you to this world, the tran-dimensional thing?"
"Yeah, the cube thing. Why?"
"Well while we were in our dimension I hacked some zin systems to learn more about it, apparently it has something to do with quantum energy. You know the quantum theory?"
"Yeah, the theory that the neutrons or electrons in a atom teleport or something to other atoms and everything is everywhere, something like that"
"…Worst definition ever"
"Hey, I haven't been in highschool for awhile, lay off"
"Anyway the zin found out how to make that machine, based on that theory to enact a persons atoms to become part of the quantum entanglement of another universe, essentially teleporting them there"
"Damn, that ain't permanent is it?"
"Nah, it could be reversed easily. Problem is…"
"We don't have a blue cube. so how is the QEC gonna help in that regard?"
"Probably a lot, probably none, since the concepts are the same yet different. If I can understand the exact science of it I can probably jury rig a trans-dimensional portal. Might need to get my hand on a QEC though, along with some expensive parts and tools…"
"Well we can worry about that later, are you sure EDI won't detect you doing this? She IS a AI"
"Aaron, I used to work for the FBI, hacking things while avoiding smart programs were part of my job. Plus I've been doing research on AI via the extranet while compiling strategies to work-around it, so I should be good… done!" she said as she deactivated the omni-tool. "Man, these things are amazing, like it's just like my laptop but better! I even figured out how to make it purple" the omni-tool came back on as she began typing a lot of buttons, the omni-tool now a purple color.
"Wow, I thought it was near impossible" Aaron remarked.
"It was, but Boss wanted me to see if I could do it, said the orange reminded him too much of Zinyak. You see, the mini fabricators-"
Aaron walked off, interrupting her. "I don't wanna know, just make sure this conversation isn't picked up by Cerberus bugs"
"Already done" the hacker called back. Going down to the lower deck, Aaron emerged to see a sparing match between Pierce and Grunt. He looked to see Jack and Gat leaning on a beam, watching the match.
"So, what's the bet?" Aaron asked as he went over to the two.
"Hundred says the lizard wins" Jack explained. Speak of the devil, Pierce was thrown out of the ring.
"Damn, that dude's strong…" Pierce muttered as he picked himself back up. He nodded to Johnny, Gat wordlessly stepping into the ring.
"Hundred says Gat wins in ten seconds" Aaron said.
"Oh yeah right, the guy might be huge but… the hell!?" Jack swore as she saw Grunt hit the floor, orange blood dripping from his mouth.
"Told you. Pay up"
"Well… technically that was eight seconds, so…"
"Screw that"
"You never said ten or less. You said ten" Aaron grumbled agreed to pay her back if she ever needed a hundred creds. "Call it a favor" Aaron added. Next up was a random crewmember and Keith David.
"So Pierce, how was your round?" Aaron asked with a chuckle.
"Hey how was I supposed to know the dude had monster strength!?" Pierce yelled.
"Hey it could be worse, we could be fighting Paul again"
"Oh don't even joke about that one" Pierce warned.
"Yeah, beating that thing was amazing, considering I didn't even have any powers yet"
"Who the hell's Paul?" Jack questioned.
"Do you believe in fifty-foot tall purple soda can monsters?" Pierce and Aaron asked at the same time.
"Fuck no" was her answer.
"Well, you should. Where I'm from, the same place being where I got my powers, there was all sorts of whacky stuff. Soda monsters was one"
"Oh come on, that can't be true"
"Oh it is. Pierce has been afraid of purple soda ever since"
"I am- you cannot prove that" Pierce sad dryly, folding his arms.
"Huh. Hang on, I got a bunch of stuff from the Citadel from the money you gave me, I wanna get something. Wait here" Jack ordered as she made her way to the elevator. When Pierce looked at Aaron looking for a explanation he simply shrugged and said, "She asked me for a couple thousand credits"
"And you gave it to her?"
"What, she's… well she's not like us, but she's close. Criminal, sure, gangster, but a little psycho too"
"And we're not psycho?"
"Well yeah, but give her time. Anyway, you know where Boss is?"
"Yeah, guys taking a shower, hasn't had one since the zin arrived. Made Shaundie guard his armor"
"Good call, knowing the infamous Cerberus bitch she would probably try to steal it"
"So speaking of her, what's your deal with her?"
"She's a Cerberus operative, the same Cerberus that has been gunning for me and doing experimentation on various species… inhumane ones. Plus they blew up my apartment once"
"The hell's wrong with them?"
"Mostly they just want to find ways to make humans better so they can 'overcome' alien races, so when they found out about me I guess they thought experimenting on the 'human with powers' would be beneficial. I keep telling them I'm virtual but they won't listen. I guess they just want to find out what happened to me so they can apply it to others"
"But they can't?"
"Hell no, mostly cause they ain't got the technology"
"which means we don't have the tech to get us back"
"Eh, Kinzie's working on it. Anyway that Cerberus bitch keeps hassling me, mostly cause she wants samples of me, or my weapons. Now she's gonna come after the other Saints, too. Mostly because of your weapons, but she'll pay special attention to Boss, what with the armor"
"Damn. So what are we gonna do after this… mission thing?"
"Well, Boss wants to go back after it, and I agreed. We had a few side conversations on the way back and agreed if it took Kinzie a long time to get the 'project' working she would steal the schematics to the Normandy and we'd have a copy assembled, paint it purple, and I guess be gangsta's in space 'till she gets it working"
"Cool, cool… so how have you been, Aaron?"
"Huh?"
"Well we haven't really had a good conversation, with what happened. In fact, I'm pretty sure the last good conversation we had was when you pushed me through that blue gateway"
"Oh yeah, sorry about that by the way. You still mad about that?"
"Nah, not really. So, ya been good?"
"Well Pierce, I was making a name for myself out there, being the best space pirate and everything, then I get recruited on this mission and have to listen to the bullshit of both Shepard and Miranda. But then you guys got here, so hopefully things'll pick up"
"Cool, cool… nice to have you back, man"
"You too, Pierce. Really missed you guys"
"Well, you found a way to remember the Saints, alright"
"What, the fleur-Citadel thing? Yeah, well, that was one way I suppose…" the conversation was cut short as Jack walked back, a weird can in her hand. "Picked this up from a vending machine" se explained.
"What is it?" Pierce asked. Jack responded by opening it, and dumping it's contents on Pierce, the contents revealed to be a brand of purple soda. Pierce looked at the liquid, then screamed at the top of his lungs, running to the elevator to what Aaron assumed to be the bathroom.
Jack laughed a bit, saying, "Dam he is afraid of purple soda after all"
"Yeah, I thought he got over it… oh well" Aaron shrugged.
"Well, I'm gonna go back to my hole. Still got more Cerberus data to go over" Jack said as she walked back to the elevator. Aaron was about to go to the elevator as well when he saw KD win the fight, walking over to Aaron.
"Nice fight, actor dude"
"Thanks. Hey, do you know councilor Anderson?" the vice-president asked.
"Yeah, he's the, uh… councilor of humans, why?"
"Everyone keeps saying I sound like him"
"Really? Eh, I don't see a similarity concerning your voice" Aaron would have loved to continue the conversation, but alas the elevator door opened once again, Shepard coming out.
"Aaron. He's here" he said.
"Damn, now I gotta deal with this. See ya, Dave" Aaron waved as he got into the elevator with Shepard. As it went up to CIC, Aaron asked, "So what do you know about this dude?"
"Illusive Man sent a dossier, said he was part of a experiment with geth technology. apparently his vocal chords are synthetic, made from salvaged geth technology"
"Well that explains why he talks like a geth. What was the point?"
"Trying to communicate with the geth" Shepard answered.
"That… makes no sense, don't they talk through transmissions?"
"Well this guy talks in transmissions, here" he gave Aaron a strange-looking blue earpiece, slightly cube-ish in some places with some blue lights here and there. "You can understand him through that" Shepard explained.
"Illusive tell you anything other than that?"
"He's a expert hand-to-hand fighter along with being a master at tech-related skills"
"Anything else?"
"No"
"Well alright. Tali alright with this?"
"Why would she be mad about this? He only has some tech in his throat"
"Yeah, but it's geth tech"
"If she can't deal with him, that's her problem. He's a crewmember now"
"More like someone to spy on us…" Aaron muttered as the elevator doors opened. They made there way to the airlock. After five minutes the airlock doors opened, the familiar man wearing terminus assault armor, carrying a white and yellow case. He waved.
"Alright Aaron. Remember this is one of the three most deadly assassins Cerberus has to offer. For all you know, he's gonna be a complete dick, so just play it cool, you can kill him when all of this is over" Ouroboros pointed to the left side of his helmet, signaling Aaron and Shepard to activated the earpieces. Then he spoke. And the words that came out of his mouth were something Aaron and Shepard did not expect to hear.
"Hiya! My name's Ouroboros, or at least that's what everyone at Cerberus calls me, but you can call me Ouro if you want! Ah, it's nice to talk to other people for once. My other two friends aren't so nice. One scares me and one bosses me around… anyway, you must be Shepard! Who's this?" Ouroboros, or Ouro as he liked to call himself, gestured to Aaron.
"I'm, uh, Aaron" the virtual being said, then looked at Shepard and made a 'da fuq?' face. This is not at all what he was expecting one of the three great assassins of Cerberus to sound like. For one, he was just too… friendly, and talked in a friendly matter to. He was like a male version of Kelly, hell, even his voice sounded off. While Aaron may have the looks of a sixteen year-old he still had his normal adult voice, having changed his appearance in the simulation, but this guy sounded like a actual sixteen year-old!
"Oh, you're the one the Cerberus people and scientist are always mad about… they don't like you over there, you know"
"Yeah, I wonder why…"
"But I'm a huge fan!"
"…Okay, 'splain yourself"
"Well, I've seen extranet news, at least what the Cerberus scientists lets me, and they're always doing news reports about you, about how you kill people or steal stuff. But most of those people were bad!"
"Eh, most were mercs or pirates… and not the good kind. Others were corrupt politicians"
"And Alliance soldiers…" Shepard muttered under his breath.
"Hey, most of them were dirty. Or, wait, that was C-sec… look it was necessary, plus they're gunning for me too. Alliance wants my guns too or something"
"Yeah! Plus the painting on the Citadel was funny"
"Finally! Someone outside the Saints gets the joke"
"Well, I always wanted to be like you, you know…"
"Really?"
"Yeah, but I always have to do what Cerberus tells me to do. They're not very nice to me when I say I want to leave the labs"
"Well damn, that's… that's actually pretty sad"
"Aaron, I have to go to the labs, discuss some upgrades with Mordin. Why don't you… show the new guy around?" Shepard offered. Before Aaron could respond the commander briskly walked off.
"Prick…" Aaron muttered before he turned back to Ouro. "So! Ouro" Aaron said, clapping his hands together. "Why don't I show you around the ship, get you to know the crew?"
"Oh, that'd be cool! Thanks" Aaron slightly shivered at the assassins enthusiasm. There's no way this is how he always acted. The two started walking off, Aaron explaining the layout.
"Anyway, this is deck two, the CIC. Where we were was the cockpit, where our ornery pilot flies this thing, and various crewmembers do… whatever the hell it is they do at their stations. Over there is the galaxy map, a… mapular device of some sorts. There's Kelly, for the love of god don't talk to her"
"Why not?"
"Just don't! Anyway, to the left through that door is Mordin's lab, he does sciency stuff, to the right is the armory, in the middle of that hallway is the briefing room and QEC if you ever wanna talk with your boss. And right here is the elevator, which will take us down to deck three"
"What's on deck one?"
"Shepard's crib, we're not really supposed to go up there" the two got into the elevator and waited as it descended to deck three.
"…These elevators are pretty slow, huh?" Ouro asked.
"Your preaching to the quire, dude" the elevator opened and Aaron continued with the tour. "Alright, back there is the crew quarter -don't go in my room- the bathrooms are right there, bars' right there for some reason, ahead of us is the mess hall"
"Hey Aaron, new guy want food?" the chef asked.
"We're good Gardner! Don't eat his food unless your starving, he's the same guy that cleans the toilets. Anyway, to the left is Miranda's IE Cerberus Bitch's office, to the right is the medbay, the AI core is behind there, for some strange reason, and ahead of us is some sleeper pods and the room with the big guns, where Garrus always calibrates"
"Does he ever stop?" Ouro asked.
"No. No he doesn't. On with the tour!" The two made their way to the elevator down to deck four.
"Down here" Aaron explained, "is the engineering deck. Also where a bunch of psychopaths live. Over there is… those two"
"Nice to see you to, Aaron" Gabby and Ken said at the same time.
"And over there is… oh hey, Tali!" Tali took a break from what she was doing at her terminal and looked at the source of the voice. "Oh! Hi, Aaron… who's your friend?" she nervously asked as she started twiddling her hands.
Aaron was a bit weirded out by that, but answered, "Just a new recruit. We didn't really have a say in it"
"Nice to meet you, Tali" Ouro said, than immediately slapped his helmeted head when he realized what he'd done.
Tali took a step back and asked, "Why… does he sound like a geth?"
Aaron sighed. "Well, I'm not gonna sugar-coat it. Basically, he's a Cerberus assassin, and some experimentation was done on him and basically… he has artificial vocal chords manufatured from geth technology" He saw the two glowing eyes behind the visor narrow at the assassin, and Aaron sighed. "Kid, why don't you… go down to deck five, it's where we store vehicles and additional cargo. It also has a sparing ring if your interested"
"Yeah, sure thing…" a dejected Ouro said as he made his way to the elevator. Tali immediately walked up to Aaron and yelled, "What are you thinking!?"
"Hey, none of this was my fault, and Shepard makes all the decisions! Look, I know he's gonna be hard to trust, considering he's a assassin from Cerberus. With some geth tech. And could possibly be spying on us"
"Really?" the quarian asked sarcastically.
"The worst part is he was part of the three-head team. Really hope he doesn't go into my room, and he see's Gehenna's shotgun…"
"Shouldn't you throw that thing away?"
"I'm not giving up a Wraith with a custom paintjob and with those mods. Look, just… try to get along with him, Cerberus ain't giving us any history on him, so for all we know he's an unwilling test subject"
"Fine. How do you understand him anyway?"
"Oh Shepard gave me this earpiece, suppose to be a translator"
"Ah, that makes sense"
"So… how have you been?"
"Fine, fine… why do you ask?"
"No… no particular reason, just… just wondering. I'm gonna go now!" Aaron said with a hint of nervousness as he ran off.
"…Weird…" Tali muttered as she got back to work.
Deck five
Exiting the elevator, Aaron saw two crewmembers sparing, Ouro awaiting his turn. "So how'd your talk with Tali go?" he asked.
"I dunno what your talking about"
"Suuuuuure… anyway, I'm fighting the old guy"
"Zaeed? Good luck- wait, shouldn't you take the armor off?"
"The Cerberus people don't let me"
"Whatever man" Ouro got into the ring, Zaeed waiting for him, clad in, surprise surprise… his usual armor.
"Figured since ya got your armor, I could bring mine" the old mercenary explained.
"Fair enough" Ouro nodded. Zaeed tilted his head, not understanding him, but nodded. Ouro nodded also, getting into a fighting stance, Zaeed doing the same. A bell sounded. The two were circling each-other, waiting for one to make a move. The first move was made by Ouro, throwing a punch. Zaeed blocked it, and threw a counter punch, but Ouro slinked behind him, twisting his hand from Zaeed's grip as he punched him multiple times in the back. The mercenary turned around but Ouro slinked to his back again. He tapped Zaeed's shoulder and he turned around, throwing a punch. Ouro caught the fist and punched Zaeed's multiple times in the face. Zaeed, growing frustrated for the most part, attempted a leg-sweep, Ouro flipping over the leg, kicking Zaeed in the jaw in the process and sending him in the air. Ouro landed from his flip and grabbed the mercenary's leg, slamming him on the ground multiple times before throwing him out of the ring as the merc passed out. He stood up and saw the other crew members looking at him slack-jawed, Aaron shaking his head.
"Dude, your not supposed to use your feet like that, it's sparing, not karate practice"
"Well sorry for utilizing my full fighting ability" Ouro said sarcastically. The crew members were confused at his speech, but Aaron sighed. "I'm going to my room. You do what you want" Ouro nodded as Aaron, once again, entered the elevator.
Deck three
Walking to his room, Aaron sighed. It had been a long day. Or night. Whatever time it was. while he didn't get tired due to his virtualization, he could still get mentally exhausted, and he had had enough crazy for one day. Unfortunately it didn't end as he saw Kasumi gearing up for battle.
"Girl I swear is you stole something from my room I'll strangle you with that hood"
"What? Nah, I'm just… gearing up from something"
"Something being…?"
"You know Donovan Hock?"
"Eh, heard he's a bad dude and thought of robbing him one day then thought, 'nah, I'm too busy getting ready to blow something up with krogan booze.' Why?"
"Let's just say he killed a friend of mine and I'm going to get his graybox back. Shepard didn't want to help so your friend Boss is helping"
"Really? Boss is helping you?"
"Said he was in the 'mood to kill a rich dick again.' Something like that"
"Oh boy, bad things happen when he gets that feeling… well, best of luck to both of you" Continuing on to his venture to his room. He went in, closed the door, and plopped down onto his bed. Although he only got a few minutes of rest when he got a knock on the door. "-Groan- who is it?"
"It's me" the voice of Ouroboros said.
Aaron shot out of bed and said, "Don't come in here!"
"But I wanted to talk"
"Talk somewhere else!"
Ouro sighed, hacking the door and entering the room. "Look Aaron I think… that…" Ouro stopped mid-sentence as he gazed onto the wall. There, on said wall, was a all-familiar shotgun.
Gehenna's shotgun.
Undisclosed location
The Illusive Man took a drag from his cigarette as he looked up at the black-armored figure. "Are you sure he's ready for this task?" he asked.
"He's already on the ship, believe me, he is more than capable for the assignment"
"Very well, just make sure he gets mission reports on a regular basis. I want him alive, but captured in a manner that does not interfere with Shepard's mission"
"I assure you" Hydra assured, "It shall be done. The armor and the man shall be yours. Why such a fascination?"
"Armor like that but on Cerberus troops could give us an undeniable advantage in the fight for securing humanity's dominance. I realize capturing Aaron could be a difficult if not impossible task, but if I were to acquire that armor, it would not be needed"
"Very well, but I have already told you, success is a near-certainty"
"Very well, I trust you Hydra. How goes Gehenna's recovery?"
"It's going better than expected, the artificial limbs have been successfully implanted and the upgrade to his augmentations have been successfully grafted"
"Good, good… as soon as the doctors give the OK, I want you two to report to the hangar bay. I have a… special assignment for you two regarding the quarians…"
"…So who shall I be killing today?"
A/N- Okay look, some people have this thing called 'burning out', where some authors feel burned out after writing a lot and have to take a small break. So I took a break and kept thinking, 'I could be slacking off when I could be writing…' so I felt guilty throughout the entire thing and got back to writing. So nobody bothered with the bonus challenge last chapter (It was bulletstorm) so no-one gets the bonus. Don't really have much to say, considering this chapter was less… intense than usual. But tensions will be better next time. Alright, I'm gonna go and remember, review! Cya!