Author's Notes: Here's number twelve! Happy to have y'all still aboard for the ride, and welcome back quantumparadigm, hope you had a good vacation :) To answer your question, no, I haven't read the books, but I do love the games. I'll admit that there hasn't been as much interaction with some of the characters as I'd like, but hopefully, later chapters will get around to it, especially after the first two awkward missions have gotten out of the way. Enjoy, folks!

Chapter Twelve

I'm not going down to Noveria. Well, shit. I'm almost wondering if Shepard's keeping me on board so Doc Chakwas or Tali can keep an eye on me, what with my near breakdown the other night. Maybe, maybe not. Whatever the case, she chose to take Liara and Garrus with her down there, arguing that it would be good to have Liara along to have some insight into her mother's actions, and Garrus for...well, his C-Sec-ness. Who better to deal with the local cops than another cop, right?

Although I already know how this one's going to play out. That is, if everything goes according to script this time. I don't know what it was about just...talking and letting it all out with the Doc and Shepard that one night, but I haven't had a single damn nightmare since. Actually slept pretty well, and even Tali mentioned that I was a hell of a lot more chipper during my engineering shift that day. I don't know, maybe it's the knowledge that I didn't shoot an innocent man, or that if I had, it would've been self-defense.

Maybe it's knowing that I have a purpose here, that Q chose me for a reason, and not someone like, well, James T. Kirk. Who, by the way, I still think would've slept with every woman in the universe and still have found the time to send the Reapers packing, crying for their mommy. Not everyone may be cut out to become a hero in this situation, but perhaps that's the point. A hero is just that...a hero. Someone extraordinary who is just waiting for the opportunity to step up and show the universe what they're made of. But that's not me. That's not the majority of people, I'd bet.

But perhaps this isn't about being extraordinary. Perhaps this is just about being plain ordinary. Someone with real doubts and fears, thrust into a situation beyond their control. Because right now, for me, it's either lie down and die, or stand up and fight, for whatever that's worth. And hell, I've never been one to take anything laying down. Whether I can really make a difference in the final outcome or not...I'm going to try, because that's all I can do.

The best you can. That's all. You're here to do what any of your admittedly limited species can do. Your best.

Q's words from our very first meeting suddenly come to mind. Holy...

I spin around at the sudden clapping behind me, only to find the world, once again, in black and white, with a familiar figure in a Starfleet uniform standing there, casually leaning against a console.

"I see you've finally come to a conclusion," he says dryly. The urge to punch his smug face is suddenly back. Although, I guess, he did lay it out for me on day one.

So I just nod and sigh and cross my arms. "Yeah, laugh it up. It's not easy, being a mere mortal, you know."

To my surprise, he actually acknowledges that fact with a sharp incline of his head. Oh, right, he spent some time stripped of his Q powers. I remember him driving Janeway absolutely nuts. Man, that was actually...slightly amusing. He suddenly frowns at me. He's reading my mind, isn't he?

"I am. And as hard as you think your life is, imagine being one of us - as well as your feeble mind can grasp the concept, anyway - and finding yourself suddenly stripped of all your powers. To suddenly be blind and deaf and mute to the universe."

"So you came all the way here just to tell me I'd finally gotten it right? Like, figured out your reason for screwing with my life and sending me to a fictional universe that's about to be hit with enough shit to bury the proverbial fan?"

"Only in part," he says as he idly buffs his nails against his command-red uniform shirt. "It has been...an interesting experience watching all of you, even the rest of the Continuum had to agree with that. And while I am not about to interfere, I do feel like I should warn you that your very presence in this universe has already begun to alter the course of events."

"No shit, Sherlock," I grumble. It's kind of hard to miss a fucking colossus that isn't supposed to be there. "Anything else you'd like to warn me about?"

That shit-eating grin is back. "Nope. Although I must say, you seem to complain an awful lot about your situation compared to the others."

"Yeah, well, this whole killing business? It's really not my thing."

"An interesting sentiment, considering how warlike your race is."

"Yeah, well...you couldn't have put me in Sim City 3000, or something, couldn't you?" I shoot back, more in jest than in seriousness.

Q just shrugs. "I could have...but that wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining. There's no drama, no conflict there, you understand."

"Yeah...you're going to get a shitload of conflict here real soon."

"I know...and I hope you have a plan, because whether you believe me or not, you are here to prove that you can make a difference. The Continuum depends on your success and that of the others."

That's the third time he's mentioned that. What's so important about this little experiment of his, anyway? And yes, I have no doubt that that's all this is...an experiment by Q. Something he cooked up while he was bored. Like watching hamsters run in a cage, only, well, with humans, instead of hamsters. But all this meta shit about teaching the Continuum, and proving ourselves to them? What's all that about?

"You never explained that one to me," I reply. "What exactly do you mean, the Continuum can learn from us? What's your plan? Your reason?"

"There are many reasons, most of which are beyond your comprehension," he waves me off.

"Most, but not all. Try me, Q. You owe me. You just ripped me from home and stuck me in this shithole-to-be. I deserve to at least know why I'm here."

"In time," he tells me with a patronizing grin that just makes me want to smack him. Yeah, no wonder he always infuriated Picard and Janeway so much.

Well, I guess if he's not going to give me an answer..."So, how many times has Janeway shot you down since we last talked?"

That gets a sour grimace from him. Ha! Take that, you omnipotent asshole! Omniscient, omnipotent, and still can't get the woman. Cue evil laughter no. 74: Mad Cackle. "Kathy will come around. After all, why would she limit herself to members of your limited, primitive species?"

"Oh, perhaps because she's a member of that so-called limited, primitive species?" There's no hiding the grin on my face now. "Face it, Q...she's human. Sex with a cloud of energy just can't sound all that appealing to her."

"I-no...what?" He splutters almost comically. "That's not how it works!"

Oh, I know that's not how it works. Well, between Q, maybe, because I'm only ever seen him do that merging flash thingy with the female Q during that Star Trek episode with the Q civil war, but I imagine that he'll probably be quite solid otherwise. Maybe. But it's still funny to troll him. Oh, I'm totally going to troll him. I wonder if 4chan still exists?

He finally realizes I'm practically laughing at him, and just huffs in annoyance. "Very well then, I can see that I'm not needed here." His expression turns serious for a moment. "Do be careful. There are forces beyond your comprehension at work here."

A snap of his fingers later, and he's gone, and color is back in the world. And Tali's wondering why I'm sliding down the bulkhead laughing like a maniac.

T

"Grayson, you got a call coming in from the Commander asking for you by name. Grab Tali and Wrex and head up to the comm room, I'll route it there," Joker's voice comes through the intercom panel. I look over at our resident quarian, but she just shrugs, having no idea what could be going on. I head out to collect Wrex while she arranges for one of the other engineers to take over while she's up on Deck One, and meets me and Wrex at the elevator.

"What do you think is going on down there?" Tali asks as we wait for it to move us up to Deck One. Did I mention already that this elevator moves slow as heck? That doesn't seem to bother Wrex any, because the big krogan merc is just leaning against the far side of the cabin, staring straight ahead of him. Huh, I never really noticed it, but his body language is really a lot like...Zaeed's. All casual and stuff with that air of badassery and violence around him. Tali shifts nervously...I think she's just slightly uncomfortable to be in such close proximity to a krogan.

Yeah, Wrex is pretty dang intimidating up close. And the elevator is really cramped. So she's standing next to me, which is about as far away from Wrex as she can get. It also puts me right in between them. I turn to face Tali and shrug. "Not a clue." Which is, of course, not really true. I have a vague idea of what's going on, but I have no clue why Shepard's calling in for us. That part certainly wasn't in the game.

And...the elevator lapses back into uncomfortable silence. Hey, just because I got an approving nod and clap on the shoulder from Wrex for the fun we had on Therum - which, by the way, nearly broke my collarbone, the clap on the shoulder, that is - doesn't mean that either me or Tali are entirely comfortable in this confined space with a hulking half-ton of krogan muscle. Thankfully, the elevator arrives soon enough and spills all of us into the command deck. Kaidan and Ashley are already in the comm room, and the moment the door closes behind us, Joker cuts in Shepard's transmission.

I pointedly ignore Ash's glare at my back as I step up next to Tali to the holoprojector. "Commander, you called?" I ask, since she, well, specifically called for me.

"Yeah. We've run into a bit of...bureaucratic bluster down here." The signal's a little distorted from the snowstorm that's tearing around the antennae on the ground, but Shepard appears to be standing in some kind of office...oh, right. Probably Parasini's office. I think it was Parasini, right? The Internal Affairs agent who asked Shepard to bring down Noveria's governor. Damn, I really should've replayed or brushed up on my Mass Effect lore. Then again, if I'd known I was going to be sent here, I probably would've done quite a few things, not the least of which is telling Q to stick his brilliant idea where the sun don't shine. But I digress.

"Bureaucratic bluster, eh? Gotta love that red tape."

"We're working an angle here. I've got Liara and Vakarian on a lead, but we could use some tech help down here." Shepard's image cocks its head to the side for a moment as if listening to someone else, then focuses back on us. "Listen, Grayson, I want you to take the second Kodiak down, we need some of your talents and technical expertise."

"Wouldn't the quarian be more qualified?" Ashley asks in that nauseatingly perpetually-irritable tone that seems to be her new fad. Hell if I know what's up with her, but if I didn't know any better - and was any more bluntly offensive than I am - I'd say she's permanently PMSing. Not that that's funny in any way, but she's just...yeah. Severely bad mood and short temper?

Shepard briefly looks over at the gunnery chief, then back at me, and even over the comms, the dismissal of the question is clear, but she answers anyway. "She might be, but she's on her main duty shift in engineering right now. Grayson's free, and he's just as good. Take the shuttle, Grayson, and meet us at the platform."

"Aye aye, Commander," I nod. "You sure you don't want me to bring anyone else? Like...Wrex? I'm sure he could make those paper-pushers work faster just by being in the same room with them."

That actually gets a chuckle out of her. "I'd tend to agree, Grayson, but we don't exactly want them to feel like we're launching an invasion. Between you, me, Vakarian, and Liara we should be able to handle anything that comes our way."

Damn. I was really hoping she'd let me bring Wrex, because, well, you know, there was a specific reason I asked. Big, screechy, eight-legged? Yeah, rachni. I remember that much about Noveria. Specifically, I remember thinking all level long how much we could've used more firepower. And having Wrex, our walking-talking-running-gunning tank down there? Would've been a big plus, because stupidly, on my first playthrough, I did bring Garrus and Liara.

But Shepard's not done, and now she's talking to Kaidan. "Lieutenant Alenko, we're about to lose long-range comms in this snowstorm. You're in charge up there until comms clear up or we return. Don't scratch up my ship, you got that?"

"Yes, ma'am." Kaidan's the only one Shepard will actually let get away with calling her ma'am, for some reason.

"All right, see you on the other side." Shepard motions to turn the comm off, but then pauses and looks at me. "And Grayson? Bring your thermal underwear. It's fucking cold down here."

T

You know, after flying that Kodiak shuttle down through the massive snowstorm that just enveloped Port Hanshan and cut off long-range communication gave me a whole new appreciation for pilots like Joker. I've always dreamed of getting a pilot's license for choppers, even taken a few lessons. Flying a chopper, anything, really, that's capable of just frigging hovering in place is pretty hard to fly.

But compared to flying through this bloody snowstorm with zero visibility and gusting winds? Yeah, cakewalk. Seriously, pilots who can navigate this by sheer instinct and instrumentation alone and fly level and smoothly, and make it look easy are geniuses. When I bring in the shuttle to finally land, Shepard's already waiting for me at the platform. The moment the hangar doors close behind me, she's already at the bottom of the ramp.

I shoot her a brief salute, then lock up the shuttle behind me. "You called, Commander?"

"Walk with me, Grayson." And without waiting for me to reply, she turns around and strides away.

"We have a lead on Matriarch Benezia. It appears she made planetfall not too long ago, and headed over to the research facilities at Peak 15. Unfortunately, according to port authorities, we are not allowed to take our shuttles there - not that we could fly them in this storm, anyway," she explains. Okay, I knew that much. So now she should be getting to the part where Parasini offers to get them a garage pass in exchange for incriminating Administrator Whatshisface Linoleum. Anodium. Something like that.

And right on cue, Shepard continues. "We need a garage pass from the administrator's office so we can take one of their refit Makos out to Peak 15. I have Liara and Vakarian working on an angle, but we need your...unique qualifications for this. I need you to infiltrate the Synthetic Insights main office on the main concourse. You're looking for a personal terminal containing payroll, dossiers, and financial information that will incriminate Administrator Anoleis."

"Okay..." I mutter, more for her benefit than mine. Ah, that was his name, Anoleis. Eh, it's not really important, anyway, his name could be Administrator Ass-hat for all I care. So Shepard wants me to go into Synthetic Insights and raid Qui'in's computer? Guess it's more subtle than having her entire squad barge in there. I pull up a map of Port Hanshan on my omni-tool. "Any further information on the target, Commander?"

"Just that time is of the essence. Minimal involvement of the local law enforcement units would be best, but some of them may be on the Administrator's payroll, and heading there to retrieve the same disc. You'll have to hurry."

"I best be going, then, Commander."

"We best be going, Lieutenant." Shepard looks at me and hands me the data chip. "Just make sure you're out of sight. I have a bit of a suspicion, and I hope I'm wrong, but you'll be there just in case."

So that's how she wants to play it, huh? All right, then. I toggle the newly-fixed cloak on my armor and follow her to the Synthetic Insights elevator. It deposits us on the main level of the company tower. There's no one inside the receptionist area, which is already strange. I mean, it's a company that's still doing business and isn't under investigation, or anything. So why is everyone gone...? There's not a single person between us and the main staff area in the back, which is starting to creep me out.

Shepard just strolls through as if she owns the place, though, and thanks to my cloak, that's all surveillance cameras will see. Door after door passes as we head down corridors, each with a name neatly stenciled across it to identify the owner of the office behind. And finally...there's Qui'in's, just off the main hallway. With the Cerberus hacking suite in my omni-tool, it doesn't take long to override the lock while the Commander just wanders about looking for all the world like a lost tourist. The deception is unnecessary, of course, because I'm starting to get the feeling that Anoleis already shut down Synthetic Insights, and as such anyone walking around here would look pretty suspect.

Once the door lock cycles, Shepard just pokes her head in the door, long enough for me to slip in undetected without having the cameras see the doors open and close for no reason. But still, better safe than sorry, I guess. Plausible deniability and all that. Wait. I freeze before I take a step into the room. Wasn't there a Renegade/Paragon choice around here somewhere? Like, scaring off a couple guards, or something? I run a quick thermal scan on my omni-tool, but nothing comes up.

Strange. Maybe I remember wrong. But I do remember that we're supposed to be confronted by one of the security executives once we're about to leave. What just creeps me out is the fact that we're all alone in here. A quick EM flare from my omni-tool to blank out all the cameras in the office and then I disengage the cloak and get to work on the terminal. The computer beeps and chirps as it quietly powers up, and I hesitantly stick the datachip into the appropriate slot. There's this real feeling of unease, that same feeling of looming disaster as I had on Therum, right before the earthquakes started. That can't be good. I give the room another quick scan before finally running the copy command on the terminal.

The bar fills with agonizing slowness. You'd think that with quantum computing and all that shit they'd come up with something faster than the typical MS Windows copy bar. I nervously glance around the room. It's just like it was in the game, there's very little cover, and very few points from which to set up an ambush.

Fifty percent done.

I can hear Shepard's footsteps outside.

Sixty percent.

Where the hell is she going...?

Seventy percent.

The high-pitched whine of weapons fire breaks the silence, and a sharp staccato of impacts from an assault rifle against the outside wall drums at my ears. What the fuck? The bark of Shepard's shotgun drowns out the other gunfire for a second, coupled with cries of pain as her rounds find their mark.

Seventy-five percent.

The shooting's getting closer, and there's the tell-tale crackle of Shepard's biotics. What the hell is going on out there? An earth-shattering roar later, and I'm sure Shepard just Charged someone.

Eighty percent.

The door to the office blows open, and I duck as it careens right over me and into the far wall with an impossibly loud crash. Holy crap, what the...I spare a glance over at the terminal while ducking underneath the desk.

The download halts. Just stops. Then an error pops up. Files corrupted. What the fuck? Shepard comes running into the room now, sliding underneath a hail of gunfire that sends me scrambling for cover underneath the heavy desk as rounds whiz by overhead through the holographic screen. I peek over as more rounds spray into the office, and heave my shoulder against the desk, toppling it. A second later, Shepard slides into the cover it provides next to me as I'm looking at my omni-tool interface in disbelief.

You know how in the movies the heroes can always see the data stream across their screens and slowly disintegrate as it's being deleted, giving them precious few seconds to come up with a plan to salvage it? Lines of code scrolling by, slowly unraveling, folders disappearing one at a time. And then the hero just hits a few keys, or yanks out the flash drive, and gives it to his tech specialist to recover the fragments?

Yeah, that doesn't happen in real life. Because as slow as copying shit may be, deleting shit is really, bloody, fucking fast. A split second, and then it's gone. There's no watching your hopes drain away, no slow vanishing of code a line at a line. It just blinks, and then it's gone.

Just like the files I was just copying from the terminal. Well, fuck, I always thought these self-destruct viruses that wipe harddrives were a movie myth, but apparently not. The terminal shuts down and reboots in default mode, blinking cursor and all, asking for an operating system boot disk. Uhhh...shit.

"We've got a bit of a problem here, Lieutenant," Shepard says cheerfully as she leans around the table and lets off a blast from her shotgun.

I look over at her, then back down at my omni-tool as I remotely access the terminal's drive. Nothing. Completely blank. I'm surprised whoever did this didn't rig it to explode, or anything, but fuck. I don't remember this shit going down this way. "We may have a slightly bigger problem, Commander."

"Oh? What's that?" Man, Shepard sounds almost happy gunning down these guys. What'd they ever do to piss her off?

Seeing her actually wield her shotgun one-handed this close up - it being a self-cocking, semi-automatic variant, there's no need for a second hand to actually pump it - actually scares me a little. Hell, she's going all Terminator on these guys, and I'm almost afraid to give her the bad news. "The evidence we were looking for? It's gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone," I confirm uneasily. "There's nothing left on the drives, not even an operating system. I'm guessing someone rigged it to wipe, either by remote access or by some kind of trigger." Hell if I know, I'm not a computer scientist. I suck at writing code. Or, how would DeForrest Kelly say it? Dammit, Jim, I'm an engineer, not a programmer!

"Interesting."

Interesting? That's the only thing she has to say about it? We came all this way to get some files to get a garage pass and it's gone and we're in the middle of a freaking firefight, and all she can say is interesting? Speaking of firefights, I should probably get involved. I reach for my rifle, unfold it, and rest it on the edge of the desk.

Then I take one look at her un-helmeted face, and I realize, she knows. "What the hell's going on here, Commander?"

"Watch and learn, Lieutenant, watch and learn." She pokes her head out of cover and yells. "Captain Stirling, this is Commander Shepard. I'm giving you this opportunity to surrender. It's a one-time offer, I suggest you take it."

There's a pause in the shooting, and Shepard motions me to set up across the room. With my cloak and sound-dampers on full, I sprint across and duck behind a potted plant. My rifle's out and deployed in one smooth motion, and I've got a bead drawn at the open doorway. I've got one shot at whoever Shepard wants me to cover, because then my cloak's going out and I'm going to be a pretty big target with not much for cover. 'Cause clay flowerpots? They're not exactly bulletproof, you know.

Someone - Stirling, I presume, but damn if I can remember her face from the game - calls back with some humor. "I'm not the one who's pinned down in an office with no way out, Commander. I have you for breaking and entering, attempted theft, industrial espionage, and assault and murder. I'd surrender if I were you."

"And I've got you for obstructing a Council investigation, assault on a Council spectre, embezzlement, and in general being a bitchy pain in the ass," Shepard chuckles as she stands up, her shotgun at her hip. "I'm thinking I've got a better case."

I think I know what she's doing...she's trying to bait Stirling into walking into the room so I can take the shot. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that, considering the fact that I can just imagine a bunch of laser sights being trained on Shepard right now. Oh, this isn't going to end well, is it?

"Oh, come on, Commander, do you really expect me to walk into your sniper's line of sight? That's the oldest trick in the book."

I knew it. Well, fuck, I hope Shepard has a plan. Wait, if I can flank around, and...

There's a bright cyan flare, and an energy wave washes across the room. My cloak fizzles for a moment, and for a long, dreadful second, I'm dead sure that EMP charge killed it for the second time in as many missions. Thankfully, though, Cerberus is as good at its job as it's ruthless, and the cloak is still intact. Phew. There's a brief moment in which I wonder how the hell they knew to bring EMPs to short out personal cloaks, but that's shoved aside in favor of finding a way to get the drop on them. I'm still cloaked, which they don't expect...I hope.

Okay, so let's think. Shepard's still in full view of the door, acting as though she doesn't care as if they can have a dozen guys put rounds into her - that is, if she doesn't Charge into them first. I've got, uhh...a handful grenades. Flashbangs and EMPs, no frags, no smokes. Okay, thermal view, let's take a look. The outlines of a dozen people shows up outside in the hall - a little fuzzy and indistinct, because there's a metal wall in between us - but it's good enough to make out a huge blob of people.

This isn't good, not good at all. What the hell is Shepard thinking?

"You think I didn't expect Qui'in to sell us out?" Shepard replies evenly.

Wait, what? I thought Qui'in worked for Parasini...or was her witness, or something.

"I mean, come on, what'd you offer the guy, huh? A top-paid executive position? Retirement fund? Private island? Although, if you did offer him one, I hope he was at least smart enough to ask for one that's situated in a bit better climate," the Commander continues, and I'm left to wonder if she's lost her mind.

I may not remember much about the original Mass Effect game, but I'm pretty sure it went something like, that Parasini chick wanted Qui'in as a witness for her case against Anoleilus...that administrator dude. I forget his name. Qui'in, then sends Shepard on a merry quest to retrieve the evidence, which can be either turned in to Qui'in to take the witness stand, or directly to Parasini to just plain indict Administrator-Dude. I'm pretty sure that any sort of backstabbery wasn't part of the script, unless it was Shepard doing the Renegade thing and bringing the evidence to Admin-Dude.

"You're delusional, Commander," Stirling counters. "We're here to take you into custody on Administrator Anoleis's orders. I warned you not to cause any trouble. Looks like you weren't very eager to listen."

Oh, right, his name is Anoleis. I think I'll stick with Admin-Dude, it's easier to remember. Or Administrator Ass-hat. It fits better. But I still don't get how Shepard thinks Qui'in actually sold us out, because if I remember correctly, then Anoleis already had sent his goons over to steal the evidence. No time to worry about it now, need to get out of this first. I unhook one of the flashbangs from my utility belt. Maybe if I can get enough of them, between the flashbang and Shepard's crazy Charging, we can clean up the rest.

"I did mention that I would ruin your day, Stirling. You should've taken my offer to walk away." All the humor is gone from Shepard's tone now. It's like she knows she's got her, but I have no idea how she's planning on doing it. Hell, I have no idea why I'm even here in the first place, instead of Liara and Garrus...

Liara and Garrus. Where the hell are they?

"I would listen to the lady, Captain Stirling."

There's Garrus's voice and suddenly, there's a cacophony of noises outside. There's scuffling, and shuffling, and struggling, and shooting, but it's over very quickly, and Garrus and Liara walk into the room with Parasini, two men in uniform and body armor, and a woman I guess is Kaira Stirling held between them in tow. Garrus walks up to us - well, Shepard, really, since I'm still cloaked - and matches her relaxed posture easily.

"Shepard. Looks like you were right, after all," he says easily.

"Nice work, Vakarian. Miss Parasini?" Shepard looks past the turian at the Internal Affairs agent.

Parasini just smiles and shakes her hand. "I don't know how you knew, Commander, but thanks to you, we've got the administrator, the majority of the corrupt security officers, and Lorik Qui'in in custody on a variety of charges. What about the evidence Qui'in gathered?"

"It's gone," Shepard tells her. "If it was ever here to begin with."

Parasini sighs in frustration. "Well, it's a shame. I would've loved to nail him for corruption. But I guess the committee will have a field day with the misappropriations and conspiracy charges. You couldn't recover anything from Qui'in's terminal?"

"Take a look," Shepard gestures towards the upturned table with the terminal still blinking, looking for a boot disc. Is it sad that what amazes me the most about this scene isn't that Shepard just anticipated a double-cross and double-crossed the double-crossers, or that all that went down and I had no clue this shit was happening, but the fact that we're in the twenty-third century, and shit still uses boot discs?

The other woman quickly waves one of her men forward, and they dismantle the terminal. "We'll take it with us. Perhaps forensics will be able to do anything with it, even though I doubt it," she says as they carry it off. "At any rate...thank you for your help, Commander Shepard. If you'll come by my office, I'll have my secretary file your garage pass for you to pick up at your convenience. I hope you find what you're looking for."

Parasini and her troopers pull out quickly and neatly, and within minutes, all that's left is me, Shepard, Garrus, and Liara, and one bullet-ridden corridor. Wow. That was...and I didn't even have to do anything. Or get to do anything. Man, I feel useless now. Why the hell did Shepard have me come down here if she had everything under control?

"You can come out now, Grayson."

Oh, I'm still cloaked. A touch to my omni-tool's command interface fixes that, and then Shepard's looking at me with amusement. "I...what just happened?" is all I manage.

She slaps me on the shoulder and we all trudge out of the ruined office building.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way."