"Just so we're clear." The Asari said somewhat annoyed, "You all but break my arm begging that we take our shore leave together, go on about some grand plan that you have for me, all so we can go ... shopping?"
"Oh come on Anya," Kasumi laughed next to her, not that anyone else could notice from the way she insisted on remaining cloaked the entire time. "I know from that the best way to annoy a psychopath is to force them to do therapy. And there's no better therapy in existence then shopping therapy!"
The Asari just gave the shimmering air next to her a dumbfounded look, "Just as I thought, all of this is to get back at me for that little game I played on you back in your room?"
"You know it." Kasumi smiled, she could tell no matter how cloaked she was.
"You realize there is perhaps a slight flaw in that logic, yes?"
The day before the Normandy had docked in the Citadel and Shepard quickly delegated everyone to stock up on supplies. Well technically Miranda was the one who managed all the delegations, but it was on Shepard's orders. Even Morinth had to be impressed with the efficiency and skill that Miranda had the entire crew on revolving leave. Making sure that everything got purchased and collected that needed to be while still giving the entire crew plenty of much needed shore leave on standard rotations. When Kasumi discovered that both she and Morinth would be on the same leave rotation she practically ambushed the Ardat-Yakshi in her cabin and demanded that they take their leave together.
Morinth tried to get out of it. After all her alternative identity was still just that of her mother. An Asari Justicar would never do something as frivolous as spending time wandering the shopping districts while on leave. The exception being if such a Justicar had sworn an oath to the person they were with - as Samara had done with Shepard. But Shepard had gone off with Thane and Garrus to handle who knows what manner of personal issues. Without her it simply would not do to have a noble Justicar to waste her time with meaningless shopping.
However Kasumi was smarter than that and wasn't buying it. Samara's daughter was, after all, about as far away from a noble Justicar as you could get. Eventually Morinth relented, and rather than take on the identity of her departed mother, she opted to use of one of her older cover identities. That of a Thessia University student named Anya. It was once a fun, convenient cover to play up the innocent college girl routine back in the day. At least until an actual Justicar managed to track her down. But with her mother gone, it made an easy and convenient cover to slip into.
And thus did Morinth, under her Anya persona, find herself shopping, of all things, with an intergalactic ninja thief. If Kasumi wanted to get back at her this shopping trip really wasn't doing much as far as Morinth was concerned. So far the only inconvenience for the Ardat-Yakshi was being forced to carry all of the bags from their shopping exploits thus far. And the only reason she had to do even that much was because Kasumi insisted on remaining cloaked as much as possible.
It was all perhaps a little bit petty, but hardly vindictive.
"At the risk of suffering future pranks at my expense, I have to say this is all a bit disappointing. I was expecting something a bit more, … cruel perhaps?" Anya said wistfully in her chirpy tone. It wasn't just her tone, but her body language, mannerisms, even her prefered clothing style; everything she presented to the world belonged to the Anya persona she had created.
Kasumi had briefly made mention of how creepy it was that Morinth could so easily put on the other personality like any other costume. However the thief more so than anyone else on the ship could really appreciate the value and artistry of a good cover identity.
"Maybe if I was more like you, but we both like playing with people in different ways." Kasumi explained, "You enjoy creating the perfect character fantasy to toy with your victims. But I'm a thief. I prefer getting people to help me with my fun little capers and see how long it takes them to realize their involvement."
That made Morinth stop in her tracks for a moment. To her credit she maintained Anya's voice even as she deadpanned her response, "You've been stealing things this whole time. And sneaking them into my bags, haven't you? I've literally been your bagman this whole time!"
"Honestly I'm surprised you didn't notice sooner." Kasumi giggled, "Of course I've been choosing light targets intentionally. Jewelry and credit chits mainly. I'll give you props for managing to stay in character."
True enough, if she wasn't playing her current cover Morinth would have put some serious consideration to simply dropping her bags right there and then. But Anya was someone who would not dare risk such a scene, much less have any real understanding of what role she was playing in Kasumi's game. Part of her wondered if Kasumi realized as much when she started playing her little game. She had to admit, Kasumi had done an excellent job of getting back at her in her own special way.
"Well I'm glad you're enjoying yourself!" Anya chirped back, "Don't think you're getting out of the rest of the day's shopping you promised just cause I figured out your little game!" To make her point she continued purposefully walking towards the next shop.
"Oh I wouldn't dream of it." Kasumi smirked as she followed in the shadows, "Seems only fair to reward little Anya for being such a good trooper. Besides, I gotta say, it's been quite entertaining seeing a true artist at work."
"Thanks." Morinth replied in Anya's voice, "It's been fun stretching my acting skills, I haven't had a good chance to play any other cover besides my mother for a while now. You can just imagine how frustrating that's been."
"Really?" Kasumi said, "I'm kind of surprised you didn't just make up some new personality the second Shepard told us all who you are."
"Oh believe me I tried to!" Morinth exclaimed as only an Asari college girl could, "Kinda hard to build up a convincing persona on a tight ship like the Normandy when everyone knows to look out for you. Not that I mind too much. First time in four centuries I can really be myself. Big relief! But it's still nice to play with other masks, so to speak."
"See and here I thought Morinth herself was also a mask." Kasumi commented. Secretly Morinth had to commend the thief on just how perceptive she really was.
"Well it was originally. Actually." Morinth explained without breaking character, "Did you know when I first created Morinth she was gonna be an innocent wide girl lost in Omega for the first time?"
"Sounds a little like rape bait." Kasumi said, clearly scrunching her nose at the implications.
"That was kind of the idea at the time." Morinth continued, "But really, way too easy. Wouldn't catch me anyone interesting, just the usual grime with more ego than brains. Didn't take long to make Morinth into the aloof underworld socialite that Shepard found. She fit a lot better in the VIP club."
Morinth couldn't help but think of the persona that was, the subtle and deliberate differences between the real her and the person Shepard first met. Her real self certainly had no problem enjoying Halex or any other recreational drug, but she also didn't need any of it. Killing was her only true vice. The Morinth that was, however, always had pills nearby. It wasn't about addiction, but giving the impression of someone who had to have that sort of escapist entertainment available within hand's reach. Likewise as much as she enjoyed the music of Expel 10, she wasn't quite the rabid fan like that Morinth was. That Morinth had to be seen, but not appear to care to be seen. There were thousand more tiny details that only Shepard had ever been privy to which made her old mask so vastly different from her true self.
"So what happened to that Morinth?" Kasumi asked.
"My mother happened." Anya groaned back to her in an almost childish manner, "The old Morinth pretty much died when she stormed into my apartment. Hard to play make believe when you're fighting for your life!" Anya gave a silly defeated sigh and continued, "Anyway, Shepard saw the real me then and I haven't really been able to get away with anything else since. Only thing left of old Morinth is the name now."
"Now see that I understand," Kasumi said empathically, "Shep has an eerie knack of seeing the real me as well."
"Goddess tell me about it!" Anya gave the thief a warm smile. Though Morinth knew Kasumi was talking about seeing through her stealth, it was a sympathetic moment between the two of them that Morinth found oddly endearing. While not as simple as being spotted through a stealth field, it was certainly true that anytime Morinth tried playing any new persona, Shepard would immediately seem to respond less favorably. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the only time Shepard would respond positively to her was when she was just being herself.
"See? We're bonding already." Kasumi joked; Morinth was certain the human had just snuck some other pilfered item into her bags somehow. "Like I said, nothing beats shopping therapy."
In spite of the fact that it was somewhat out of character for Anya, Morinth couldn't resist laughing. At least she made sure to slip Anya's mask back firmly in place before she spoke, "Well the therapy part I can see, but you have a really strange definition of shopping."
If Kasumi had a retort she never got around to voicing it. Both of them turned hearing the clear sound of a gunshot, shortly followed by a few more. It was somewhat close, but still far enough away that not everyone realized what they had heard. Those who had were running away from the source of the sound. Morinth knew they would not be doing the same. Kasumi had even temporarily decloaked next to her just so she turn look Morinth in the eye in silent confirmation.
"Give me five seconds." Morinth said quickly in her own voice. She couldn't just drop her bags, filled with Kasumi's stolen spoils, in the middle of the ward and hope for the best. Fortunately whatever was going on was far enough away that most of the nearby stores would more or less ignore the disturbance. An apathy not entirely unexpected where high fashion and violence were likely to collide. This was something Morinth could take advantage of as she made her way through the nearest store, keying up an expensive looking item at a nearby terminal before turning her attention to the store attendant behind the counter.
"Hello dear, can you please hold these behind the counter while I decide which gift to buy my boyfriend?" She spoke through Anya's mask once again as she placed the shopping bags on the counter between her and the attendant. A tired Turian woman who looked like she was desperate for a commission; it was a simple matter to sell her story. "And if you so much as peak at my new dress I will Warp you to the next Arm over!" Treating the attendant with the rudeness she would expect of most of her customers would seal the cover even further. It might be a Turian attendant, but retail was always the same. She would not do anything to risk the sale. Their merchandise would be safe enough while they saw to the disturbance.
"Do you have any weapons I can borrow?" Morinth asked, barely whispering so her cover could remain as she walked away.
"Just the one pistol, I'm afraid." Kasumi whispered back from the shadows next to her, "Hope you don't mind if I keep it."
"That's fine, I have no problem relying on my biotics for now." Morinth waited until she was out of her line of sight of the shop before she took off running in the direction of the gunshots.
They were at the edge of the shopping district when they saw a terrified Turian man running towards the residential area nearby. Some distance behind him was a young Drell, clearly chasing him, and holding a gun in one hand. But the real surprise was the woman chasing him shortly after.
"Shepard?" Oddly both Mornith and Kasumi called out the same questioned greeting as the Spectre rushed passed them. Shepard only paused long enough to give them a questioning look of her own before she took off once again, unwilling to lose her target. Instead she keyed up her Omni-tool, linking up both Morinth and Kasumi to her comm channel, all without slowing her pace.
Both Kasumi and Morinth were already running behind their Commander by the time she spoke up.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" Shepard asked, expertly dodging a screaming Salarian as she closed the distance to the Drell before her.
"Um, we were in the neighborhood?" Kasumi offered.
"She's not kidding." Morinth confirmed, "We happened to be nearby when we heard the shots."
"That's convenient," Shepard claimed, "We have to stop Kolyat before he kills Talid."
"I gat that now's not the best time for questions," Kasumi called out, "But mind filling in some details on this Kolyat and Talid?"
"Kolyat is my son." Thane's voice said with an odd calm given the situation. That alone would have been unusual, but the fact that he had suddenly appeared running next to them as if out of thin air added an extra layer of surprise. "Talid is the Turian, whom he is currently attempting to assassinate."
"What the hell, Thane?!" Kasumi exclaimed, Morinth took a small comfort that the thief's outburst was able to distract from her own similar shock at the Drell's sudden appearance.
"Look, we'll explain later," Shepard's voice rang sharply through their comms, "For now you two back up Thane and me. Hopefully we can get things under control before C-Sec swarms all over this mess."
"I don't think it's C-Sec we need to worry about right now." Morinth mentioned as she noticed several armed opponents running towards them. One look was all it took for Morinth to realize these were enforces for some local organized crime group. Two groups in fact, each a rough collection of mostly Turians and Krogans, running at them from both sides trying to cut them off.
"Morinth, Kasumi, take them out. Thane, with me." Shepard's cool, determined commands cut through the battle cries of their impending opponents as she ran into a nearby apartment complex. Thane ran ahead of them and the next moment he was simply gone.
Though she was intrigued by Thane's skill, Morinth turned her full attention to the attacking mob of thugs. Stopping in her tracks as she turned suddenly with a powerful swipe of her arm, creating a massive shockwave. The wave of powerful biotic energy stormed forward tossing all of her attackers - along with anything else that wasn't nailed down - into the air. Morinth quickly followed up by thrusting her other arm forward, sending a powerful Warp into the center of all the lifted bodies. The Warp hit perfectly and detonated all of the ambient biotic energy, causing a chain reaction of biotic explosions which sent all of the thugs flying in all directions.
By then the Ardat-Yakshi was already focused on her next batch of victims, turning to face the opposite group of attackers. By then they were taking a more cautious approach, spreading out and moving through cover. Morinth thought their attempts were cute, but meaningless. She tossed a ball of biotic energy sideways. It sailed through the air in a long smooth curve before suddenly turning sharply and slamming into one of the larger Krogans hiding behind a nearby pillar, pulling the massive enforcer out from behind his cover. As the large creature bellowed helplessly in mid-air, Morinth tossed another charge of biotic energy into the air, this time slamming it against the body of the floating Krogan, tossing him violently backwards, slamming his massive body into the group of thugs that foolishly thought hiding behind a flimsy railing would protect them from the murderous Asari.
Off to the side Morinth noticed a Turian taking advantage of the brief opening to rush forward, intent on taking her down. Before he could get too far however his feet slipped out from under him, sending him flying forward. Below him the cause of the Turian's misfortune became clear as Kasumi's form decloaked, having kicked her leg down low to land a powerful sweep to the Turian's legs. The thug landed hard on the floor a few feet away, but before he could so much as react Kasumi was already on top of him, straddling the thug from behind as she struck him hard on the back of the neck. The bright sparks from her neural shocker making it clear that was one enforcer who would not find consciousness for some time.
Looking around Morinth noticed the rest of the thugs were likewise unconscious or dead by then. Clearly Kasumi had done a great job of her own taking out the rest of their attackers. It seemed the fight was over almost as soon as it began.
"Nice work!" Morinth said with genuine respect for Kasumi's skill.
"Thanks, we should catch up with Shepard." Kasumi said with a pleased smirk on her face. Morinth just smiled back at her as she nodded her confirmation.
It didn't take long for them to find Shepard. The gunshot coming from a nearby apartment was an easy clue. By the time the two of them reached the open apartment it was obvious whatever had happened there was now over. Shepard was standing near the entryway of the apartment, leaning against the wall in her black tactical armor. Thane was farther inside, talking quietly and somewhat awkwardly with the other Drell. Kolyat, Morinth realized, who was apparently Thane's son. More interestingly, to Morinth at least, was the Turian corpse lying in the center of the apartment. Shepard look up at them as they approached, her previously blue eyes glowing a bright red from her implants, matching the deep grooves along her skin which now also glowed in the same red light.
"So what happened?" Morinth asked Shepard as she and Kasumi walked up to her.
"We finally cornered Thane's son in here." Shepard said, "He had Talid held at gunpoint, threatening to kill him if we didn't back off."
Morinth looked up at Kolyat. The Drell was putting on a brave face but it was obvious to Morinth the kid was terrified. His hands were still shaking and he had already let go of his gun. This was clearly no killer.
"Well it's pretty obvious he didn't kill the Turian." Morinth said, "So who did?"
"I did." Shepard admitted casually. "Hostages are useless if the person you're negotiating with doesn't care if they live or die."
"Damn Shep, that's hardcore." Kasumi joked.
"Well it's a long story, but trust me the guy deserved to get killed." Shepard gave the thief an annoyed shrug, "Besides, it was the fastest way to resolve the issue. Now we can honestly say that Kolyat didn't kill anyone." Before anyone could respond the sounds of approaching C-Sec forces caught their attention. Immediately Shepard gave out her orders in response. "You two get out of here. Meet back on the Normandy. Even if they can't catch a hint of Kasumi, we don't need to explain why a random Asari civilian ended up fighting Talid's men with us."
Morinth thought about countering Shepard's argument but she was right. She wasn't using her mother's Justicar persona right now. Anya shouldn't have any association with the Spectre, and trying to explain her presence there to C-Sec would be a problem. Better to leave now so those questions wouldn't need to be answered.
With nothing more than a nod, Morinth turned and began to walk away. She quickly slipped back into Anya's persona, adopting her mannerisms as she walked back towards the shopping district. Though she couldn't see her, she knew Kasumi was following next to her.
The two of them quickly made their way through the district and before long they were back at the store where Morinth had left their previous collective spoils. Kasumi had casually offered that they could just cut their losses and leave their loot behind - or at the very least she could easily just steal everything back - but Morinth insisted she could get everything back herself.
"Pardon me." Anya's tone called out to the woman behind the counter, "I believe I left some of my things on hold here."
The same Turian assistant was behind the counter as she then turned back around to face Morinth, a slight glint of recognition crossed her eyes before she forced a smile on her lips, "I thought that was you Anya! It's been ages!"
That caught Morinth a little off guard, but she skillfully managed to remain calm as she looked back at the Turian woman, trying to figure out why her cover would be recognized. Suddenly the plated, fringed head before her matched up with a memory and a name, "Valecia? Goddess! Is that really you?"
"Well I'm glad you remember me." The Turian mused, "You were in and out of here so fast I almost thought you didn't even recognize an old friend."
"Ah. Sorry Val!" Anya chirped, looking a bit flustered with embarrassment, "I wasn't paying attention, and you've changed a lot since then."
"And you haven't changed one bit." Valecia said, "What happened to you anyway? One day you just simply vanished and we never heard so much as an extranet message from you. Did you know there was someone calling herself a Justicar asking questions about you?"
"Really?!" Anya looked shocked and surprised by the revelation - it was a very good performance, "I had no idea! Why would a Justicar even wanna know about me?"
"I don't know, she wouldn't say, she was pretty intense though." Valecia explained, "But you still haven't told me why you just disappeared like that."
"It was my mother actually." Anya said without skipping a beat, "I had to leave 'cause she demanded that I return to Thessia."
"I thought you said you didn't have a mother anymore." The turian commented somewhat suspiciously.
"If you had ever met her you'd understand why, she was a horrible control freak who made my life a living hell." Anya complained, it was close enough to the truth that it was easy for her to sell it. "In fact I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one who sent the Justicar after me, just to make sure I come back to Thessia!" The greatest challenge in selling the story was resisting the urge to laugh at the sweet irony of her words.
"Wow, sounds rough." Valecia said.
"You have no idea!" Anya nearly squealed, "Actually I did write letters to Soaril. Didn't he tell you anything?"
"No, he didn't," The slight twitch in Valecia's eye told Morinth that her words had the desired effect, "He left for Palaven a year after you disappeared."
"Oh sorry to hear that. Guess I really have been out of touch." Anya slumped disappointed.
"So what finally brought you back to the Citadel then?" Valecia asked.
"Oh yeah, my mom died finally." Anya nodded in an ironically childish manner, "I ended up taking over the family business afterward." Again, that much was technically true. "Thanks to that I get to travel around a lot more now. And so here I am." The annoying grin at the end was particularly effective.
"And you have a boyfriend too." Valecia commented, her eye twitching slightly once again, "That's what you said you were shopping for right?"
"Ooh, right! Yea he's great!" Anya chirped joyfully once more, much to Valecia's annoyance. "We've been dating for a few weeks now, but I wanted to get him something nice."
"Well … I'm sure he'll enjoy this." Valecia said with some strain in her voice. "If you're still interested, I believe we have this selection in your size and shape available here in the store."
Morinth was curiously confused by that reaction until she looked over at the store terminal. She had barely attention to the item she had queued up earlier when she left her bags behind, only now taking the time to get a good look at what she had selected. Immediately she realized why Valecia was acting that way and didn't bother to hide the wide grin on her face. It was an outfit clearly designed for more adventurous encounters in the bedroom. It was little more then straps of blue Turian leather arranged into a series of shapes that could barely be considered clothing. Indeed, Morinth had no doubt she would look damn good in that thing. Unfortunately the outfit was also very high end, which meant very expensive.
That concern was quickly addressed when Morinth felt something being pressed into her palm. Looking into her hand, Morinth saw a credit chit there that was clearly not her own. Of course. Kasumi was still cloaked nearby and handed her the credits. Not only that but she had hacked the account linked to the tiny device, removing the encryptions on it so Anya could use it now. It was certainly nice to have a friendly thief nearby, Morinth mused to herself, clearly Kasumi found this just as entertaining as she did if she was helping her to buy that outfit.
"That sounds wonderful!" Anya's voice rang out as she handed over the credit chit with an eager smile, "Pack it up right away if you can! I'd love to walk out with that treasure. I can't wait to play with it tonight!"
"... Of course." Valecia said finally, her eye twitch becoming much more obvious as she took the chit and completed the transaction. It took her moments of polite glaring as she pulled out the specified outfit from the local stock behind the counter, packing it into yet another shopping bag for Morinth to carry. She didn't mind though, not when it meant having fun in the process.
"Yay! Thanks Val!" Anya blurted out cheerfully as she took the bag and spent credit chit in hand. "Anyway it was great to see you again! But I gotta go. Boyfriend's waiting for me you know!" With a deliberately annoying wave goodbye, Anya took her bags and walked out the door, heading back towards the Normandy with all of the gathered loot of the day.
"Ok I gotta ask," Kasumi spoke up after they were far enough away from the store, "What was her deal anyway?"
"She was also a student here on the Citadel last time I was here." Morinth explained with Anya's voice, "Had a bunch of other friends as well. Soaril was her boyfriend at the time, until I started seducing him that is."
"Oh ho! How naughty of you Miss Demon of the Night Wind." Kasumi teased her.
"Haha! Oh please, she didn't deserve him." Morinth shot back, "She was always a total selfish bitch, she only wanted him for his money. Which wasn't even that much really. Kinda funny seeing her stuck in that job now. Not surprising that she and Soaril didn't work out."
"No wonder she was giving you those hateful stares." Kasumi laughed, "All that talk about your boyfriend was you deliberately poking her nerve. So what happened between you and Soaril?"
"Well he was an amazing poet, surprisingly enough. But in the end nothing happened." Morinth shrugged.
"So you were planning to do the mental mamba of death?" Kasumi asked.
"Wasn't planning on anything, I was just having fun. But yes, probably would have killed him eventually." Morinth spoke casually, "Don't worry, like I said, nothing came out of it. My mother showed up before I could do anything interesting with him. I ran and left everything behind. But I guess I got to pick up a bit of that past here today. Thanks to you."
"Well, first time I've had a shopping date with a serial killer." Kasumi shrugged after a moment, "Don't get me wrong, you're still seriously creepy sometimes, but I'll admit I had fun today."
"Haha, I'll take the compliment." Morinth's smile was her own this time, the differences were significant, "And for the record, I'm keeping that dress. I'd say I earned it."
"I think calling it a dress is being generous!" Kasumi retorted, "But go ahead and keep it. I sure as hell could never wear that thing. Just so long as people don't start expecting me to buy them a dress every time we go out shopping. I think you and Shep is already more than enough."
"I think what's being generous is assuming you'll be buying anything." Morinth joked back, once again in her Anya mask as they reached the lift that would take them back to where the Normandy was docked.