The Red Moon Collection - 5 - The Empty Night
Chapter 21
ISV Aberrant, Omega Nebula, en route to Lorek
With their sudden and unplanned diversion to Lorek underway, Vayren and Seltara had convinced Shansa to divert the ship to a nearby comm buoy for a large intel drop. Will paced around the bridge anxiously as Shansa prepared to exit FTL on high alert. She had no way of knowing that the buoy was not occupied by Reapers, and so the Aberrant was to drop a good distance away to allow for an escape if necessary.
"Can you do me a favor and finish setting these scanner parameters?" Shansa called from the cockpit.
Will stopped his pacing. "Oh, yeah. Sure."
Most of the crew was asleep. Will would have been resting for the coming mission as well had he not learned of the comm buoy diversion. He hurried to the copilot's seat and slid into position as Shansa swiped her hand across a screen to send him the incomplete scanner configuration. Eleena had typically handled the flight engineer and copilot tasks over the past few years, but the two of them had maintained functional familiarity with all typical cockpit duties in case one of them was rendered unable to perform them. His eyes bounced around the map of the FTL drop zone to gather any and all astronomical anomalies in the scan sector.
"Okay, we're good to go," he reported a minute later.
"Thanks," Shansa said with an appreciative sigh.
She reached for her coffee and took a long sip.
"You going to be able to sleep after all of that?" Will asked.
"Not well," she admitted. "But being awake for the next thirty minutes is more important."
"You do know that coffee isn't an indefinite replacement for sleep, right?" Will teased.
Shansa smirked softly. "At this point I'm afraid that I'll need a few dozen hours of sleep to catch up."
"You need a day off," Will said, his tone now quite serious. "Kallux can handle the Aberrant. Let him fly us back to the Citadel after we finish on Lorek."
Shansa shifted in her seat. "Maybe."
Will sat back and shook his head. "Don't you lead ground missions all the time?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Who flew the ship and shuttle then?" Will asked.
She grumbled. "Kallux or Bo." She looked to Will and frowned. "But this is different. You don't understand what we're dealing with. One wrong move when there's a Reaper involved and we are gone. That battle over Illium…" She turned back to the controls as her voice trailed off. "We've already lost too many people, Will. If we lose this ship we're all dead, even if you all aren't aboard."
"We've still got the Trueshot," Will reminded her.
"There's a reason we've got the Trueshot hiding most of the time," Shansa replied. "She's a fine ship, but she's old. She can't out maneuver the Reapers' weaponry like Aberrant can."
Will sat in silence for a moment.
"That battle sounded pretty rough," he said softly. "Are you… okay?"
Shansa let out a sigh. "Yeah. I think so. But it was eye-opening. It was a little scary to see it all in front of you... not on some news vid." She reached over and tapped a few commands into a panel between them. "Dropping in ten. Prep the scanners, would ya?"
"Already done."
Her hands danced across the flight controls. Seconds later the ship dropped from FTL and the cockpit's panels began to flash and jitter as new data populated the screens. Will and Shansa immediately looked through the set of reports the ship's scanners churned out. No matches for Reaper signatures. A good sign.
"We've got four ships on scope," Will noted.
"I see them," Shansa replied as she put the ship in a gentle turn toward the buoy.
"They're scattered, most likely unaffiliated with one another," he continued. "But we should keep an eye on them."
Shasna nodded and tapped a button on her communications panel. "Vayren, we're patched into the extranet. Let me know when you've got everything you need."
"Affirmative," the salarian replied almost immediately.
She cut the connection and gave Will a sideways glance. "Don't you have a call to make?"
Will smiled sheepishly. "How'd you know?"
Shasna grinned. "You never sit around the cockpit to help me with this boring stuff. Obviously you have an unspoken, asari-related motive."
"Once again I've failed to slip even the slightest thing by you," Will chuckled.
He reached forward and opened up the copilot's comm panel. He input Eleena's personal ID and took a deep breath before attempting to establish a connection. A yellow light appeared on the console as the signal was transmitted.
"It's only been a little over a week," Will laughed. "But I can't remember the last time we were away from each other for this long."
"Hope you don't mind if I stay here," Shansa said with a smile.
"I'm sure she'd love to see you as well," Will answered.
The light turned to a blinking green before the image began to materialize in front of him. Eleena's face appeared at the center of the screen. By the looks of her surroundings she had been discharged from the hospital and found some housing in an inexpensive hotel in the wards. Her eyes were wide and punctuated with hints of relief.
"Will! Are you alright? What the fuck is going on?" She immediately demanded.
"I'm fine," he answered with a beaming smile. "Did you get my messages?"
"I got one a few days ago," Eleena replied. "I just assumed you would be back by now."
"You and me both," Will said with a sigh.
Shansa leaned over to put herself in frame of Will's return feed. "It's partially my fault, El," she apologized. "I vetoed Will's request to come get you… a few times."
Eleena's smirked. "Did something important come up or are you taking advantage of this alone time with Will for as long as you can?"
She rolled her eyes. "I remember when I only had to worry about Will making innuendos about us."
"So, something important came up." Eleena said slowly.
"Yeah, and it's become a bit of an annoying trend," Will replied. "Like I mentioned in my last message, went to Omega and found Fynnis. He's fine, but only one other member of his crew made it."
The asari crossed her arms and shook her head. "Damn."
"I think he's taking it hard, but he's doing a good job at hiding it," Will said. "Damn turians and their unreadable features."
Shansa gave him a sideways glance. "You're better at reading him than you think. I could see he was hurting. I'd be talking to him right now if I could leave the cockpit for more than fifteen seconds."
"Is she still refusing to let anyone else take the helm?" Eleena asked.
"Always," Will replied. "Anyway, as I was saying, after recovering Fyn we received a small message from Spectre intelligence. Turns out there's a geth research lab on Lorek that may need our help. The whole reason we diverted to this comm buoy was so Vayren could grab the full intel packet."
Eleena leaned back in her chair. "So you're not coming back to the Citadel."
Will frowned. "I tried."
"It's time-sensitive," Shansa interjected. "Believe me, if-"
"Hey, Shan, I get it," Eleena interrupted, holding up her hands.
Shansa frowned and slid back into her seat with a guilty gaze on the controls before her. Will turned his eyes back to Eleena and gave her a hopeful smile.
"We're getting pretty low on supplies," Will mentioned. "After this we'll pretty much have to find a berth. Everyone's already agreed on the Citadel."
"Good. I'm itching to get Aberrant's new main battery operational," she hinted with a raised voice, as if calling out to Shansa.
Will chuckled. "How are things there? Are you keeping busy?"
"Eh, I guess. It's been a long time since I was alone to myself on a station. It's fucking boring."
"Heh, we've missed your biotics on our excursions," Will said.
She raised a brow and grinned mischievously. "Is that all you missed?"
"I can't speak for the others, but there are definitely a handful of things that I have been lonely without," Will replied with a sly wink.
"Okay, okay, I'm still sitting five feet away!" Shansa interjected.
Will and Eleena laughed and looked to one another with bittersweet eyes.
"I miss you," he said.
She let out a small sigh. "I miss you too, babe."
An alert chimed on Shansa's comm panel. She glanced over with a reluctant frown.
"Vayren's got everything he needs. We should-"
"Should go, I know," Will finished.
Eleena leaned her head to the side. "Just a few more days, right?"
"If we don't set course for the Citadel after this mission to Lorek I will personally hijack a Reaper to get back there," Will assured her.
"I won't keep you. Stay safe, all of you." She mouthed him a quick kiss. "Love you."
"I love you too, El," he answered.
They lingered for a few quiet seconds before Will cut the connection with a frown. Shansa reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"We'll see her soon," she said.
He gave her a small smile. "Should I send this update to Kay while we're here?"
Shansa turned her attention back to the flight controls. "Yes, please. I'll get us prepped for FTL."
Will attached Shansa's situation report and forwarded the message along to Kay before closing out the communication panel. After he gave her the all-clear, Shansa kicked the Aberrant back into gear and pulled away from their idle position around the comm buoy.
After their short stop at the comm buoy the crew had a little under six hours to rest and recuperate before they would arrive at Lorek. Vayren spent most of that time sifting through intelligence reports with Seltara and Tul'Sorrin. The best news to come out of their analysis was that Lorek seemed to be completely outside of the Reapers' realm of interest, at least for the time being. Civil unrest was still common in the planet's capital, as it had been years before, but the arrival of the Reapers had seemingly helped unite the population in a united effort to prepare for the imminent arrival. This was all irrelevant to their mission, however, as they found that the geth analysis was being conducted in a laboratory located in the persistent mega-storm that enrobed nearly half of the planet. Will, Shansa and Kallux stood on the starboard side of the meeting table as Vayren, Seltara and Tul continued to run down items of data.
"Will, Shansa, and Kallux, I'm sure this all sounds quite familiar to you," Tul'Sorrin said as he motioned toward the map of the planet.
A pinpoint had appeared near the planet's equator and in the most intense region of the eternal storm.
Shansa nodded. "That research station we went to all those years ago… the one that was attacked by Project Sommesh." She looked to her side. "Where we met you, Kallux."
The krogan grunted agreeably. "It's not the same place, is it?"
Seltara shook her head. "No, no. That lab was here."
She tapped a few buttons on the control panel. Another pin appeared nearly a thousand kilometers away from the first.
"The ruling bodies on Lorek appear to be quite content with turning a blind eye on such scientific ventures," Vayren mused.
The salarian reached forward and tapped another button on the control panel. Dozens of pins appeared scattered across the planet, almost all of which were concealed in the storm.
Will smirked. "Collect some off-the-books taxes and turn a blind eye while illegal research happens all over the planet? What could possibly go wrong?"
"Surprisingly, nothing consequential," Vayren answered. "For the citizens of Lorek, that is. There is a surprising amount of intel in the Spectre archives on these 'ghost-labs,' including the frighteningly low life expectancy of the scientists working in them."
"If we had the time I would love to explore all the abandoned facilities," Seltara said wistfully. "Think of the projects that were so crazy that the corps wouldn't even run them on Noveria."
"Or projects run by people that don't have the credits to buy a lab on Noveria," Tul'Sorrin reminded her.
Vayren reached forward and tapped a button, clearing all pins but that of their target.
"So why would the Spectres have a research lab here?" Will asked. "Why not closer to home? Or, hell, on the Citadel?"
The salarian chuckled. "'Why not?' Because we do, Hume. We have labs and outposts in dozens of systems. This one just happens to deal with rather sensitive material, including the geth. As such the Spectres opted to keep it out of Citadel space."
"Do they know we're coming?" Kallux inquired.
Seltara nodded. "I've already sent them a brief summary of our mission. I suspect they are already sifting through data in search of anything related to the raloi and Turvess."
"But they're okay?" Shansa asked. "No attacks yet?"
"None thus far," Vayren answered. "But we will need to remain alert." He tapped another button to bring up a holographic map of the facility. "The lab has four landing bays, all of which are large enough to fit the Aberrant. They are built into the interior of the mountain and have full enclosure."
"You think we'll be there long enough to warrant a surface landing?" Shansa asked.
"There will be a significant amount of raw data to review and I suspect we will need to consult with their staff on much of it," Seltara replied.
Vayren raised a brow. "Will that be a problem?"
Shansa shook her head. "We'll be burning a lot of fuel going in and out of atmo, but we should have enough to get back to the Citadel."
"Excellent," Vayren said with a smile. "What is our ETA?"
"We'll be ready to drop in just a few minutes," Shansa replied. "After that the orbit, discharge, and landing should take about fifteen minutes."
"I'll forward you the security clearance package," Seltara chimed in.
Shansa looked around the table and nodded. "Then it sounds like we're going in."
"I will remain on the bridge to establish contact with the facility once we have reached Lorek," Vayren decided. "If the facility is in danger we should be aware before we make our approach."
"Agreed." Shansa crossed her arms. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go prepare said approach."
"Storm's nice and heavy!" Shansa called over the comms.
"And we've received our landing clearance," Vayren added. "No reports of hostile activity, but we should remain alert. Hume, I'll make my way to the aft airlock while Shansa brings us in."
After hearing that their landing would be peaceful, Will collapsed his helmet and stowed it in the holding compartment on his lower back before raising his omnitool to respond.
"Meet you there."
The entire ground team had assembled by the Kodiak, waiting for the word on whether or not they would be hitting the ground hot. Having heard the news on the intercom the team had all let out a small, collective sigh of relief.
"Kallux, you're with me. Everyone else, take five. I'll give you all a call after we meet with our contact," Will ordered.
The krogan stowed his cannon and marched to Will's side as he turned and headed out of the cargo bay and into the hall that ran the length of the lower deck.
"So why exactly am I part of the greeting party?" Kallux asked.
"This ship is under your and Shansa's command," Will answered. "Makes you important in my book."
"So I'm the token krogan, got it," he mused.
Will gave him a look. "I trust your judgment more than almost anyone else I know, Kallux."
The krogan let a half smile appear on the corner of his lips.
Halfway down the hall the elevator pinged. Vayren stepped out confidently and gave them a nod as he fell in on Will's side and continued on toward the end of the hallway and the airlock.
"Shansa and Seltara will be with us momentarily," Vayren announced.
"They're not going to be suspicious of the five of us, right?" Will asked. "Especially since we're heavily armed?"
"I already informed them we were dressed for a worst-case scenario," the salarian replied. "As long as I do the talking we will be fine."
They came to a stop at the airlock and opened the interior door.
"Disabling artificial gravity," Shansa reported over the intercom.
A few seconds later Will felt his weight shift as the mass effect driven artificial gravity was replaced by that of Lorek's. He used to hate the sensation, but after years of working in space he had grown to associate it with stepping off of a ship and into their current port and all the comforts therein.
"Touching down in five," Shansa continued. "I'll handle the post-flight checklist from my omnitool. Seltara and I will be right down."
Kallux crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall of the airlock. "So what kind of clearance are we getting for this place? Can we wander around or are we confined to the hangar?"
"I will be able to grant limited access to the facility to some of the crew," Vayren replied. "You, Hume, Seltara and Shansa for now. And by limited access I mean you will follow me and only wander if given explicit permission by security personnel."
"Yeah, yeah, we get it, you guys are secretive," Will said flatly. "You know, the rest of the galaxy could probably stand to benefit from the research conducted here. Hell, the Spectre intel network could probably save billions of lives if it was released to the public."
Vayren let out a small sigh. "You are not wrong."
"Bureaucracy doesn't work that way. Power doesn't work that way," Kallux grumbled. "I bet the Council would sooner see the Citadel destroyed than reveal the troves of data that the Spectres have collected over the centuries."
Vayren hesitated. "That… may also be correct."
The elevator down the hall pinged as Shansa and Seltara hurried out and down the hall toward them. They both stared down at their omnitools and tapped away at the glowing screens before coming to a stop inside the airlock. Shansa glanced up and looked around the circle.
"Are we ready?" She asked.
"Certainly," Vayren replied.
Will reached over and tapped a few buttons on the airlock control panel. Within a few seconds the chamber was sealed and the atmosphere venting around them to match that of the facility. Vayren stepped up to the outer door and raised his chin confidently as Will and the others fell in beside and behind him. The outer airlock door pinged and slid apart to reveal that the ship's boarding ramp had already extended to the ground. Vayren proceeded down the ramp with the others in tow.
The Aberrant had landed in a hangar that appeared to have been carved into the mountain itself. The ground was solid and smooth, but three of the four walls around them were rough with the natural gray rock of Lorek's mountains. The metallic, retractable ceiling had clearly just closed as the floor of the hangar was soaked from the driving rain they had descended through. Unlike the other three, the wall on the starboard side of the ship had been constructed of metal as part of the facility and was accessible through a wide set of doors. The group turned upon reaching the bottom of the ramp to face their welcoming party.
"Agent Vayren."
A tall, heavily-armored turian stood before them with a rifle in his hands and eyes heavy with caution. Humanoid figures flanked him on either side, each holding assault rifles and covered head to toe in armor. Vayren came to a stop and nodded firmly.
"Captain Quentis, I presume?" Vayren inquired.
"That's correct," the turian replied. "Welcome to SpecRes Outpost R32."
"A pleasure to be here," the salarian replied. "My associates and I have already arranged a meeting with one of your head researchers."
"Yes, I'll be escorting you and your associates to Doctor Tokagi's office," Quentis informed them. "However, your associates will have to forfeit their weapons before entering the facility."
Vayren narrowed his eyes. "That won't be necessary."
The security officer sighed. "I'm sorry, sir, but it's a strict policy here. Only Spectres and security personnel are authorized to carry weapons in the facility."
"Vayren, it's fine," Shansa whispered. "We'll only be inside for a minute during this initial consultation. Then it's back to the ship while you, Seltara and Tul get into the nitty-gritty."
The Spectre grunted irritably. "Yes, yes, alright."
"Thank you for your cooperation, sir," Quentis said with a bow of his head. "Please, follow me to the security room for disarmament."
Captain Quentis and his two armed officers herded the squad through the wide doors and into a facility that felt straight out of the Presidium. While the interior did not maintain the sterile, white facades that covered the Citadel's elite sector it appeared to have a quality of construction rarely seen in the Terminus Systems outside the compounds of warlords and despots. Will and the others walked silently through the well-lit hallway and around a few corners before being led into what looked like a waiting room. A security officer stood behind a caged counter on the far side of the room.
"Agent Vayren, this is our quartermaster. She'll be happy to hold your companion's weapons during your visit," Quentis stated.
Shansa, Will, Seltara and Kallux lined up and turned in their weapons one by one. The quartermaster's eyes widened in gleeful wonderment as the krogan dropped his cannon onto the table to be checked in.
"I don't know if I have a bin large enough to hold this," the officer mused. "I'll… keep it right here on my desk. Just for… safekeeping."
"Look, but don't touch," Kallux ordered firmly.
The quartermaster cleared her throat. "Y-yes, sir."
The krogan grinned and turned to the others as Quentis waved them out of the security room and back into the hallway.
"Research labs are one floor below," he informed them.
Will leaned over to Shansa as they were led into an elevator. "It feels weird not having a gun when I'm in full armor."
"We don't have our helmets on," Shansa reminded him.
He smirked. "You know what I mean."
The elevator opened to level two of the facility where a map of the floor was projected on the wall.
"Damn, this place is big," Will muttered.
"It is," Quentis agreed. "But I'm afraid you will not be able to explore it." He let out a small chuckle. "The fact that you know this facility exists puts you in a group of mere thousands with such knowledge."
They marched down a long hall and through two security checkpoints before entering what look like a miniature atrium. The Presidium parallels struck Will again as he looked over the faux-park that had been constructed around a large fountain at the center of the room, presumably to provide a relaxing and comforting spot for the facility's workers. Doors lined the walls of the room, along with transition-tintable glass windows that stood from the floor to ceiling of the offices behind them. The majority were currently tinted to prevent the group from peering inside, but the office they had been directed to had its windows fully transparent. The name beside the office's door caught Will's eye.
"Tokagi," he muttered.
"Wait here," Quentis ordered.
The two security officers took up positions on either side of the door as Quentis tapped the control console on the office door.
"Doctor, your visitors have arrived."
Her voice replied without a moment's hesitation. "Please, enter."
The door slid open, allowing them to step into a crisp, clean and surprisingly large office. A set of chairs and small table sat against one wall opposite the wide desk where the doctor was working. Two chairs were positioned on the far side of the desk from where she sat, allowing visitors or consultants a convenient place to sit. Another empty wall was currently fluttering with the holographic projection of a tranquil beach landscape while the gentle sounds of surf sliding into the sand repeated along with it. Quentis stood by the door as Vayren, Seltara, Kallux, Shansa and Will approached the desk. The doctor finished whatever thought she had been entering in her personal terminal before turning her attention to her visitors.
"Holy shit, Doctor Tokagi!" Will exclaimed. "Of course I recognize your name!"
She was a woman of Japanese descent in her mid-fifties dressed in crisp laboratory fatigues. Her hair was longer than when Will had last seen her nearly a decade before, now just below her shoulders, but her face was strikingly unchanged. Her eyes widened as she looked to Will and Kallux.
"Captain... William Hume," she said quietly. "And Raik Kallux."
Vayren, Shansa and Seltara slowly turned to look between the three of them, their faces ranging from utterly confused to intensely intrigued. Even Quentis perked up from his spot by the door. Doctor Tokagi stepped around the desk with a bright smile and extended her hands to them as Will extended his own. She grasped his hand and shook her head idly.
"This is an incredible surprise," she remarked calmly before turning to Kallux. "I am so glad to see you alive and well!"
The krogan held his own hand out to shake.
"I could say the same thing to you!" Will laughed.
"I do hate to interrupt, but how could you two possibly know this woman?" Vayren asked.
Tokagi shook her head and chuckled before collecting herself and looking to Vayren. "William Hume and his crew saved my life long ago in 2177."
"We did?" Shansa asked.
"You were in a bit of a coma at the time," Kallux informed her. "On account of the bullet wounds."
Shansa gasped. "Oh!"
Doctor Tokagi laughed again. "You are Agent Vayren, correct?" She asked while looking to the salarian.
He nodded. "That's right."
"When your request for a consultation came in yesterday I looked at your unclassified records and saw that your first assignment involved observing Project Sommesh. I am one of their few surviving kidnapping victims," she explained. "Seeing that connection intrigued me so I volunteered to be your point of contact for this visit. I did not expect you to bring my saviors along with you."
She paused briefly and spun to face Will.
"You… are you-"
"No no, we're not Spectres," Will laughed. "Not even close. We've got a long history with Vayren that, funnily enough, traces back to that recon he was doing on Sommesh."
The doctor smiled once again. "Well, what a surprise this is!" She cleared her throat and turned to Shansa and Seltara. "Please, excuse my manners, I am Doctor Ana Tokagi."
Shansa waved. "Shansa Fischer."
Seltara bowed her head. "Seltara."
Tokagi looked to Vayren. "Thank you for your patience, agent. I must admit that when I woke this morning I did not expect to see two of the people to whom I owe my life."
"No need to apologize," Vayren said quietly. "You all should catch up after we finish our business. Unfortunately, this business is quite urgent."
The doctor nodded. "Agreed, and you have my full attention. I've compiled an overview of our findings concerning the geth memory cores, but there is a substantial amount of data left to scrub." She rounded her desk and took her seat. "I will open the relevant databases for you, Agent Vayren."
"You should know that I will not be the only one analyzing," Vayren informed her.
Tokagi began typing at her console. "And I am required to inform you that access to this data requires strict security authorization." She glanced up to them. "But these are desperate times. Who needs access?"
"I will, of course," Vayren answered. "Seltara was an analyst for the STG, she will need access. As will Tul'Sorrin, an associate still on our ship."
"Just the three of you, then?" She asked.
"For now, yes."
Doctor Tokagi finished typing and looked to the door. "Captain, I've sent a high priority request for security clearance. See that it is processed immediately."
The turian nodded once. "I'll need the two of them to accompany me to the security station. This level of clearance will require a background check and authorization from Central."
"That will not be necessary," Vayren said.
"Sir-"
He turned to face the turian. "I need security clearance for these two immediately, Captain Quentis." Vayren took a few steps toward him. "Nine years ago when I accepted my Spectre appointment I would have been firmly on your side. I know how all of this works. I know that you have this post because you are the best of the best and you are trusted to keep this facility safe." The salarian raised his chin. "But right now we are standing on the precipice of complete galactic annihilation. The security protocols of our organization were essential to galactic stability before the Reapers arrived, but now that they are here we must recognize that everything has changed. This is beyond the scope of those protocols. This is beyond even the notion of total war. If we cannot bend and break these rules then the Reapers will win and we will die. All of us."
Doctor Tokagi sighed from her desk. "Captain..."
Captain Quentis took in a deep breath. "My family is back on Palaven." He shook his head. "My sister is fighting on Menae right now. I haven't spoken to her in weeks, but the last time I did she told me, 'I'm glad we have people like you taking care of the hard stuff.'" The turian shook his head and let out a disgusted noise. "'The hard stuff.' I'm in this hermetically sealed safe sitting on my ass most of the day while she and billions of others are dying on the front lines."
"I think she meant to say, 'the important stuff,'" Will suggested.
Quentis shook his head dismissively. "I know. I know this place is important. And I know the Council wouldn't have made you a Spectre if they didn't trust you and your judgment, Agent Vayren." He looked up to Seltara. "Please, come with me. You as well, Agent. We must retrieve your companion from your ship before I can grant them clearance."
Vayren let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, captain."
The turian nodded sternly. "We should hurry."
Vayren looked to Doctor Tokagi and bowed his head in thanks. "I will contact you when we have access to the data. I'm sure we will need your assistance."
"Please do," the doctor replied. "I have cleared my schedule."
"Thank you."
Vayren and Seltara walked to the door as Quentis turned to led them away. Will, Shansa and Kallux watched as they disappeared before turning back to look to Doctor Tokagi. She closed out a number of panels on her console before looked up to them and smiling.
"It is nice to meet you in a conscious state," she jested to Shansa, breaking the silence.
Shansa laughed. "It's nice to meet the person I took three bullets for!"
Tokagi nodded quickly. "It is fascinating that you and Agent Vayren are working together. Are you certain that you all are simple mercenaries?"
"I think we're anything but simple," Kallux chuckled.
"You are correct," she said. "I apologize."
Will laughed. "No need. I sometimes I wish we were 'simple mercenaries.'"
"It's not that weird that we know Vayren," Shansa said, returning to her original comment. "He and another Spectre actually sought us out because of our run in with Sommesh."
Doctor Tokagi leaned back in her chair. "I see."
Kallux crossed his arms. "I think what really needs explaining is how you ended up back on Lorek."
She chuckled. "Life is cyclical, isn't it? I spent a few months recovering after the ordeal with Sommesh before finding a job at a more reputable research facility on the Citadel. Agent Vayren must have known about me and my facility's research, because his report on Sommesh led to a job offer from the Spectre Research and Development Division a few years later. For my familiarity with prothean artifacts, of course."
"And that brought you here?" Shansa asked.
"Technically, I worked on the Citadel for two years before being transferred to this facility," she answered. "Most members of the SRDD are required to work rotations in off-Citadel laboratories, and with Lorek in the list of options I could not resist the sentimentality."
Will frowned. "I'm sorry we never checked up on you. I… really did mean to."
The doctor waved a hand. "Do not worry yourself. The first few months home were difficult, but my family was there for me."
"So, um, you study prothean artifacts here?" Shansa asked. "I remember last time that didn't go too well."
"Quite right," Tokagi admitted as she stood. "But this facility is more secure than half of the Presidium. No one will be stepping through the front door to murder or kidnap the entire facility. Not without a fight." She stepped around the desk and walked toward the beach vista projected on the wall. "Either way, I transferred off of prothean studies three years ago when the geth incursions occurred under Agent Saren's command. At the time the geth were not a major concern for the Council, but since then we have been studying the geth and remnants of Sovereign thoroughly."
"Studying Sovereign? The Reaper that attacked the Citadel?" Will asked.
Tokagi nodded. "Yes, we have quite a few pieces of it in the labs."
"Is that safe?" Shansa nervously inquired. "I've heard stories and read reports about Reapers doing things… controlling people."
"We've no evidence to suggest that the remnants of a Reaper are in any way capable to controlling an organic mind," Tokagi said, quickly dismissing the claim. "The process is known as indoctrination, and our understanding of the phenomenon is one of the focuses of our research. One of many focuses, of course."
Will, Shansa and Kallux shared a few uneasy looks as the doctor turned back to them.
"Oh, you all have nothing to worry about," she assured them. "We are aware of the… complications and dangers of such studies."
"Oh, yeah, of course," Will replied, trying to hide his discomfort. "So, is there a cafeteria in this place? I haven't had a full meal in a day in a half."
Doctor Tokagi watched them for a moment before nodding. "Of course. I will have to escort you there." She nodded to the two remaining security guards on the opposite side of the office windows. "You have more crew on your ship, yes?"
"We do," Kallux answered.
"Then I will have our kitchen prepare full meals for them as well," she replied. "However, they will most likely have to remain on your ship to eat."
Will cleared his throat. "That's fine."
Tokagi crossed the room to the door. "Please. Follow me."
Will, Shansa and Kallux all stood and followed her toward the door. Will and Shansa shared one last nervous glance as they stepped out into the atrium.