Beep. Beep. Beep.
Shepard stirred in her sleep, listening to the beeping of the heart monitor. She had gotten used to it now. She could just ignore it and get back to sleep, even though the seat wasn't the most comfortable place in the world for it.
Beep, beep, beep, the monitor nagged at her. Damn that thing, why was it suddenly loud? She had been there for three days now, and it hadn't changed one bit.
Beep, beep, beep.
She opened one lazy eye, and the blurry image quickly sharpened as her raptor eyes kicked into focus. It took her a moment to realize what her brain was trying to tell her. Cardiac monitor was up to seventy. And climbing slowly. It had been a steady forty before.
"Uh... Roy?" Shepard said.
He was stirring on his bed, which woke her up instantly. Heart rate was still climbing, and so was the brain activity monitor. She rushed to the bed, and grabbed his arm, shaking him lightly. He didn't open his eyes. He was still twitching, his lips moving wordlessly. Heart rate was going up. Nineties.
"Roy, wake up!" Shepard said, shaking him.
When he didn't, she hit the alarm besides the bed, and seconds later the asari doctor rushed in. She didn't even ask any questions, she started taking all the readings in, and opened the cabinet by the bed.
"What's wrong with him?" Shepard said.
"I can't be sure, but it looks like a meld overload," the doctor said. She pulled a syringe out of the cabinet, and plugged it into his vein line.
"And that?"
"Melatonin regulator, now get out and let me do my job."
"But-"
"Out!"
Shepard had a mind to argue about it, but two more asari had walked in, and all but forced her away. That was familiar enough, she had been shoved aside numerous times by the doctors aboard the Berlin. Cursing inwardly, she stepped back and out of the room, coming to stand behind the window looking inside. It wasn't even five seconds before Shiala showed up, coming to a skidding stop when she saw Shepard.
"What happened?" Shiala said. She looked inside the room, then at Shepard. "What are they doing?"
"Roy started moving, and the doctor said it was like a meld overload," Shepard said.
"That's good."
"Good? How is that good?" Shepard retorted.
"We know how to treat a meld overload," Shiala said, raising her hands in front of her. "That's all."
"Why, you've given him one already?" Shepard said.
"I wish."
Shiala chuckled, shaking her head. She turned to look through the window again, and sighed theatrically. When Shepard didn't answer, she gave her a glance, and saw she was scowling darkly at her.
"You think this is funny?" Shepard said.
"No. Sorry, it wasn't... It wasn't what I meant."
"I'm going to tell you once. If you hurt him..."
Shiala looked at Shepard in surprise. The asari seemed to to be giving her a second look, like she had not expected her to say something like that. Well, maybe she wouldn't have, not until she took a stroll inside Roy's head. She had only seen fragments of what was in there, but she had seen enough. Small wonder he kept people at arm's length. Mostly. She had seen the kid underneath all that trying to reach out.
It made her wonder why he had trusted her so quickly, and so easily. It wasn't like their circumstances were the same. If anything, they were the exact opposite. She had lost a family she loved, he would have loved to lose a family that he hated.
"Doubt he'll give me the chance," Shiala replied. "And believe me, I've tried."
Shepard, too, turned to look through the window. The doctor was calmly following his vitals, and Roy seemed to have settled down. Even through the window, she could easily read the tiny numbers on the monitors. The raptor eyes were possibly the least useful gene mod she had gotten, but it sure was nice to be able to see everything. She wondered how trustworthy Shiala was. She didn't know her, not too well, but for what she had seen in her head when they melded, Roy was comfortable enough working with her.
Maybe she was the one who had to take that extra step for him.
"He's not as dense as he likes to pretend, you know," Shepard said.
"I know," Shiala replied. "But what can I do? Nobody likes being rejected like that."
"I wish I knew..." Shepard shook her head, and saw that Shiala was giving her a look. "What?"
"Nothing. I expected you would welcome the lack of competition."
"I don't know about that..." Shepard muttered.
Whatever else she was going to say quickly became irrelevant when Roy opened his eyes. For a moment it felt like Shepard's whole world was holding its breath. Then, he snapped. He tried to jump away, pushing the asari away and falling off the bed. Shepard rushed into the room just as Roy kicked one of the asari away, sending her tumbling back and crying out in pain.
"Roy! Roy stop!" Shepard shouted.
She pulled the doctor back, and got herself between the asari and the marine. When she looked back, she finally made eye contact with him, and for a moment she thought she heard the song of the rachni queen in her head. Faint and distant. Enough that their thoughts touched.
You're safe, Roy. It's okay. I'm here.
"Shit..." Roy muttered.
It took several hours until Roy finally calmed down. Shepard had to wait outside the room again, while the doctor ran several tests. For what they could tell, he was back. Mostly. Some of his memories seemed jumbled, and Shepard suspected it was worse than what he was letting on. When she had stepped in his head, it was an absolute mess in there. As the doctor told them all that, Shepard kept only half an ear to it, trying to see inside the room.
Roy was still in bed. More worrying, he wasn't meeting her eyes. That wasn't like him.
"... so I'd recommend at least a week's rest. And then we can start considering memory reconstruction."
"Somehow, i doubt he will agree to that," Shiala said.
"So I can go in there now?" Shepard said.
"Sure, but-"
She didn't hear the rest, she bolted and rushed through the door, eliciting a surprised look from Roy. And just as before, as soon as they made eye contact, he looked away.
"Roy!" Shepard said, trying to get her most cheerful voice out. "Finally! What the hell took you so long?"
"Hey," Roy replied.
"Hey? That's it? Gone for two weeks, in a coma for one, and you didn't even tell me you were going to resurrect the rachni!"
"Sorry," he muttered.
"I don't want a sorry!" She took a moment to take a deep breath. "Come on, talk to me. Are you okay? And don't say you're fine again."
He didn't say anything, so Shepard sat herself on the corner of the bed, peering at his face. Dammit, why wouldn't he look at her? It was like he was embarrassed. What the hell?
"Roy," Shepard pleaded.
"Why are you here?" he said.
She managed not to show the anger that his little comment had incited in her. Ungrateful little... No, no that wasn't it. She knew exactly what he was doing, and she wasn't going to fall for it.
"Because you were in trouble," Shepard said. "What, you think you're the only one who can come in to the rescue?"
Roy snorted at that. "Quite a spectacle, huh?" he said, and tapped the side of his head. "I thought it was just my brain seeing things, and then I wake up... and here you are."
So that was it. The fact that she had been in there and seen things from his past. It grated her some that he wouldn't trust her, after all the time they had been together.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Shepard said.
"That so," he muttered.
"You bet," Shepard said. She stood, and without any warning, she grabbed Roy's face with both hands, forcing him to look at her, and without any ado, planted a big kiss on his forehead. "That's for little Roy," she added, and gave him a smirk. "Tell him he did great."
Twenty years down the drain. Most asari would probably claim that it was merely the blink of an eye, but it was a fifth of her life. She had spent twenty years working her academic career, and in that time she had accomplished exactly nothing. No, less than nothing. She had become the joke of the prothean studies department. She had lost all funding, and discredited all the work she had done before she had started studying the prothean extinction. She had lost what little respect she had had from her own mother, to the point that she had been disowned by her.
She should be crying. She felt like crying. It was the right thing to do when packing one's belongings after being fired. Not technically fired, as it was merely a reallocation of resources which had dried up all the funding for her projects, but she knew what they had done. Kicked her out. Her career was over. She looked around the office, the mess that it was. Datapads everywhere, small fragments of prothean tech she had salvaged here and there. Even one from an earlier civilization, the Inusannon. It was a small projector she had rigged to work with a standard D-sized energy cell. It projected the holographic image of a flower, a species she had never seen, or found. Stupid and sentimental, but she loved it.
After all that, she didn't feel like crying. She wanted to smash something. And she had an entirely irrational urge to go find the head of the department, and headbutt her.
"Doctor T'Soni," a rough voice called.
"Yes," Liara grated, looking up from her desk.
An asari was standing at the open door. By the looks of it, by the feel of her biotics, a matriarch. And a powerful one at that. Dark blue skin, no facial markings to speak of, and a voice that she would have believed belonged to a krogan.
"... matriarch?" Liara added after her brief examination.
"Aethyta," the matriarch said, a lopsided smile on her face. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame. "Going somewhere?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I have to clear my office before the end of the day," Liara said, her voice defeated as she deflated on her chair.
"Sounds rough. Bet you could use a drink."
"Maybe," Liara said with a chuckle. "Are you buying?"
A clinking sound caught her attention, and she looked up to see Aethyta holding a bottle of liquor and two glasses in her hand, her smile still on her face. Liara laughed softly and gestured at the only other chair in the office. Before Aethyta got there, she grabbed the box of knick-knacks on it with her biotics, and tossed it aside with careless force, making it crash on the wall and ruining the contents.
Aethyta didn't even blink at that. She sat down, put the two glasses on an empty corner of the table, and filled them with a generous helping of liquor. It was green, and very pungent, the label covered with some human scribble. Absinthe.
"Here ya go, try not to-"
Whatever Aethyta was going to say next stopped when Liara grabbed the offered glass and downed it in a single gulp. The reaction was immediate, and the younger asari started coughing and spluttering. The matriarch imitated the gesture, drinking the whole thing in one go, minus the coughing. Without another word, she refilled both glasses, and this time Liara only took a small sip.
"Turns out that humans know how to drink," Aethyta said.
"Why..." Liara's voice came out thin, and she gulped a couple of times to get it back to its usual volume. "Why are you here, matriarch?"
"Just wanted to talk with you, I've got a project you might like."
"A project?" Liara looked up at last, and for a moment she hesitated. "I'm sorry, matriarch. Do I know you?"
"No. Not for lack of wanting, but your mother can be more stubborn than my father." She paused for effect. "He was a krogan, which makes you quarter krogan."
"Makes..." Liara froze, looking at Aethyta as she digested the news. When she didn't continue, Aethyta sighed in an exaggerated fashion.
"I thought you were smart," she said.
"But... You're my father?"
"That's me," Aethyta replied, and made a toast with her drink. "I'm glad to finally meet you, Little Wing. Any questions?"
"I- Yes! Why... Why?"
"Why what? Why am I here? Why haven't you seen me before?"
"All of them," Liara replied, her current predicament largely forgotten.
Aethyta finished her drink again, gesturing for Liara to do the same, and refilled them for a second time. Nothing like a little alcohol to loose their tongues. They spoke for hours, about Aethyta, about Benezia, about krogan ancestors - which made Liara wonder whether she really was having those headbutting urges for a reason or not - and everything else. She had a feeling that the relationship between Benezia and Aethyta was a lot more complicated than what her father was suggesting, but she tabled that discussion for the time being.
"A bar?" Liara said.
"Yeah," Aethyta replied. She had taken more than her fair share of the bottle of absinthe, which now laid empty on top of the desk. "I figured what the hell, nobody wants to listen to good advice, they can all go meld themselves with a shark. I'll just get myself a nice place in Illium, serve drinks, and meet interesting people."
Liara chuckled lightly, and gave the empty bottle a look of regret. Too bad they didn't have another.
"So my mother sent you, instead of coming herself," Liara said, completely changing the subject but not catching Aethyta by surprise at all. It felt good to finally say it. "Typical."
"Eh, don't be so hard on the old wing," Aethyta said. "She's got to keep the family together."
"Because I'm not part of it."
"Athame's tits, Liara. You think it was easy on her? She's spent the last ten years trying to figure out a way to bring you back. Long as you had a good career here, she could work with it. Then the hoopla with the prothean extinction came, and it all went tits up."
"All she had to do was call!" Liara protested.
"Yeah, you and I, that's what we'd have done. But she ain't got krogan in her, girl. She doesn't go for the headbutt."
"I don't headbutt people," Liara protested.
"Hey, hey, easy on the bloodrage," Aethyta said, laughing at the annoyed grunt from Liara. "Besides, seems like we've found something better than a solution."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Remember that human kid, Morgan?"
"Yeah," Liara replied dryly. "He made me get in contact with mother months ago, and then..." She trailed off when she saw the smile on Aethyta's face. "What, are you telling me that he was right?"
"About everything. I'm organizing an expedition to a prothean site, and i need an expert to lead it," Aethyta said. With a simple gesture, she brought up an omni-tool, and passed a message to Liara. "Name's not there, but you might have heard of it. A place called Ilos."
Liara looked up from her omni-tool in shock. "But... That'd take years! And it's deep in the Terminus Systems, we..."
Aethyta didn't have to say anything. There was no need, really. Liara found that her father seemed quite satisfied whenever she managed to get her meaning without having to speak much. She had all the pieces to put it together. They had a way to get to Ilos now. They knew what they were going to find there. Among other things, a working prothean VI, just as Roy had promised. And while it was Aethyta there with her, Benezia was part of the whole plan.
"When can you be ready?" Aethyta said.
For an answer, Liara picked up the empty bottle, and smashed it against the wall, hitting it below her framed doctorate title.
"Curse this, it would have been so much more dramatic if I had hit it," Liara said, and started giggling.
Despite being a large company, and the main supplier for the Hierarchy's elite military units, Armax Arsenal was privately owned. The board was there to represent the interests of the different partners, subsidiaries, and even political figures, but the final decisions were up to the owners. It was a good setup, Trina thought, since it allowed for input from everyone, and they didn't really need to reach a consensus of any kind for the company to go in a new direction, or take a particular risk. All she had to do was convince the owners, and fend the pyvii off. And if things worked, there were always big bonuses waiting.
A good example of it was the proposal she had just forwarded to them, and was now being reviewed by the board. She loved it. Her favourite part was the request for exclusivity on the Mark I. It had taken some explaining for Benezia to go with it, but she knew her people. The Hierarchy would want bigger and better, they wouldn't just want more of the same. It cost them very little in terms of lost business, and stirred up all the trouble Benezia had wanted.
"Palav, this is ridiculous," Grion said. He was a big turian, grey plates with the markings of the Galatana colony. He was such a pain on her side, too.
"You can call it many things," Trina replied. "Ridiculous is not one of them."
"Really? Should I list the reasons?"
"Please," Trina said, her voice silky, and her subharmonics amused.
"We don't manufacture ship weapon systems, to start with."
"We didn't manufacture omni-tools either," she replied coolly.
"And look how that turned out."
"Hey!" Lenor said. He had been the proponent for the omni-tool spin-off, an older turian with dark plates, narrow features, and face marks from Gothis. "It's a perfectly good venture, and we've been hitting profit margins for five years running."
"Yeah," Grion snorted. "Another two and the asari will leave us in the dust again. They always do."
"That's not going to happen with this," Trina said. "The designs are nothing like what the asari have been doing."
"And how did you come across those designs exactly?"
"I run my own deep space exploration company, you know that," Trina said. "These are all reverse-engineered from our finds, nothing has been stolen."
"Prothean technology has to be reported to-"
"It isn't prothean."
Murmurs ran though the table. That was quite a claim. Few artifacts had ever been found from anything pre-dating the protheans. It was usually trinkets of little practical value, and nobody cared about those. Weapons designs capable of delivering what the specs on the proposal promised, that was something else.
"Can you confirm that?"
"Of course. Doctor Liara T'Soni herself has confirmed the findings."
"Wait," one of the voices on the comms said. Those were always hard to make out. The board was large enough that it was rarely possible to get them all in the same place, there were always a handful doing remote access. "Liara T'Soni. Daughter of the matriarch?"
"The same," Trina said.
"She's lost her position at the University, she can't-"
"Data doesn't lie," Trina interrupted. "Too old, designs don't match, material compositions don't either. And her credentials are still perfectly valid."
"We're skirting the law here," Grion said. "The law says prothean technology has to be shared, only because nobody ever though anything older than them would ever be of any use."
"The letter of the law is what it is," Trina said. "I don't see why we cannot take advantage of that."
A thin silence followed, a whisper of exchanged murmurs running through the room just below the edge of understanding. It would potentially rub on some plates, but it mattered not. They had the designs, they would have fabrication rights on the technology, and the Council couldn't retroactively change the laws to account for ancient but surprisingly advanced technology being found.
Challenging established wisdom was one of her favourite things in the world. Her brother had loved the legal aspect, too.
"Assuming we could get away with that," Grion said, conceding the point with little grace, "you want us to sell to the human military. To sign an exclusive contract with them, too! How is that a good idea? The Hierarchy has the biggest fleet in the galaxy, not the humans, and not by a small margin either."
"It's not about current strength. It's about growth. The human fleet is about to experience the biggest growth spur in galactic history since our uplifting by the Council."
"Ridiculous, the Treaty of Farixen-"
"Is up for review, as you well know. Every five years since the Relay 314 incident."
"There have been no substantial changes to it before, what makes you think the Council will agree to allow the humans more dreadnoughts?"
"We're not making dreadnought guns," Trina retorted. "The Mark IIs, which we will develop after the deal is signed, might be. It will depend on demand. The humans will be the best advertisement for our new product we could have. The Hierarchy won't replace the current armament of the fleet just because we sell them something superior. Have humanity field something superior, and-"
"And we will be considered traitors," Grion deadpanned.
There it was. The biggest obstacle they had to overcome. Or as the humans said, the elephant in the room. Turian patriotism ran deep, and to sell weapons to other races, specially the humans, without offering the same or better to the Hierarchy was not something she could easily sell.
"We are under no obligation to provide exclusively to the Hierarchy," she said. "And we will once we develop the Mark IIs. The exclusive contract ensures that the Hierarchy will want them, and unlike the human fleet, they will want big guns. I suggest we work hard on the technology we'll need to scale up the size."
"You talk as if the humans will not want to outfit their dreadnoughts with them."
"They won't. Once the new treaty is signed, they will want lots of small ones."
"And how do you know?"
Trina looked around the table. The owners had not said a word so far; they rarely did. Everyone else was looking at her expectantly. Some of them wanted to believe her. If everything played as she promised, Armax Arsenal would make the biggest deal of the century. She hoped that would be enough.
"You're going to have to trust me."
That was all she could offer. The owners called for a vote, and the room ended up divided, marginally leaning towards yes. Even after that, the owners still took several hours in private to deliberate, which she spend sitting quietly in the library, reading and re-reading the proposal. It was a good one, she was sure of it. If only they could see...
When the final decision from the owners came, she took almost a minute before opening her omni-tool to read the message. And then her heart skipped happily in her chest, as a little cry of surprise escaped her throat.
Project Thanix was a go.
"And the breaking news today is the announcement by the asari expedition aboard the Athame's Legacy, the discovery of Ilos, a long-lost prothean world. Before today, it was only known in academic circles through second-hand data. Today, it is a reality."
Benezia sipped her wine, her smile just as wide as it had been the moment the news broke. She hadn't left her office, and had spent the entire day sitting in front of the vidscreen. She just couldn't get enough of it. She was pretty sure it was chaos out there, specially on the Citadel, but it didn't matter. It was her chaos. No, false, not hers. Her daughter's. This was the Little Wing's moment, and she was going to savour it just as much as she was savouring that Earth wine.
Roy had recommended it. She had asked mostly out of idle curiosity, tempting fate just to see what else the Prism Box could produce. She had asked for something different. He had recommended a rather curious wine, neither expensive, nor famous. A wine from the Mediterranean region of Europe, dating back several hundred years and produced in an unusual way. A large mother barrel was kept for the brew, and every year, a small amount would be taken, the barrel refilled with the ripest grapes of that year's harvest. The wine was, thus, both old and young, old from centuries of mixing, young as it was made to be enjoyed shortly after being bottled.
A hundred credits a bottle to get it to Thessia. A pittance, compared to most of her usual fare. After the first glass, she had ordered Fieney to buy the winery.
Fondillon. What a find.
The young reporter was still talking. She was barely out of school, and yet there she was, running a story that would make the career of any reporter. She could guess that Liara had chosen her for that very reason, a subtle jab at the stuck-up professors who had diminished her for being too young.
"So, Doctor T'Soni..."
"Please," Liara replied. "Just Liara, miss Wong."
"Very well, call me Emily then! So, I know we all like to pretend we're prothean experts now, but tell us about Ilos. It was a known prothean world, wasn't it?"
"Oh, absolutely. Almost every prothean data cache we have found mentions Ilos, a verdant world sometimes referred to as the 'refuge'. I believe even your prothean beacon on Mars mentions it, too."
"Yes, but there really wasn't a lot of data on it, was it? Was it the same everywhere?"
"Indeed. We did know science research was conducted there, but little more than that. It is remarkable how many times mentions of the planet have been found, and how little else was ever said about it."
"So what about the reality of the actual planet? Did it live up to expectations?"
"Ah we have barely scratched the surface so far. But it is much as the other prothean worlds we have found before, it has been devastated."
"Oh that must have been a disappointment."
Benezia sipped her wine again, chuckling lightly. Of course, she knew there was a lot more down there. She had received the reports from Aethyta. The prothean VI was now fully functional, and the conduit was there, too. She had not allowed herself to think about the implications. Far, far too many of Roy's predictions were coming true. He couldn't possibly have been to Ilos. He couldn't have known that the rachni queen would have the location of the Mu relay, and that the protheans had built the conduit in secret. That the conduit would be on Ilos, and that the VI there would still be active when nobody had ever been to that planet after the protheans. Which the VI had confirmed, too.
Maybe she had thought about it after all. It was too long a string of coincidences. Any individual item on that list would have been bad enough. The entire litany of them, that was something else.
"... and I can actually give you an exclusive, Emily," Liara was saying, to the glee of the young reporter. "I have already been in contact with a representative of your government, and the first thing we will do once we have finished learning this VI is help translate the beacon of Mars."
The announcement made Benezia choke on her wine, coughing and spluttering as she laughed. "Oh Liara," she muttered, covering her mouth. It was beautiful. "My dear girl..."
Emily hadn't missed the importance of the announcement, or the implications, given her next question. Smart girl.
"This surely will raise questions from the Council, as Citadel law establishes how prothean technology is to be shared."
"I am sure it does, but we are not a registered company in Citadel space. We will, of course, entertain requests from anyone, Council included."
"Does that include your former colleagues from the University of Thessia?"
"Oh they will be able to study all my findings, once I finish writing them up and publishing them."
At that, Benezia had to put down her glass, for fear of spilling its contents. She was laughing so much she could hardly control herself. Liara had delivered that last line so sweetly, so calmly, anyone could have been forgiven for missing the tremendous snub she had just dispensed to her colleagues from University. No invitation to explore the ruins, no offer to share any of the studies, not even an interest in publishing through the regular channels of academia. She would publish her results on her own damn time, whenever she damn well pleased. And she knew everyone would read them no matter the when and how of their publication. No editor or peer reviewer would stop it.
She had all but written off centuries of academic work on the protheans. She had a working VI from the source. Of course, there was another, even closer one, hidden deep inside the Temple of Athame, but no academic had been allowed access to even the knowledge of its existence.
That would change. Later. She was not going to steal the spotlight from her own daughter.
The buzzer of the intercom interrupted her thoughts. She ignored it, but the buzzer insisted.
"Fieney," Benezia said. "I instructed you not to interrupt me."
"I'm truly sorry, matriarch, but it's councilor Tevos. She says it is urgent."
"I am sure it is. It can wait. "
"... yes mistress."
She cut the comms, but a moment later they opened again, out of their own volition. Benezia looked at the green light and started laughing as soon as Tevos said the first word.
"What- Why do you laugh? This is no joke!" Tevos said, uncharacteristically lacking in composure. She didn't have to explain what it was she was referring to.
"Ah Tevos, but it is. You hacked through my secure comms just to have your little tantrum."
"Tantrum? This is going to ruin everything!"
"Hardly," Benezia replied. "It is no more than what we were already going to reveal to the Council. And the human ambassador."
"But it weakens our position! It looks like we're revealing it out of need! We have to change-"
"Nothing," Benezia said. Gone was the amusement in her voice, and the laughter of her demeanour. Her word was like a spear of ice. "The treaty will pass exactly as we discussed, Tevos. You are supposed to be our most skilled politician. Work with it. "
It was a simple phrase, but the hidden threat wasn't lost on either of them. If Tevos didn't comply, Benezia could find someone who would. And a member of the Council consorting with the queen of Omega was enough to allow her to do exactly that, regardless of what else Tevos and Benezia could hold over each other. She had been thanking Roy for that little freebie ever since he let it slip with nary a thought.
She was very glad he had recovered from his misadventure with the rachni queen. Really, she had to do something about that. He was doing absolutely everything she was asking of him, had handed her daughter a absolute treasure trove, and also the opportunity for her to finally try to establish a bridge with herself. Liara was about to become one of the richest people in the galaxy, as well as the absolute authority on prothean knowledge; a position Benezia would make sure got reinforced once her plans on Eden Prime came to fruition. And he did all that without asking for anything in return. Not a thing. His request for the raid on Pragia had been an absolute trifle.
It was an injustice of embarrassing proportions.
"Fine. I'll do what I can," Tevos grunted.
"Good. Remember, time is of the essence."
"You do not have to remind me."
Tevos wanted to sigh deeply, sink in her seat, and just go to sleep. But she couldn't. Benezia's little sprat had the worst timing in the galaxy. Mere days before the Council and the Alliance were set to sit for talks on the treaty of Farixen, it had all come crashing on her head. She was going to propose some radical changes, and the best thing she had to negotiate with had been cut down at the knees. The Systems Alliance had absolutely no need for their help with their beacon now. She was pretty sure she could sell them the changes on their fleet composition, but there was a chance it would turn ugly.
Now she had to do it krogan style. She had an inkling of who Roy had been talking about when he and Benezia had shared that small moment when talking about krogans, but unfortunately, it wasn't going to set the galaxy alight. Other than a few whispers behind closed doors and some cracks of the rumor mill, it would do nothing.
"It has been quite a stir, has it not?" Tevos said, looking at the assembled councilors and the human ambassador, Anita Goyle.
"You could say that," Anita replied, her graying eyebrows raising with her smile. "The boys back home are very excited about the discovery. Doctor T'Soni has been very helpful."
"I bet she has," Sparatus grumbled.
This only made Anita's smile wider, and Tevos had to suppress a chuckle. She was a quick study, that human. When she first arrived to the Citadel, the Council had led her around like a well trained varren. Now, though, she wasn't so easily fooled. She had the measure of the turians, and that grated with Sparatus. It was too bad she was aging so quickly, she was becoming an excellent asset for the galaxy.
"It must be a concern for you Tevos," Alarn, the salarian councilor, said. "Asari technology is always ahead of everyone else. This new development could challenge the status quo."
"Oh I am sure we will all benefit from the advances the Systems Alliance may derive, from their venture with doctor T'Soni," Tevos said.
"And so convenient, too, that it's all happening outside Council space," Sparatus added, eyeing Tevos.
The asari councilor cracked an empty smile. "What exactly are you implying, Sparatus?"
"Nothing, of course. But a fully working prothean VI that just happens to fall into asari's hands..."
It was a perfect opening, and Tevos wasn't going to let it pass.
"We don't need the prothean VI," Tevos said.
She placed a holographic projector base on the table, to everyone's surprise, and flicked it on. It showed the inside of the Temple of Athame, with the central statue retracted. In its place stood the best kept secret of the Asari Republics.
"Is that..." Anita muttered.
"A fully functional prothean beacon, complete with its own prothean VI. Unlike the one T'Soni has found, however, this one only speaks prothean. We have made great strides, but there is still a lot more for us to learn from it." She paused to take stock of the faces around the table. Of all people, Anita seemed to be the least shocked by it. The other two councilors' faces, however, spoke volumes. "This is no small cache, either. It contains the full library of knowledge the protheans brought to our world directly. They didn't set up a small observation post to look at us."
"This is an outrage!" Sparatus shouted, bolting to his feet. "You... You! You've had something like that for centuries! And- You-"
Tevos had never seen Sparatus that angry before. He was so angry he was tripping over his own words. She had half a mind to let him ramble just to see what would happen, but in this case, he actually was in the right. They had been holding it back for centuries, while demanding all other prothean tech be shared with the Council.
"We all have our secrets, Sparatus. We held back the beacon, not wanting to flood the galaxy with technology it may not be prepared to handle."
"And kept ahead of the rest," Alarn said.
"To a point. We were only too happy to limit our own fleets to stay behind the Hierarchy's," Tevos said. "We were perhaps overzealous in our duty to preserve galactic order."
"Overzealous," Sparatus said, making an air quote sign with his hands.
"Oh don't act so surprised Sparatus, the Hierarchy knows all about being overzealous," Tevos said, and hit one of the controls on the projector. The image switched to that of a large device of old turian design.
"What's that?" Anita said. She hid it well, but she was enjoying the show.
"This is one of several devices we have found on Tuchanka. Nuclear bombs, that the Hierarchy hid all over the planet. Still active, too. Just waiting for the signal to wipe out all life on the planet."
Sparatus mandibles fluttered as his mouth hung open. Tevos could almost hear the protest dying in his mouth, the designs and writing on the devices too obviously turian. Oh, he didn't know. That was precious.
"Against Citadel law," Alarn said. "They have been there for centuries. Maybe forgiveable back then, but plenty of time to deactivate them since."
"Don't act so high and mighty, Alarn," Tevos said, flicking to yet another image. This one of a large unknown alien, with a salarian next to it. "The Hierarchy was just overzealous with their duty. You, on the other hand, were trying to repeat the same thing that got us the rebellions in the first place, only with an even more dangerous alien race."
"What... is that?" Sparatus said.
"A Yahg. You may not remember it, but a first contact team was sent to their planet, and eaten by the locals. They have been off-limits ever since. So, what exactly has the STG been doing?"
Alarn looked at Tevos, at Sparatus, and it took him several seconds to respond, which in salarian terms was an eternity.
"I have no knowledge of this, I have to consult with-"
"Enough," Tevos said, raising her hand to demand silence. She glanced at Anita, but the human just offered a light smile. She looked ready to receive whatever Tevos could be planning on dishing her way. "We have everything on the table now, and I suggest we sit down and stop playing games."
"What are you proposing?" Alarn said quickly. Yes, he knew that, from all three of them, the Union would come out smelling the worst from that exchange.
"Anita, I am afraid that your request to review the number of dreadnoughts under the Treaty of Farixen will be declined."
Everyone looked at her in surprise. After all that, the last thing they had expected was for her to take charge just to decline the human proposal. Rejecting it was probably the easiest thing she could have accomplished. Without missing a step, Tevos pulled four datapads and started passing them around.
"What's this?" Anita said.
"A new proposal. The Systems Alliance wants to be more involved with galactic affairs, and I believe it is time we agree." She looked at the other councilors meaningfully. "So, as you humans would so charmingly say, it's time to put up or shut up."
She waited patiently for the others to read through the text. It wouldn't take much, the changes were substantial, but few in number, and highlighted in the text.
"This is ridiculous!" Sparatus said. "Eight more fleets? Eight!"
"Fascinating," Alarn said, his eyes glued to the text. "Systems Alliance to protect and expand trading routes within Council and Alliance space. Why?"
"Have you studied ancient Earth warfare? Their maritime doctrine, to be precise," Tevos said, getting a nod only from Anita. "It is the same reason why their fleets have proven so effective even with limited numbers of dreadnoughts. It's their carriers. Not only having them, but knowing how to use them best. Space is a great big empty sea. To secure and protect it, the carrier doctrine is best."
"The safety of our space is our job!" Sparatus protested.
"And it will continue to be. Our borders, and any threat to our species, those are the Hierarchy's domains. And you will note, all new human fleets will be based around carriers, no dreadnoughts. They are wasted with simple internal security. This should free up Hierarchy resources to better protect our borders. And as you can see, you are tasked with increasing your own fleets, too. A generous margin, to stay ahead of the human fleet, but I believe it can be negotiated."
Tevos looked around. The Salarian was thinking, and Sparatus was ruminating. His real issue was how much power it was giving the Systems Alliance. Alarn was probably trying to decide just how dangerous the Systems Alliance was. She should expect an increase in STG surveillance of their human allies.
"Anita, you have been quiet."
"This is a lot to take in," Anita said neutrally. "You know this is a great proposal for us. The benefits to our trading economy will be immense. So much so that I can easily sell it despite the lack of dreadnoughts."
"But?"
"But I have the distinct feeling you're trying to hang us with a silk rope. You want us to double our fleets in five years, and increase the ship composition on all of them too. It is quite ambitious."
"We are willing to help with that," Tevos said. "We did it before, to great benefit to us all," she added, glancing at Sparatus.
"Concerning," Alarn said. "Increase in military power could threaten the Terminus, or the Hegemony. If they feel threatened, they might attack out of fear. Fear is not rational."
"And that is your job," Tevos said. "Figure out whether we are ruffling any feathers, and how to best smooth them back. Which is why your colonization rights will be higher in the list. If that fails, then..." She looked at Sparatus.
"I must consult with the Dalatrasses," Alarn said.
"As do I with the Primarchs," Sparatus replied.
"Please do," Tevos said, standing to dismiss them. She noted that Anita did the same, but did not leave. Good.
Once they were alone, Tevos finally could sit back and relax. Anita wouldn't be a problem. Not really.
"So," Anita said. "What's the hurry?"
"Hurry?" Tevos said, making a quick mental revision of her assessment of the human. That was a very insightful comment.
"You, of all people, would not want to upset the boat. Even if we have a perfect translation of our entire beacon, you've got a better one, and are centuries ahead."
"Ah Anita, you have come a long way," Tevos said.
Anita smiled. She got the meaning, and it was that Tevos wasn't going to explain.
"You know we can't build ships this fast."
"Of course you can," Tevos said. "You'll have to expand your shipyards, but as I said, the Republics will help."
"Will they?"
"Yes. We did so with the turians. It was an investment, we saw good returns and a fleet that dwarfs even our own. The matriarchs will see the benefits, I have several key figures on my side already."
"And once we've build all that, we'll be left with a lot of empty shipyards, and a lot of unemployed dock workers," Anita said. "Not to mention materials suppliers, and the rest of the economic chain. It's not sustainable. Or are you proposing we keep cranking out ships like that for the forseeable future?"
"Perhaps."
Anita sat back and narrowed her eyes, looking at Tevos. "My dear Tevos, what are you cunning ladies planning? Come on, sell it to me."
Tevos chuckled. "Have you ever tried to sum up the different races in one word?"
"I haven't," Anita replied, not at all distracted by the change of subject.
"For turians, it is order. They strive to bring order to the chaos of the galaxy. For salarians, it is security. It's different, they aren't afraid of conflict, but they prefer to live without it. For us, knowledge. We want to know what will come, what is best, for us and others; it's not the power we seek, it is to act on the knowledge we crave. And for humans, I would say prosperity. Everything you do, from fighting, to exploring, to working, it is in search of prosperity, for yourselves and others."
"Interesting thoughts," Anita said. Her voice said she didn't necessarily agree, but could follow her reasoning.
"You want to expand, not just to seek power, but to seek prosperity. The turians and the salarians don't see that, because it threatens them at their very core. They would rather you don't upset the order, or threaten their security. But I think the galaxy would lose a gift if we were to try and curb your quest for prosperity. Hence my proposal. Not only will you be in charge of overseeing our prosperity, you will be tasked with increasing it."
"... you want to open new relays."
"No, but close," Tevos said with a smile. "I want us to explore beyond them. There are over a hundred billion stars in our galaxy, and we have but barely scratched the surface. Most systems we have explored are, at worst, days away from a relay. We have to go beyond that."
Anita thought about Tevos' words, never breaking eye contact with the asari. The woman had become cautious over the years, and she was suspicious whenever something appeared too good to be true - and, truth to be told, in most cases she was usually right to be cautious - so she was looking for the aptera's third leg.
"You would need an enormous fleet to establish and protect supply lines, if you want to colonize places weeks away from the mass relays," Anita said.
"Yes. But the potential benefits... We wouldn't need to open new relays, or have conflicts with the Terminus. And yes, we would share our prothean technology with you. There are certain requirements for the designs of your carriers we'd want you to comply with."
"Ah, finally," Anita said. "I do appreciate that you didn't say this in front of the other councilors. What is it you want to hold over our heads, Tevos?"
Tevos interlocked her fingers, holding her hands under her chin. She was going to miss Anita when she moved on.
"The Leviathan of Dis. We know about the Alliance operation in batarian space, looking for their recovered technology. Trust me, there is no need for anything like that from now on."
Anita looked like she had been expecting something like that, though looking at her blank expression, the words meant nothing. After a few seconds, she sighed. "Tevos, tell me this isn't going to bite me in the ass and make me believe it."
Tevos smiled and offered her hand. After the initial surprise, Anita took it, breathed in deeply, and closed her eyes. It wasn't a deep meld, no embracing eternity or anything, just enough sharing of thoughts that Tevos hoped the human would feel her sincerity.
I swear to you, Anita, this is the best thing you can do for the entire galaxy.
That's the most honest I have ever felt you sound, Tevos. I hope you're right.
So do I, my friend. So do I.
After the exchange, Anita opened her eyes and looked at Tevos, her face dropping her easy set mask and showing her worry. "This is all well and good, Tevos, but you probably realize this is just going to make the cries asking for us to join the actual Council that much louder. And given how much more responsibility we will be taking, you cannot deny it would be fair."
"It's written all over the wall," Tevos said.
"The writing is on the wall," Anita corrected, and chuckled. "So, when are you planning on letting the other shoe drop?"
"Right now," Tevos said, laughing. "It's nothing too complicated. The Systems Alliance is still not part of the Council. There's something you can do that none of us can."
"And that is...?"
"Broker a peace between the quarians and the geth."
Tevos always enjoyed how expressive human faces were. And the expression of shock on Anita's face was worth its weight in gold.
Author's Notes: I'm hoping that the council (outside Tevos) didn't come across as pushovers in this episode. Way I see it, the blackmail material Tevos had was much, much worse for the Hierarchy and the Union than the existence of the beacon in the Temple of Athame. Logically, having used the beacon for centuries to stay ahead of the competition is a very shitty move (specially with the Council demanding that prothean tech had to be shared with them), but the other two are more visceral, so to speak. And I didn't go into a lot of details for the proposal, but there's something for everyone there. The biggest change is that it breaks the long standing tradition of caution and slow expansion.
As you can imagine, there's another reason why Tevos is proposing such fleet increases. And nobody had to talk about the reapers. Or the Crucible. Worry not, that will eventually come up, but there is no need to hurry things up. As things stand, both the asari and the Alliance have the two halves to make the prothean superweapon come to life. Now that is a bargaining chip. Of course, Benezia knows what it does, but that doesn't mean everyone needs to know, am I right?
So, this chapter implies some time passing, we'll get more accurate timelines next chapter.
Got a bucketload of reviews last chapter! It's amazing, over 300 reviews so far, over 400 favourites, and almost 600 followers. Holy canoli you guys and girls are awesome.
Legendary Junk Mail: Yeah, you can bet he won't be happy. Decided not to go any deeper in this chapter as it was getting long enough already, and I didn't want to rush it too much.
Lfan8: Thanks for the thoughtful reviews. Yeah, I see what you mean with the battle banter. I guess I've seen too many action movies, I guess it fits the tone of Convergence better as well. As far as his skills, in the broker's chapter it was more about the superior weaponry and the fact that Tela was leading the charge She is freaking crazy. When he had to get past the N7s, he didn't have much luck. I really like your ideas for Roy's skills, I'm going to have to think about that.
Also, admit it. If you were sent to the ME universe, you'd enjoy casually dropping bombshells on others, too :D
Toothless is best: I did! Very end :D
RandomDude: Thanks mate! I can give you a little sneak peek that Roy won't be just along Shepard's ride when the time comes :) As far as uniting the galaxy, yeah, it's not as easy as saying "look, reapers!". The overall plan is... different. Concocted by Aethyta and Benezia. And it's starting to gain shape.
BrotherCaptainSheperd: Dude, and none taken!
FluxBlade: Ah, Jack. Can't wait for her to come back, I'm going to enjoy it. Thanks for the typos, too, went back and fixed them. Didn't have much on Roy and Shep talking, mostly because I didn't think that just coming out of a shattered mind situation and still in need of treatment was the time for Shep and he to have a deep conversation. More to come :)
Almost a Shadow: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. I've got plans for all the races, but we'll see how it executes. First step has been taken!
eurodox59: Cyborg Zombie Shepard? Not if Roy can help it!
pieslinger: Thanks man! I'm glad you're enjoying it :)
Sci-Fifan95: Well, he's a grunt, but you never know, he seems to be a good grunt, after all.
BladeRy: Thanks a lot. I figured of all the people to contact back then, Benezia might prove most useful, heh.
5 Coloured Walker, Zeru'Xil, Rmito, general-joseph-dickson, Hebisama, BJ Hanssen, Serenarey Chiba, Guest, bdrivermp, thanks a lot for the reviews! I love the feedback, I really do :)
So, next time? Well, next time, a few surprises. For everyone. Well, maybe not for Benezia, she's the scheming one. Until then, thanks for reading! Ta-ta!