Location: The Stand Cafe—Citadel Wards
Miranda checked the time as she waited for her guest at the Stand. Quiet and not particularly well known, it offered the perfect blend of anonymity and beauty. Sky cars were just a rail away, leaving wisps of blue in their wake that one could touch if they wanted to lose an arm.
She tried to ignore that prickly feeling ghosting across her spine as memories from her time on the run resurfaced. The wards were the perfect hiding place for a child. Nobody saw you and if they did, nobody cared. Trust was a rare commodity that had to be earned and even it couldn't protect you from a blade to the ribs in the middle of the night.
At first she thought her dismissal from the Albatross was more a betrayal than anything else. But it wasn't until speaking to the Illusive Man did she understand why things happened the way they did. This was no more a dismissal than a test of fate. One she was never going to fail so long as the Illusive Man had believed in her.
A Citadel newscast started playing the Alliance story again with a sickening zeal. Miranda averted her eyes from the vid-screen, hearing enough of her failure for a lifetime. While Banes and everyone else considered the recovery of EDI and Project Phoenix a success, she only saw what got away. Elena Flores was the true winner in this round, but she couldn't hide forever.
"Are we living it up or what, my dear Lawson?" Banes appeared at her table almost biotically. But there was no dark energy surrounding his steps, just the quickness of his feet.
It was strange to see him in a perfect Jet black dinner jacket complete with a blue silk tie and pocket liner. The new look turned him from insane scientist to the object of passing asari.
"You clean up well," she said appreciatively as her pulse raced.
"I'd say that goes double for you, Lawson." He grinned and nodded to the sole human owner of the Stand. Disgusted looks shot their way as the cook excused himself to serve his more distinguished guests. "Two of your best on-tap beers to start."
It was one thing for her to look nice in a low-cut blue dress, people tended to forget details and focus on specific assets. But with both of them dressed to the nines they stood out like sore thumbs. For a moment she wondered how much he knew.
"Very good," the waiter replied perhaps a little too enthusiastically. Rumors had it that the man used to run a sushi bar on Earth before losing it in a gambling debt. Now he was starting over on the Citadel.
"Did you know about the Barn?" Miranda asked, eying their server on his retreat.
"I was in the dark like you," Banes admitted, settling his predatory gaze on her eyes. "It bothers you doesn't it?"
"I just like seeing the entire picture. If we knew about the Barn, we could have focused our attention on York much sooner." Miranda casually crossed her legs beneath the table, effortlessly projecting a relaxed demeanor.
Banes smirked as the waiter came back and set two mugs of beer before them. "I never took you for a sore loser," Banes teased.
"And you're not about to start." She tossed a napkin his way and they both gave a light laugh. Maybe it was the beer or the fact that she knew him well, but halfway through their night she started to relax. Banes was more animated with her now than he had ever been on the ship and for a moment she wondered if there was another way to end this night.
Inevitably it all came to a grinding halt during his third beer. The waiter had barely walked away after clearing their pub food plates, when the nosebleed began.
"I have a gift." Banes dabbed the silk handkerchief to his nose. "My life is simply a bargaining chip, a vessel if you will, one I have to maintain for the gods."
"You're sick," Miranda whispered, with a trace of guilt as she watched the dark matrix ebb and flow just beneath his skin. "Indoctrination has corrupted your body, Banes. This is not a gift."
He shook his head, either too stubborn or too far gone to believe her. "Don't be fooled by the flesh, Miranda. For I have already taken the first step in human ascension."
A coughing fit took over his body. She could see the corruption fighting for control as the wisps of darkness pulsed all around him. Thankfully the wards were almost empty except for the few drunks stumbling home after a night out. That was the beauty of dining among the poor, everyone was deaf and blind to anything that could get them in legal trouble.
"It's not working anymore is it?" Miranda inquired, leaning closer as he regained control with slow breathing.
His eyes lit up when he heard the click beneath the table. Most men revealed their true fears, some collapsed into sobbing babies while others promised her mountains of credits. None of them faced death like Banes as he fought to keep his powers from ripping his body apart. "Before you pull the trigger, Miranda, I want you to remember Ivan's question. How far are you willing to go for Cerberus?"
"All the way." Her answer didn't change as she gripped the gun aimed at his torso.
"Pity. Because they'll never meet you half-way," Banes said, clenching his fists as dark energy singed his the perfect skin along his temples. "You will do the leg work. You will succeed against all odds and yet at the end of the day, you'll be branded nothing more than a simple pawn to be disposed of when the time is right."
Miranda watched the dark veins pulse and completely take over his body, fighting to survive as he reigned his powers in. "How poetic."
"Take your best shot." Banes smiled. "God's don't die, Lawson. They live on for all eter—"
Miranda pulled the trigger again to complete the double tap. The silencer coupled with sky car traffic ate all sounds. A casual passerby would think Banes was just leaning back to stare up. Leaving some credits on the table, she stood casually and spoke into her comm on the way towards the elevators. "It's done. Collect his body for transport to the Barn. The director is waiting."
Miranda didn't wait for the reply and cut the channel when the empty elevator opened. It was only when she slapped the ascension button did she notice her hands shaking.
The Barn came up with the experimental rounds she just field tested, she would have to go to the director in person to report the results. This was a considerable step for humanity for fighting indoctrinated beings. Cerberus stood for the betterment of humanity. That meant sacrifices were unavoidable, she knew the burden of carrying out her orders but never imagined them to have such an effect.
As the elevator rose higher, the Citadel's night cycle washed over the station casting it in a beautiful moon glow. Miranda watched the motion through a blur as she contained her emotions, carefully sealing them away. Dismissing the pain in her chest as residual aches from the gunshot wound, Miranda leaned against the elevator wall and let it's coolness wash over her.
The first explosion rocked the entire station. Wobbling on unsteady heels, Miranda grasped the railing as a second and third explosion turned the station lights red and blared the emergency alarms.
"Report, what's going on down there?" she yelled into her omni-tool while blasting the elevator doors off their hinges.
"Ma'am, the station is under attack by geth forces!"