Personality
Jasmine looked over the info the techy trio uncovered on Subject Zero. Kidnapping, murder, piracy … the teenager definitely racked up quite the record. It seemed like Jack's post-Cerberus life wasn't all unicorns and rainbows, either. Truth be told, Jasmine really couldn't blame the girl for acting out after the shit she'd gone through. Jasmine's childhood certainly wasn't what one would call peachy, but the shit Cerberus did to Jack …. Damn. It impressed the hell out of her to know Jack wasn't reduced to nothing more than a drooling mess, left lying in a puddle of her own piss, shit, and blood on the floor of a Cerberus cell.
I wonder why she chose the name 'Jack'. Does it mean something to her?
Scrolling further down on the datapad, Jasmine skimmed the last paragraph. It sounded like Jack found herself cozied up with some sort of cult stationed on Asteria. Theodus left a note for her at the bottom of the report indicating he was still looking into Jack and the group of people she lived with as well as working on pinpointing their exact location. She hummed to herself before turning off the datapad and picking up her cup of coffee, gaze drifting to her husband.
Thane sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, legs folded, hands resting on his knees. His eyes didn't move behind closed lids, not even a little. She knew it meant he'd reached his deepest point of meditation, and she didn't want to disturb him. So, she stayed put in her chair not far away, sipping her coffee and just watching the light of the fire dance on his scales.
It didn't take long, though, before her thoughts wandered back to Jack. Even before the psych and profiling classes required during her Phantom training, Jasmine had always been good at reading people, figuring out what made them tick. They didn't have much on Jack, but clearly, she'd make one hell of an ally. She knew, though, if they didn't approach the girl with care … Subject Zero could very easily turn out to be one powerful enemy, instead.
"She's going to be very cynical. Skeptical of anything we tell her." Jasmine glanced around the table, grateful for Theodus' absence because it meant Drali was off elsewhere, too. "She'll likely value honesty, and any sign of deceit will not only be an insult to her, but it may antagonize her enough for her to respond violently depending on the seriousness of the lie. If she thinks we intend to harm her—in any way—she'll shoot first and won't even bother asking questions later."
She licked her lips and glanced back down at her notes. Years passed since she last presented a profile analysis to anyone, and as much as she hated to admit it, she felt nervous. The silence around her broken only by the sounds of people shifting in their seats, she found her spot and continued, "There's a good chance she'll want to test us, push our buttons, see how we respond. Anyone who lets her get away with it unchallenged will lose her respect. She'll see you as weak and not worth her time. On the other hand, anyone who becomes too easily upset will be a joke." Puffing out her cheeks, she lifted her gaze to Isaac. "In short, she'll be a major bitch … at least at first."
Humming, Isaac bobbed his head, seeming to really take his time processing and cataloging what Jasmine said. "She won't take to being ordered around."
"Nope." Jasmine popped her lips as she spoke, adding a little more emphasis to the word.
"How do you propose we approach her?" Avalina asked, leaning forward and resting her folded hands on the table.
"We'll need to be selective in who she meets first." Isaac tapped his fingers against the side of his glass of iced tea. "No offense, Thane, but you might not be ideal for the approach."
Jasmine scrunched up her face and sighed. "He's right," she said, taking his hand in hopes of lessening the sting of her words. "I'm sorry." As much as she wanted him by her side, always, Jack would just have a field day with his personality.
"No need." He offered her a smile and brought her hand up to his lips. "I understand and take no offense."
"The albino drell sure as hell shouldn't be there," Raúl said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.
"And neither should you." Jasmine held his gaze, unflinching, annoyed with his continued ribbing of Theodus even when the man wasn't there. "You'll just piss her off." She smirked and added, "No offense, of course."
Raúl scoffed and opened his mouth to offer a retort, but Isaac cut him off with a single look.
"Sunshine's right," Isaac said, glancing around the table. "For this one, I think it needs to be just Jasmine, Avalina, and myself."
Mordin cleared his throat and said, "Suggest carrying sedatives; just in case."
"What about Nemos?" Raúl asked, his face once again completely neutral.
"He's probably still busy taking care of … other things, important and personal things, but I'll message him to see what's up." Jasmine made a mental note of it, she needed to check in on Ares and Charles anyway, not to mention Talak. She should probably call Geoffrey and the kids, too. "But he definitely doesn't have the tact for a first approach."
"And Razik?" Avalina lifted her brow ridge. "I took the opportunity to spend some time with him while you were away," she said with a sly smirk, and Jasmine snickered. "I didn't dig too deeply, but from what I was able to gather, I believe he will be more than willing to work with us."
"Not yet," said Isaac. "Let's deal with one, relatively unknown quantity at a time. Right now, finding Jack will be more useful in the long run. But … I agree. I think he'll be willing to work with us, and his skill set will be useful."
Although Thane found his missing time on Thessia to be less alarming as the days passed, he still prodded at the jagged edges of the hole left behind. He hoped to jar loose something more, but he'd begun to think he'd reached the limits of what even existed to uncover. The empty yet crazed look in Corlina's eyes and the contemptuous, grating, disembodied voice continued to haunt his dreams and waking moments. True, he didn't think of them obsessively the way he did at first, but neither were they ever far from his thoughts.
He wondered if Alahana had any idea how serious, how dangerous, the things Sahnira was involved with truly were when his den mother asked him to go after her granddaughter. Unlikely, he thought. Surely she'd have told him everything she knew. Whether he remained a part of the Compact or not, Alahana would never send an assassin out without all available information. To do so wasn't merely the difference between success and failure, not even just between life and death for the one assigned to the hunt, but it carried the potential of exposure—which threatened them all.
"Brother, what are you brooding over?" Drali took a seat next to Thane at the table with a cup and saucer in hand. He sat the saucer on the table and poured himself a cup of cinuela.
Thane hesitated, unsure of what to tell Drali. Even though his brother managed to uncover the truth about his profession … it didn't mean he should share details with Drali. "Ah, my apologies." He chuckled and picked up his own cup, taking a drink before setting it back down on the saucer. "I was … thinking about a work matter."
"A work matter." Drali smirked and let out a soft trill of amusement. "Of course. Well, I may not know much of what it means to be an assassin, but I am here for you, Brother, if you wish to talk."
Thane smiled, grateful for the offer, and took another sip of his tea. "My thanks. I don't wish to burden you, however."
Drali hissed and flipped his hand dismissively. "If I thought it was a burden, I wouldn't have offered. If you believe otherwise, then truly, you think too highly of me."
Chuckling, Thane weighed it out in his mind for a moment. Setting his cup down, he folded his hands and studied Drali. "I—I'm afraid I can't go into details, but … I recently took a contract which resulted in something I've never experienced before, and I'm finding it rather unsettling."
"So tell me what you can." Drali sat back, cradling his cup in his palms and watching Thane.
Clearing his throat, Thane said, "There was … some sort of device which somehow interfered with my ability to form memories of the event. What I can remember is disturbing enough, but something tells me what I can't remember is far worse." He rubbed his thumbnail over his jaw. "Theodus has been working with me to perform memory control exercises, and it's helped recover some, but nothing more than a few seconds."
Drali slowly leaned forward and set his cup back on his saucer. "I've never heard of such a thing happening for a drell."
"Indeed." Thane sighed and scratched his jaw again. "It's truly unnerving."
"Perhaps your doctors back on Kahje can help in some way?" Drali lifted a brow ridge, a hopeful look to his eyes.
"I—I hadn't considered the possibility, but I find it unlikely." Folding his hands again, Thane added, "I've spoken to a doctor about the matter, a salarian who is familiar with my profession. He has a theory on how it happened, but there is no way to safely test it. Regrettably, the only solution he offered was meditation and time."
"What is his theory?" Drali shifted in his seat, turning to face Thane more squarely and draped his arm over the back of the chair.
"He suggested it may be possible the sounds the device emitted interrupted activity in the part of my brain responsible for forming long-term memory." Thane lowered his gaze, unable to keep himself from probing the memory once again.
"Sounds? Is that truly possible?" Drali asked, brow ridges cropping up.
Thane spread his hands apart, his empty palms the perfect emphasis to his helplessness. "I don't know, such things are beyond my understanding. I have no reason to doubt him, however."
"I can't even imagine …." Shuddering, Drali shook his head. "Brood away, I won't hold it against you."
Laughing, Thane picked up his cup and took a drink. "No, I shouldn't. Tell me, how are you? Are you enjoying your time here on the Citadel?"
"I am." Drali smiled and ran his finger over the rim of his cup. "I admit, I am interested in Malcolm. Very interested. He's captured my attention more than anyone else I've met in many, many years. But I fear pursuing him might upset Jasmine. She rolls her eyes and makes that adorable snorting sound whenever she catches us flirting with one another. I'm not certain if it truly bothers her or if she is merely teasing."
Thane honestly wasn't certain, either. "I don't know, but I'm certain she wouldn't mind if you wished to speak with her about it. However, Malcolm is—you should use caution, Brother, if you do choose to pursue Malcolm."
"He's an assassin, or something equally dangerous, I'm sure." Drali gave Thane a wry smile and shrugged. "I assumed as much the moment you introduced him as Jasmine's friend."
Refusing to confirm or deny the assumption, Thane simply said, "Ah, that would be a conversation best had between the two of you."
"Hey, how's it going? How are you and the other two doing? I'm back on the Citadel for a few days with everyone else, figured I'd check in with you, fill you in on everything new. I know you're dying to know how I'm doing.
"I decided to do the whole bonding thing, too. I think that makes you a bad influence on me; or maybe a good one, who knows?
"Anyway, we're working with a salarian doctor my drell met on Omega. He's got some nifty skills, former STG, and he can help the people we come across out there. Those who can be helped, anyway. Oh, and we'll probably be taking on a turian I met at Armax Arsenal; he's former Cabal. Sorry, don't be jealous. You're still my favorite.
"We're going after Subject Zero in a couple of days or so, too. I figure the girl hates our current enemy as much as we do, given her history, and can be a huge help. I'm also sorry for heaping more biotics onto your plate, I hope it doesn't cause you too much trouble when you join us again. I'll make sure you have your own, secluded, dark, and quiet place to be aboard the ship."
Jasmine gave the message another once over, just to make sure it didn't say anything too revealing in case it somehow got intercepted on its way to Ares. She hit 'send' and closed her omni-tool, glancing up as Drali approached. Flashing a smile at him, she asked, "Hey, what's with the serious look?"
"I wanted to talk with you, if you have a moment?" He sat down, turning sideways on the couch next to her without even giving her a chance to respond. "About Malcolm."
Mm-hmm. I knew this was coming.
"Sure." She turned to face him, mirroring his posture. "What's up?"
"The two of you seem pretty close," he said before cutting right to the chase, "and I don't wish to offend or cause upset if you are truly bothered by the idea of the two of us becoming intimate."
She opened her mouth, ready to respond with a complaint about everyone wanting to sleep with her boss, only to shut it again right away. Was she really bothered by the idea? It'd bugged her to think about Isaac and Ares fucking, but the dynamics were completely different with Drali, weren't they? But did that make it better or worse? Afterall, Drali didn't really understand what he was getting himself into if he decided to mess around with Isaac. Not that Isaac would hurt him, of course, just … their lives were dangerous, and Drali was a civilian. And now her brother-in-law.
"It doesn't bother me on a personal level," she said slowly, "but, no, I don't think it's the best idea in the world. His life is kinda hectic, and you'll be going back to Kahje, and …. I guess I'm just saying I don't want to see either of you get hurt in any way." She sighed and lifted her shoulders up so high they nearly touched her ears before she let them drop again. "You're both grown men, though. You might want to talk to Thane about it first, just in case he has something to say."
"I already have." He smiled and leaned in, kissing her cheek. "I'm flattered to have the both of you concerned for my safety."
She snorted. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't go breaking his heart. He's a good man, and when he cares about something, he cares deeply."
"Everyone's fine. Charles is healing still, and we're getting settled in. The kid is helping me build a proper armory. Congratulations on getting bonded, I guess. Whatever floats your ship. I don't care if you have another turian join. I know I'm still better, so there's nothing to be jealous about. I don't know what you're talking about with whoever Subject Zero is, and I don't see how this 'girl', as you call her, is going to help us, but okay."
Jasmine narrowed her eyes at Ares' response. She'd thought she'd already told him about Jack and the experiments Cerberus did, but the harder she thought about it, she realized she never did fill him in on everything. Humming to herself, she hit 'reply' and attached her report on Jack before typing out her response.
"Oops! I thought I'd already told you about her. Sorry, there's been a lot going on lately. Here's the encrypted report with the info the other's found and my personality profile based on what we know. I hope Charles feels better soon. I miss having you around, but I totally get it. No rush."
