Laryna
There was only one last person on my current dossier. Miranda's assured me that the Illusive Man had more lined up on that he would forward soon, for which I was glad. I would be more comfortable with a few more people at my back then what I currently had. I was very much hoping to still get my hands on Tali still, too.
Jack was the name of the next recruit. Like with most of my information, it was very limited on her. No service time. Some served time. Biotic. Young, estimated 22. That's it. She was currently waiting for us to pick her up in a space prison; charming. Hopefully it'll be a quick grab and go, though.
It took nearly an hour to get docking clearance, and I silently swore to never complain about the Citadel's process anymore. I entered with Garrus and Grunt. My excuse this time was Garrus was familiar with security, apparently had overseen a few transfers from the Citadel to this prison a couple of times in the past. Grunt I brought because, if things went wary, krogans were second to none in close quarter combat, and would give me a chance to see what he could do.
I'd be happy with a peaceful experience though, but as we were met by three armed guards that gave us overly cheerful faces that instantly sparked my suspicions.
"Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard." Greeted a turian that was foremost and center before us. "Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high-security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed." The other two guards started forward.
The three of us drew our weapons on impulse. Why did they always think I would give up my guns? "I'll relinquish one bullet," I answered, unable to stop myself. "Where do you want it?"
"Everyone stand down," ordered an entering turian. The guards obeyed him without hesitation. "Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize this is just a standard procedure."
"It's my standard procedure to keep my gun," I replied. We stared each other down for several long moments.
"Let them proceed," Kuril said, submitting. "Our facility is more then secure enough to handle three armed guests." The guards moved out of the way, and we stepped forward. "We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you would please follow me to Outprocessing for the pickup, Commander."
I nodded. "Let's go." And we were admitted into the rest of the ship.
"Cellblock Two," Kuril said as we entered into a hall with glass sides, giving us clear view of hundreds of doors. "As you can see, we keep a tight control over the population." As we watched giant arms shifted and pulled a few doors out of the walls, showing that each one was an independent cube. "Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained modular unit. I've blown a few out the airlocks as an example. This ship is made up of 30 cell blocks identical to this one—we house thousands of criminals. We can put the whole place in lock down on a moment's notice." He stopped and turned towards us. "Nothing goes wrong here."
Was that a threat? "Can you tell me about Jack?"
Kuril instantly took up a nervous air. "Cerberus hasn't told you? Jack's the meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy, and very powerful. You'll see soon enough."
Maybe I should start investing in some heavy mechs instead, I thought. I took another moment to look down into the cell block. "How did you end up running this ship?" I asked.
"I was in law enforcement on Palaven, and got sick of seeing criminals escape out into the galaxy to carry on with their crimes." the warden replied, and I heard Garrus grunt in agreement behind me. "Bounty hunters aren't dependable. Eventually I hit upon this idea. Keep the criminals in space, and the galaxy is a safer place."
"You do this because you think it's necessary?"
His face grew hard a moment. "Every day I see the worst sapient life has to offer. Governments are soft, unwilling to make the hard choices. Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe."
I was a bit scared I brought Garrus along now; he may want to sign up. "Maintaining a population this size in space can't be cheap," I observed.
"We can cut corners that governments can't," Kuril said honestly. "And each prisoner brings in a fee from his homeworld. These individuals are violent, and their home planets pay well to keep them here."
"What happens if the homeworld doesn't want to pay?"
"We explain that we can't maintain the prisoner without their help, so we'll be forced to release him back onto his homeworld," he replied, keeping his face straight the entire time. "At an unspecified place and time."
"You scare the homeworlds with the prisoners," Grunt stated, approvingly. I glared at them both.
"You don't have to agree with my methods, but don't question my motives. These are despicable people and I am keeping them locked up." And Kuril turned about and continued walking.
"Have there been escape attempts?" Garrus asked.
"We're in space—they have nowhere to go, and they know it." He shrugged. "But still, we exercise extreme caution. These are dangerous individuals." As he spoke we witnessed a few prisoners below, free from their cells for whatever reason, start to argue. A guard was nearby, and a few taps on his omni-tool, a kinetic pillar rose about ten feet away from the party and created separate barriers around each man before a punch was even thrown. Kuril smiled in satisfaction. "We have many ways to control the population."
We had walked down the hall for about another five minutes when he turned about and faced us directly. "I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus cleared." The warden pointed over his shoulder. "Outprocessing is straight down this hallway. Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the supermax wing. I'll catch up with you later... Shepard." And he went back down the direction we came.
I watched him until he disappeared behind a door, and shared a look with Garrus, who just shrugged. We continued down the direction we were meant to go. I slowly started to relax. Surely we wouldn't be given such unguarded freedom, weaponized, if there was going to be any trouble?
The sounds of a fairly steady thumbing greeted us as we rounded a corner. We came upon a guard outside one of the detached cells. Another guard was inside, and we found the source of the noise.
"You don't even get good information that way," Garrus said in disgust as we watched the beating being dealt. "After a point, victims admit to anything to make the pain stop." I silently agreed.
"Is there something I can do for you?" the turian guard asked as I stepped up causally beside him.
"There's no excuse for beating a prisoner who can't fight back," I replied, skipping pleasantries.
"This is a massage compared to what his victims went through," the guard said back without missing a beat and with no remorse in his tone.
"This degrades you as much as him," I insisted.
"We have orders," he fell back on.
"You're not important enough to make your own decisions?" I countered.
"I admit..." he said after a moment, my barb hitting home. "I sometimes get tired of this. Does this really get us anything useful?"
"Stop this," I said, watching the poor man in the cell cough up some blood. "For you own sake."
"Yeah. You're right." The guard tapped on the glass. "Call it off. At least for now." The other guard stopped, as requested, so we moved on our way. We were barely further down the call when the guy in the last cell called out to us. Curious, I turned to him.
"If you're buying prisoners, can you buy me?" the prisoner asked. "Man, I don't care where you take me or what you do to me, it's got to be better than this."
"Get yourself out," Grunt answered, clearly annoyed. "We're here for Jack."
"Jack?" he repeated, and stepped back from the window a few paces. "Forget what I just said. I don't want to go nowhere with you."
Well, if that wasn't a charming clue to dwell upon for this upcoming meeting. "Tell me more about Jack." I requested.
"The worst trouble you ever saw, mixed with some crazy and way too much biotic power. That's all I'm saying."
"I thought this ship was a prison, not a market." I stated, reflecting on his request.
"Sometimes people buy cons so they can do some punishing of their own, if you understand. Warden sells us to whoever can pay enough."
Interesting. "Why are they interrogating that prisoner? He knows something?"
The guy gave a small smile. "No, that's Bimmy—he don't know nothing. He offed someone in the showers yesterday, I think. Guy he killed was worth a lot to the warden. Yeah, sucks to be Bimmy right now."
"They're going at it pretty hard. Do they ever kill prisoners by accident?" Or as punishment? I thought to myself.
But he shook his head. "Haven't heard of anyone dying. Warden can't make money off us if we're dead. Funny thing though—the more a guard does it, the meaner he gets. So they rotate them through.
"So what are you in for?" I asked, unable to avoid the question any further.
He shrugged. "I killed a few people. Only about twenty or so. And I blew up that one habitat. Small-time compared to most of the guys here." I silently gave him my pity. My gang back on Earth did much worse then that. I bet the innocents he killed though would disagree, so I keep my feelings to myself.
"What's it like here?" I asked instead.
Visibly wincing, he looked down at his feet. "Bad. And you got to watch out—damn, but someone's always after your stuff. Your smokes, your clothes, your...pride." He looked up and was actually a little flushed. "I haven't taken a shower in three months."
"I should go," I said to that, deciding I ventured as far as I wanted into that.
"Wish I could go," the prisoner said as he watched us move on. All my earlier ease had fled me.
We finally found outprocessing down a couple more halls. The doors parted for us, and we were kindly greeted by a man that looked to be a scientist of some kind, judging by his lab coat. He directed us to the door on the far side of the room, and exit while we made our way pass sevreal metal desks to where he pointed us.
The doors parted for us here as well, but it lead into a cell block. Before I could even groan, the speakers above us crackled to life. "My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer. Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. You will not be harmed."
"You talked up your noble intentions with this prison," I replied, hoping he could hear me. "But it turns out you're a criminal like the rest."
He heard me. "Activate systems!"
We had barely taken what cover we could behind the long desks in the room when the far doors parted and several guards we had passed earlier came running in. There were tech hounds too, their currents of electricity causing even the guards to give them a wide berth as they came charging in after us. Crackling with dark energy, I Threw the leading one into a couple guards, causing them to shout out in dismay. The other two started letting out suppressing fire to try and give the other mechs time to get closer.
"Here you are, Grunt," I shouted, and sent a Shockwave straight down the middle of them. With a deep throated roar, Grunt followed behind, his shotgun finishing off one tech while he bodily ran into a guard. Garrus and I gave suppressing fire now, causing some reinforcements to take cover in the hallway instead of coming inside. Grunt had easy access then to take out what remained already in the room, his shotgun only doing about half the work. His feet were extremely bloody as Garrus and I slowly made our way forward.
"We need to get Jack out of cryo!" Garrus shouted as we continued to make progress into the hallway.
Grabbing thermal clips from fallen guards as we moved on, we were barely slowed as we explored down a different hall than we had earlier came through. This ship was huge, but only a limited time was available before we'd be cornered and overwhelmed.
"Normandy, this is Commander Shepard. The prison has become hostile. Do not allow anyone on the ship without my consent. Be ready for rapid departure."
"Understood, Commander," Joker radio backed.
"Do you think they'd attack the ship?" Grunt asked.
"Hard to say," Garrus replied as I tossed a Singularity to block anyone from sneaking up behind us as we rushed down the cleared hall. "We docked on the far side. If they were smart, they would. As the warden stated earlier, we're in space. Without the Normandy we'd be trapped. I wouldn't worry though. The crew we left behind should be able to keep her safe easily enough."
The loud speakers buzzed to life again as he finished his thoughts. "Shepard is on the loose! Repeat, Shepard is loose! Get people down here!" I smiled as I heard the same speaker just on the other side of the doors we had reached. I signaled my orders and Grunt laughed low in his chest. I punched the open lock and moved to the left as Garrus took cover from the right. Grunt charged right through the doors. As suspected, there was a man clearly visible, and in the clear path of a krogan over taken by blood lust, right on the other side. As Grunt hit him, sending him flying backward so hard into a glass panel that it rattled, Garrus and I took position to cover the other sides of the room, but the rest of it proved empty. We lowered our weapons as the scientist, who I could now recognize as the same man who had greeted us earlier, slide to the floor, un-moving. I'm pretty sure Grunt had managed to break his spine with his attack. Not that the man was wearing anything suitable to prevent any bodily damage.
For once luck was with us. We found ourselves overlooking the cryo cells. There were several heavy mechs scattered below. Likely the warden thought we'd head there directly and wanted them waiting for us. He wasn't completely wrong. There was a console already opened before us. I took a moment to study it.
"That's going to open every door on the cellblock!" Grunt said over my shoulder.
"It's the only way to get Jack out of cryo," Garrus said in turn.
"I'm doing it," I replied. "Be ready." And I punched the command into the board. One of the large mechanical arms came to life and reached for the first plug. It sank it's teeth into the grooves and twisted it around. Steam hissed from the bolts as they loosened and rose. The arm then pulled the prison upwards and detached. At first I couldn't see anything from the fog created by the cold hitting the warming air above. As it cleared, a woman's shape was revealed. She wasn't very big. Petite, thin, and hairless. She was strapped down to a metal backing by her wrists and neck.
"That's Jack?" Garrus asked, leaning closer to the window.
"Jack's small," Grunt said with a laugh.
As I was about to give the order to move down there; the heavy mechs was causing me to worry about our newly freed comrade, I saw her move. I paused. Her eyes opened and instantly fill with dark promise destruction. Within seconds she had yanked her hands free, and forced the brace apart from her neck as well. She collapsed. The heavy mechs started moving towards her now, and she looked up. We could hear her cry of rage even up here. Glowing with dark energy, she charged right into the wall below us, causing an explosion and our observation room to shake. Smoke made it impossible to determine anything else.
"We have to get down there!" Garrus said, running towards the door that lead down to the cryo. He punched the lock and we heading down the stairs.
"Move," Grunt growled as we waited for the final door to cryo to process it's open command. "I want to see how long she can last."
The cryo room was a mess. Heavy mech parts scattered everywhere, and a huge, smoking hole in the wall where Jack made her escape. I could feel tremors in the ground and hear further explosions in the general direction she had gone. I moved carefully into the biotic made doorway. I didn't know the ship well enough to find a more proper path, and Jack's self made path was the more direct one to her.
After a few minutes we could hear shouting and gunfire. "We must be approaching one of the block wings," Garrus said and leveled his Mattock. "The freed prisoners should prove a useful distraction."
"And more fodder for us," Grunt added, grinning.
"All guards: restore order!" we heard Kuril from some loud speakers from the same direction as the fighting. "Lethal force authorized! But don't kill Jack! Techs: lockdown! Lockdown!"
We came into the second floor of the court were the fighting was commencing. Taking a few critical second to study what was happening we moved into position. We started to pick off guards with the free prisoners below that were pinned down, but they turned almost instantly agaisnt us, so we were forced to take them out too. As we fought I looked for Jack's passage, and finally saw another hole on the other side of the room, but it was clogged with metal beams and debris. We'd have to take the door not far from it and hope we can pick up her trail again before she finds more then she can force herself through.
"All prisoners: return to your cells immediately or I'll open every airlock on this ship!" Kuril was threatening now via his loud speakers.
Regardless, it took nearly fifteen minutes to clear enough of room for us to get to the door and move on. Almost as soon as we made the hallway another tremor rocked the ship and the lights flickered a moment.
"Sectors Seven, Nine, and Eleven have lost life support," reported a feminine auto voice. "No survivors."
This hall just lead into yet another court filled with fighting. We fought through as quickly as we could, not bothering to make a clear path, focused on catching up with Jack, though there wasn't any clear signs she passed this way. It was the only way available for us though unless we wanted to start blowing shit up too, which we all seemed to silently agreed wasn't in our best interest as parts of the ship was already losing power.
Grunt smashed the control panel to the doors after we passed through, jamming the locks so no one could follow us through. I was about to complain; he had just jammed a possible retreat as well, when my omni-tool tool flashed with an incoming transmission.
"Laryna, the warden has locked down the area behind you. You must find another exit route." EDI reported.
"Great," I mumbled and brought up a blueprint of the ship EDI had managed to download while the systems were unguarded due to the jailbreak and flagging power. "Looks like we're nearing the main court. The docking bay isn't to far off. We missed half the ship cutting through after Jack."
"Warning," the ship's computer cut in. "Power plant damage has led to overload. Core systems failure imminent." We were barely down the hall when the computer said, "The hull has been breached in Sectors Twelve, Fourteen, and Thirty. No survivors."
"Find Jack!" the warden was shouting via his speakers now. "Full alert! Find Jack!" The main court was just ahead of us when he pipped up again. "All guards to Cellblock One!" Shortly after another tremor took the ship. My guess they found Jack. We entered the main court thinking that it would likely be empty, but we found it full of guards and the warden himself. He had given himself a high position from an open platform, and his guards had set up multiple barricades for them to hide behind. Smart, but it gave us some to hide behind too.
"You're valuable, Shepard." Kuril shouted down at us as we made for some crates. "I could've sold you and lived like a king. But you're too much trouble. At least I can recapture Jack." And he took a couple pop shots our way.
"Not happening! You're a two-bit slave trader and I don't have time for it." I shouted back.
"I do the hard things civil governments are unwilling to!" Kuril roared back. "This is for the good fo the galaxy!" Before I could reply or return any fire three pillars moved up from separate parts of the room and a kinetic barrier surrounded the warden. His guards opened fire on us and started to close in.
Annoyed, I signaled my squad into position. There were only about eight guards baring down on us, but a few had advanced armor. At least there wasn't any mechs this time around. Grunt and I held them off while Garrus prep his sniper rifle.
"Take out that pillar!" I shouted, pointing to the one on the lower level with us.
He did so instantly; a shot impossible to miss so close. The armor piercing bullet took it right through it's energy ducts where it was most vulnerable. It crackled and hissed for a few seconds before falling into its base.
Grunt and I started to move forward as Garrus gave us some cover, moving towards the short flight of stairs that lead to the upper level. More of the warden guards had came in through the doors we had originally came through, forcing us to back track fast from our intended route and leaving our backs open. A well placed shot broke through my shields and grazed my shoulder, sending me sprawling.
Garrus was by my side in seconds, pulling me into cover as I bite back a moan. He took a look while Grunt showered fire and taunts on the foe, keeping them back. "It's not bad," Garrus said after a moment. "The bullet barely got pass the shoulder pads. There's just a scratch. You're going to have one hell of a bruise though."
I managed a small smile and waved him off. I wasn't going to let such a small thing slow me down. He in turn gently propped his Viper and gave covering fire for Grunt with his assault rifle so he could retreat back to us. I threw a couple Warps as I moved back into cover that gave me better view of the next pillar and of the guards that had been moving to flank us. A Shockwave scattered them. I brought up my pistol and shot down the second pillar source. The barrier protecting Kuril dulled noticeably. Grunt and Garrus had managed to reach me by then. Another dozen guards had joined the fight by now, coming from a door on the far side of the room. Retreated from chasing Jack, I would imagine.
"I'll cover our rear," Grunt said as I puzzled over what to do. I nodded my agreement. "Garrus, set up right over there," I said as I nod my head towards a low cover ahead of us a few feet that would serve him well as a rest for his sniper rifle. "Cover me while I push forward."
Thus set up, I threw up a biotic barrier and moved forward. I was bringing forward as much dark energy as I could manage for my push, and I met the guards head on. Garrus keep too many from rushing me at once with several heat shots, while those who got to me I either burned down with Warps or used Throw to hurl them into the lower level. Only when I could clearly see the last pillar did I allow my amp to cooldown and brought my pistol back to bear. The last pillar fell and I span around just as the warden's barrier died.
Kuril had a sniper rifle of his own, but as he had moved into position to take me out, he left himself wide open to Garrus. The warden was taken through his temple, and collapsed. He did not reappear.
The remaining guards fled when their head was taken. Garrus and Grunt joined me as I caught my breath, still recovering from all the dark energy I had used. I gave myself a few seconds more, and lead the way to the door that lead to Cell Block One and thus the docking bays. No one challenged us as we crossed the court and mounted the stairs that lead up towards the very overlook hall we had been in earlier when we first arrived. As I looked up, I saw Jack. She was taking on the admittance guards. I broke into a run. We caught up to her just as another guard as trying to sneak up behind her. I shot him down just as she noticed his coming. She whipped around but didn't attack as I holstered my gun.
"What the hell do you want?" Jack demanded. Now that I could see her up close, the multiple colors up and down her arms and across her torso, which I had assumed were some kind of clothing from afar, was a complex pattern of tattoos. They covered everywhere, from the shaven head, soft rounds of her breasts that were barely covered, into the waist of the cargo pants she wore.
"You're in a bad situation, and I'm going to get you out of here," I replied.
"Shit, you sound like a pussy," Jack mocked as she paced back and forth in front of us. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus."
"Why does it matter if I'm with Cerberus?"
"They been on my ass for years. Anytime I get free they put a huge bounty on me. That's why Warden Kuril figured he'd struck gold when he caught me. It isn't working out too well for him." Jack provided.
Especially considering he's now a corpse. "I'm here to ask for your help," I said instead.
Jack looked out the window to the Normandy. "You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?"
"This ship is going down in flames," I said, losing my patience. "We can get you to safety, and we're asking for your help."
"Just shoot her, and patch her up on the ship," Garrus suggested.
"I'd like to see you try," Jack challenged.
"We're not going to attack her." I ordered.
"Good move." Jack took a few steps forward. "Look, you want me to come with you, make it worth my while."
"Join my team and I'll do what I can for you," I offered.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Jack warned. "I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want to look at those files. See what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team, let me go through those databases."
I can live with that. "I'll give you full access."
She took a threatening step forward. "You better be straight with me." I nodded. "So why the hell are we standing here?"
"Move out," I said over my shoulder and lead the way to our hanger. I cleared our boarding and we entered quickly. "Move out, Joker. We don't want any forceful stowaways."
"Roger that, Commander."
"Garrus, show Jack to the debriefing room. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Of course," Garrus said, motioning Jack to follow him. She gave me a quick look but followed.
"That was a good fight, Laryna," Grunt said as he departed. "We should do it again real soon."
"That we will," I said to his retreating back. I waited for the elevator to be free and made my way to my cabin. Frowning as my shoulder protest as I started to climb out of my gear, and at the blood inside my armor staining the undershirt I wore, I studied my gun wound. At least it was as mild as Garrus had suggested, and the gear should be easy to clean up later. I hastily washed the wound and added some medigel, but didn't bother with any bandages before slipping into the standard uniform the rest of the crew wore. I then headed back to the Combat Deck and thus to the debriefing room through Jacob's armory.
Miranda was waiting for me just out the doors, and allowed me to take point as we entered. "Welcome to the Normandy, Jack." Miranda said as she followed me in. "I'm Miranda, Shepard's second in command. On this ship, we follow orders."
Jack was leaning against a wall, looking well relaxed for being inside a ship she was willing to fight us off to not get on. "Tell the Cerberus cheerleader to back off, Shepard. I'm here because of our deal."
Pausing only a moment to wonder where she picked my name up, I nodded. "Miranda will let you into the systems. Let me know what you find."
A sly smile on her full lips, Jack turned towards Miranda. "Hear that, precious? We're going to be friends. You, me, and every embarrassing little secret." When she didn't get a rouse to her bait, Jack backed off a bit, shrugging. "I'll be reading down in the hold or somewhere near the bottom. I don't like a lot of through traffic." She made for the door. "Keep your people off me. Better that way."
Miranda followed a few moments after, pausing only long enough to shake her head at me.
I made my way to the Med Bay to have my shoulder looked at properly. After Dr. Chakwas patched me up, I went back to my cabin and passed out, drained. I don't recall having to sleep this much before, but I forgave myself, since I was still recovering from two years worth of death.
I ran into Kelly hours later after I had woken and snagged a bite to eat from the mess deck. I inquired if she had met Jack yet.
"Jack's tattoos are beautiful. As colorful as her past, I'm sure. I have concerns with her temper, though."
"You have worries about Jack?" I asked, not at all surprised.
"I know she'll be solid under fire," Kelly replied, a mission report Garrus had made on the screen of her omni-tool that she must have been studying it when I interrupted. "But her attitude suggests deep personal issues. She pushes people away, yet approaches sex casually. I don't think she understands her own motivations. Just be careful when talking about personal matters."
"I'll do my best not to piss her off," I promised.
"Please warn me if you fail," Kelly said with a smile. "I want a chance to hide."
Unable to stop a quick chuckle, I excused myself, passed my tray to Gardner, and gave Garrus a quick smile as I noticed him mounting the short ramp to the battery.
I poked my head into Mordin's lab next. "Busy? Wanted to talk."
"Yes. Would like that, actually." Mordin said, giving me a broad smile. "Talked about work earlier. Time with Special Tasks Group. Studying genophage. Wasn't entirely honest." He turned his back to me and went to look out the window into space. "Lie of omission. Also other kinds. Need to clear the air. Mission to important to keep secrets. Work on genophage was more then just study."
Finally. I crossed my arms. "What was the Special Tasks Group doing with the krogan genophage?"
"Study at first, as I said," Mordin answer, peering at me over his shoulder. "But uncovered surprising data. Krogan population was increasing at faster rate then expected. Krogan were adapting to the genophage. Overcoming disease."
My arms dropped as I looked on at him in surprise. "Did the krogan evolve, or did some of their scientists develop a treatment?"
"Krogan scientists?" Mordin laughed. "Never met krogan scientist worthy of term. No. Natural evolution. Krogan physiology incredibly durable. Organ redundancy, backup systems, cellular regeneration. Genophage like any other natural hazard. Krogan evolved past it."
"Maybe they were just having a lucky year," I suggested. "Or fewer mercs left, meaning more krogan were left to repopulate."
"Please, Laryna," Mordin said, his tone gentle. "Social, environmental concerns accounted for. Not an undergraduate. Population spike cause by adaption to genophage. No other possibility."
"The genophage was a terrible mistake. It nearly destroyed the krogan and their culture. Now they have the chance to recover."
Mordin shook his head. "Naive viewpoint. Krogan too dangerous to allow unchecked birthrate. Look at Krogan Rebellions. Personally led a science team. Geneticists, chemists, sociologists, mathematicians. Created new version of genophage. Released it on Tuchanka and other krogan centric areas. Re-stabilized krogan population."
"You never considered other options?" I asked, frowning.
He started pacing. "Hundreds. Thousands. Modified genophage offered best outcome. Stabilized population. Avoided publicity that could incite krogan anger. Averted potential genocide or devastating war. Best solution for whole galaxy, krogan included."
"If the krogan are so dangerous, why not sterilize them outright?" I demanded.
"Not a war criminal," Mordin replied, actually sounding disgusted. "Not a murderer. Genocide unnecessary. Krogan as a whole violent, aggressive. Still have lives. Worth saving. Genophage modification protected galaxy, allowed krogan chance to survive. Everyone wins. Good for us, good for them!"
Far from agreeing, I just managed to keep my more aggressive thoughts to myself. "How did you distribute the modified genophage?" I asked instead.
"Covert drops. Hospitals, command centers, water supplies. Very difficult. Few salarians on Tuchanka. Team got caught a few times. Had to fight free. Messy. Better when things went as planned.
"And how does it work?"
"Krogan evolution attached garbage genetic code to genophage attack sites. Modification created other areas for garbage code to connect. Left sites clean, capable, running smoothly."
I shook my head, unable to hold back my disappointment. "The genophage was a mistake bordering on a war crime. Recreating it is unforgivable."
"Don't want me on team, don't bring me," Mordin snapped back. "Can stay here, work on Collector research. But no apologies. Did what was right. Hope you'd do the same if necessary." He focused on his console. "Should get back to work. Talk more later. Next time tissue synthesis has to compile. Good for free time." So I left.
I made my rounds of the rest of the ship. I chatted awhile with Garrus and Jacob down in the mess hall where they were getting in a meal and talking shop with a few more members of the crew, whom names I was still trying to remember. I was glad they all seemed at ease with a turian among them. I was finding that a lot of the people here had similar view points to Kelly. Miranda dismissed me when I entered her office, claiming work. She likely was still upset about giving Jack access to the systems. Which lead me on a hunt for our newest member.
After searching for about a half hour on my own, I finally gave up and asked EDI where Jack was hiding. Her directions lead me to the Engineering Deck. Jack had set herself up a space among the cargo down below the main control room for this level. She had a cot with a single pillow and modest blanket, and had already had a few wrappers and empty plates lying about. I stood in the shadows for a few moments, studying her as she read. She hadn't bother changing from what she was wearing when we found her; a slightly baggy pair of cargo pants, and a single strip across her nipples that left nothing else to the imagination. Everything else was covered with tattoos, providing her with its own kind of covering, I suppose.
Finally she noticed me and looked up from a data pad she was reading. "Hey."
"Tell me about you, Jack," I requested, coming closer.
"I'm still finding out about me," she replied, emphasizing with the pad. "Thanks for letting me look at these files."
I shrugged. "If they're helping you, that's good enough for me."
Jack gave me a sneer. "Don't be my buddy. You need me to kill for you. I need you for these files. Let's leave it there." She was lounging on top of some large piping, using her bend knees to provide a resting spot for the pad as she read. "Your friends at Cerberus are into some nasty things. I'm going to find something I can use. I just know it."
Deciding to skip the part about how I wasn't with Cerberus, knowing she wouldn't listen anyway, I made myself comfortable on the floor. "What if the answers aren't what you expect?"
"I'm not looking for answers," Jack said. "I'm looking for names, dates, places."
"And what happens when you find what you're looking for?"
"I go hunting. Anyone who's screwed with me pays. Their associates pay. Their friends pay. The galaxy's going to be a lot emptier when I'm done."
"I won't let you go on a killing spree," I warned.
"I'm here for your mission. After that, what I do is my business." Jack countered.
"What's your history with Cerberus?"
Jack pushed herself off her bed and put a little distance between us. "They raised me in a research facility. I escaped when I was a kid. Been on the run ever since. And they've been chasing me ever since. But soon I'm going to chase them." She had her gun out now, the last of her words practically whispered to it.
"You think about this a lot, don't you?" I asked.
Twisting her wrist so the low light caught off the metal of the pistol's surfaces, Jack said, "I go to sleep with this. I wake up with it. Everyone I kill, I pretend it's the ones that did this to me."
Choosing to heed Kelly's advice, I backed off this topic for now. I looked around Jack's space again. "You don't have to live in this pit, you know."
"It's dark, quiet and hard to find. That spells safety to me." She holstered her gun and made a dramatic leap onto the low crate that was separating us. "You know, this ship is a powerhouse. You could go pirate, live like a queen. I could help."
"We have to stop the Collecters. I don't have time for piracy." She should have talked to me ten years ago.
Jack smiled. "When this is done, we'll either be dead or out here, in space. With this ship." She nimbly hopped off. "Think about it: lots of creds. Freedom to go wherever you want. And all the mayhem and fighting I could want."
Note to self, explain the life of a Spectre to Jack in the future. "What is it about killing that fascinates you so much?"
She shrugged. "I figured every time someone dies and it's not me, my chances of survival go up. Simple." I gave her a funny look to show what I thought about that line of reasoning, and left her to her hunt. I made my way back up to the heart of the ship.