Investigation 04

Current Active subsystems: Durability, Reflexes, Charm, Intuition

"I really wish we could stop for 15 minutes so I could switch out my Charm subsystem," I muttered. "That's going to be useless if Enola and her friend have already gotten into a firefight."

Tali shook her head. "Well, if you're able to talk sense into the mercenaries, shouldn't we try that first?"

"I don't talk to people who accept assassination missions as a rule. Okay, maybe if they were assassinating an evil criminal overlord that would be something I could bend that rule on, but this is someone that Enola's partner felt was worth protecting, meaning it was someone Enola felt was worth protecting. Ergo, someone decent and not anyone I'd be willing to let mercenaries assassinate. Whoever accepted that job is on my shit list and I'm not going to just 'talk' to them if we cross paths."

Missy smirked. "See Tali, this is what happens when you grow up surrounded by people who have an attitude that basically boils down to 'play nice until the gloves come off'."

Tali held a hand in front of her eyes for a moment, murmured something too quiet for me to hear and then said, "And what happens when the gloves come off?"

"Well then usually people are smashed through walls, punted into new zip codes, or new timelines."

"Warper-Emissary, that is a rather extreme response," Legion commented.

"Yup. We play nice for a very long time though. It takes a lot to piss off the extended Hebert household these days. If you keep going until that point, the consequences are on you." Her smile elicited a quiet groan from me. I had never understood how Missy had been the tagalong kid once-upon-a-time. She certainly wasn't nearly as mild-mannered since I'd been born.

[Jane] you are approaching Mordin[Scientist]! [Intuit] reminds [Jane] that if she is able to stop and convince the Salarian to join our expedition, [Intuit] would be most grateful!

I couldn't stop my chuckle as I rolled my eyes at the shard. I'd prefer to meet up with Enola, [Intuit], but sure. I can make a five minute stop. No promises on if Mordin will agree to come with us.

I got a mental smiley face back coupled with the image of a pirate holding two guns to the sky, a huge grin on his face.

"Oh, my, god. Aunt Missy, tell me you overheard that."

"Oh yeah. We are never letting Enola live that down. Intuit is such a neeerrrrrd."

"What just occurred, Shepard-Commander?"

"They communicated on an alternate wavelength…Intriguing, I saw this all of the time in Sol, but I haven't picked it up at all out here…" Tali said, trailing off and glancing at me. "I have so many questions."

"When we get back to the ship, Tali."

I angled us to the side, heading into a clinic that [Intuit] had pointed me towards. We were barely through the door before I was practically assaulted by a Salarian with his omnitool out and running a scan down my body.

"Hmm. No broken bones. No diseases. Internal organs reinforced through uncertain means. Stable. Cross-dimensional pinhole wormholes present in biology. Appears endemic. Appears natural. Interesting. Irrelevant to health. Perfect health." He paused, seeming to finally draw a breath as his eyes lifted from the omnitool and met my eyes. "Why have you come to my clinic Miss Hebert if you are healthy?"

I smirked, holding out my hand which he shook - just as quickly as he talked. "Good afternoon, Mr. Solus. I'm here doing a favor for my sister's shard, [Intuit]. You never officially met, even though you met Enola, and either way, he's a big fan of yours. I'm happy to say that in the 15 seconds we've met you have not disappointed. Figuring out who I am without me saying a word is very impressive."

He shrugged, moving back to a table and grabbing a few vials to start mixing something together. "Was not hard. Humans rare outside of Sol. With Enola Hebert on Omega, bound to be another Emissary following in her wake. An Emissary with internal multidimensional shifts not confined to brain? Only one. You are Jane Hebert."

Missy straightened, her eyes narrowing as she stepped in front of me. "That information isn't widely available."

Mordin nodded, not even looking at Missy. "Correct. STG good at their job. Former teammates share information when asked. Humans are intriguing. Many possibilities. Have considered approaching for assistance in research." He paused and grimaced. "STG are deficient in Sol, unwilling to admit failure. Had to approach Asari for information. Embarrassing. Embarrassing for all parties."

I laid a hand on Missy's shoulder, trying to pull her back, but she didn't budge. "Mr. Solus -"

"Mordin. Mr. Solus was father. Feel old when addressed like that."

"Mordin then. You don't intend to use the information of my nature against us do you?"

"Should I?"

"I was actually planning to try to entice you to join up with us. We could offer a lot of good resources to continue whatever research you have going on and since you already know about me, if you want, I could let you get closer scans."

He looked up, frowning. "Only with permission, only if comfortable. Do not work on unwilling patients. Unethical."

Missy scowled. "If you were with the STG beforehand then -"

"Yes. Many unethical events in my past. Hence, clinic." He waved his arm around us. "Trying to make up for past. Trying to help. Would Taylor Hebert accept my work on genophage?"

Tali gasped, her hand dropping to her firearm while Missy cocked her head. Intuition whispered to me, and I was finally able to push my mom behind me as I looked to Mordin, pulling on Charm. "You're way too young for the original work. A touch-up?"

He nodded. "A mistake. Clinic will never be enough to undo."

"We can help."

"Would unleash Krogan."

"We have Humanity to cow them if they get uppity again."

"Humans prefer sanctuary of Sol."

"And yet we leave to help if needed. My sister is here; I'm here. Another of my family just left the Batarian homeworld freeing most of their slaves. The Krogan didn't deserve the genophage."

"No. Did not."

I crossed my arms and leaned back against a side table, my lips curving up in a small smile. "It sounds like you made a decision years ago. You don't need me to talk you into a goal you have already been working towards."

He laughed. "Underestimated you. My mistake. Question first: what was purpose of Enola Hebert's visit to station? Did not answer before hurrying away."

"There's a sentient starship that is brainwashing its crew out there somewhere and some of the Geth have started to worship it like a god. We're worried about what that implies so we're looking into it."

Legion nodded. "The heretics have embraced the Old Machines. The concerns raised by Dragon-Prime have alerted the Geth that allowing the heretics to leave in peace may have been in error. This platform has been assigned to assist in tracking and determining the status of the Old Machines as well as the extent of their influence on the galaxy."

"Interesting. Why are Geth involved? Geth are reclusive, not interested in galactic politics," Mordin asked.

"The Geth are attempting to reintegrate with the Quarians using humanity as intermediary. We have reached consensus that assisting in preventing potential damage caused by heretics would prove our intent to the Creators."

Tali twisted, staring at Legion. "You're what?!"

I held out a hand towards the Geth. "See. I told you that they weren't that bad."

Mordin nodded. "Very well. This is mission I agree with. You will contact your mother upon mission conclusion?"

"Of course." I held out my hand again, raising my eyebrows. "We'd be happy to have you aboard, Mordin."

"Happy to work with professionals again." He grabbed my arm and shook it enthusiastically, smiling widely. "Will pack up clinic and move possessions to ship. Meet there?"

"That works for me. I'll catch up with you in a bit, Mordin."

As we stepped out of the clinic leaving the Salarian to his work, I mentally poked at [Intuit]. So, buddy, I got you your Salarian…

[Jane]! You are the best [Sister] a [Shard] could ask for! [Intuit] will get you a [Pirate] in return. [Intuit] will speak with Enola[Bonded] and ensure that she is aware that Aria[Pirate] is reserved for [Jane] and should be approached prior to leaving Omega Station!

I groaned and slapped a hand to my face. Glaring at Missy I snarled, "Not. A. Single. Word."

Her answering grin was too wide for mere mortals. "I have five! 'Never. Going. To. Live. It. Down'."

"That's six!"

"Yes, and your point is…?"

"…I hate you."

Legion looked between the two of us, the light on his head blinking rapidly. "Can Warper-Emissary not count?"