Chapter 3

Young Kato - Runaway

A sense of dread settles over me as I raise a hand up to the panel on Pallin's door, or at least the door on the meeting room that he's borrowed, given that his place is on the Presidium. At least the user interface on them isn't too tricky to work out; just stick your finger over the bit that holographically displays 'open' and in you go, though I can feel the desk sergeant's eyes boring into the back of my skull as I take a few figures to figure it out.

Still, that sense of dread leading up to opening the door is nothing compared to having Pallin's eyes settle on me, an obviously cold expression on his face. He always cut a fairly intimidating figure in the games; not through size, but through the constant narrowed eyes, the curt tone to his voice, the lingering sense of impatience that he seems to exude when confronted with people he doesn't like. I'm getting that, and then some. This is the first time a turian has properly looked at me, addressed me, after all; this is going to be my second conversation with an alien, and one significantly more 'alien' looking than an asari. Someone who, from what I'm guessing, thinks I'm a native to this universe.

"Executor," I manage to stammer out, stepping over towards the table where he's sat, and reaching out with a hand. "Thanks for seeing me." It's not a good attempt at an icebreaker. Pallin stares blankly at my hand, and the thought hits me that he might not even be familiar with this bit of human etiquette. That or he just doesn't care.

"Sit."

The door slides shut, but I swear that I catch a smirk on the desk sergeant's face just before it closes entirely.

I muster up the courage to meet Pallin's eyes and get a better look at him. Dark brown plates, mandibles shifting when he opens his mouth, that intense white clan-paint covering pretty much every inch of his facial plates. Whereas Garrus has the two fairly subdued blue lines across his cheeks, Pallin has a significantly more complex design; streaks of white arching from his chin, around his cheeks and eyes, cresting at the top of his head with multiple different strokes and flourishes. There's that sharp intelligence to his eyes that all turians seem to have, probably from their avian descendency; a sharp, predatory gaze that makes me fight the instinct to just shrink into my seat.

"So," the turian mutters, after letting the silence hang there for a few seconds, and using one of those taloned hands to flick at the datapad sat on the table in front of him. "Ian Shaw, twenty-one years old, fresh out of university. An economics graduate." He practically spits the word. "Shouldn't you be on Ilium? Working for a volus firm? If you're smart enough to get onto a C-Sec scheme, this seems like a waste of your degree."

Well, at least he's getting straight in with the interview questions. It's a more hostile tone than the few job interviews I've been to before, but the question isn't all the dissimilar, just dressed up in a different way; why do you want to work at C-Sec? I just have to pretend that he's a regular, human interviewer, not an alien, and that I'm not almost entirely reliant on getting this job. I've done this before.

"I probably could be, sure," I nod, trying to get some confidence about this. It's fortunate that I always did like the sound of C-Sec when I was playing the Mass Effect games; it's an enthusiasm I can hopefully put across to him. "Make an easy few million credits playing their markets, retire when I'm thirty-five, live out the rest of my life as the vapid denizen of some up-market planet like Bekenstein." I give Pallin a smile, trying to build some momentum on this. It's how I'd play a normal interview, for a normal job; I have to assume that this won't be much different, despite the hostile audience. "Or, I could come to the centre of galactic civilisation, and do something with my life that actually makes a difference. The degree's a means to an end. It just proves that I've got a capacity to learn, and that's what this is all about, right?"

"I'm filling a detective position. The role is vital to Citadel Security. I would've liked someone with a bit of experience, not a keen learner. We have plenty of those already," Pallin sighs. He doesn't look particularly impressed by that impassioned defence, and I can already feel myself deflating a little under his withering glare and impassive tone. "It says here you're Earth-born as well. United Kingdom?" His eyes narrow again. If he keeps on at this rate, they're going to be closed in a minute. "Did you see many aliens there? Earth is more isolated than many other homeworlds."

For some reason, I don't see the UK being quite as keen on aliens turning up to visit, so I shake my head cautiously. Gives a reasonable cover for the truth, too. "I haven't met many, no. Most of the one I met were at university, and they were...well, more extreme characters." Everyone in the Mass Effect game has their quirks, so I can't exactly claim that Mordin is representative for most salarians. "Again, though, that's part of the reason I wanted to join up. I was sick of being isolated, stuck somewhere cautious about embracing the wider galaxy."

"Your people seem more than happy to embrace, as long as they get something out of it," Pallin countered. "The Alliance have only recently been talking to us about increased co-operation with their officials stationed on the Citadel, and that's only because I 'agreed' to entertain the idea of a human in a higher ranked position." He fixes me with a firm stare. "You are a political convenience. I hope you understand that."

"If that's the case, why are we even going through this interview?" I ask, leaning forward and placing my forearms on the table. He's scary, for sure, but just dropping that is making me realise something more important; Pallin is kind of an asshole, and I'm getting sufficiently pissed off to overcome my various other anxieties. If I'm a 'political convenience', it's not like he's going to turn me down. "What's the point of asking me any questions at all?"

"Because I have to make a good impression to the Council and your Alliance." There's some serious venom in that last word. "These formalities have to take place, or it reflects poorly on me. That said, nobody is observing the content of such formalities, so let me make my position clear. I cannot force you out of here. C-Sec is my priority, and if hiring you means we get your people to stop stonewalling half our investigations, then I can swallow my pride. That said." His mandibles stretch into a much more sinister...grin, I suppose? It's hard to tell with turians. "If you quit, that only reflects poorly on you. I can prove that this 'experiment' was a waste of all our time, and life continues as it was before you were brought to my attention."

"So, what, you're just going to try and make me quit?" I ask, looking at him blankly for a few seconds as I try to process both his startling bluntness, and the fact he's actually enough of a prick to do this. Son of a bitch. I knew Pallin wasn't exactly pro-human, but this is an extreme, and the thought of a turian of his standing specifically making an effort to get rid of me has those anxious feelings in my stomach ramping back up to eleven. "You can't even entertain the idea of a human being competent enough for this job?"

"Perhaps a human will eventually be ready, but not while your species still clamors to understand the vastness of the galaxy you so bluntly pushed your way into," he replies, mandibles twitching into what I'm entirely certain is a frown. "You should understand the gravity of what you've accepted. Performance for detectives is judged harshly, especially given the...uniqueness, of your particular position. What would normally be a year's worth of training, we'll be compressing into six months, and if you fall below the required parameters, you will be removed from this programme. I was informed that you were capable of handling it." His eyes glint dangerously. "Are you? Even some of our finest turian candidates balk at what is involved qualifying for such a position."

He's right, I could just leave. Is this even worth it? Doing a job for someone who specifically hates me. From what the desk sergeant said, the whole of C-Sec hates me for getting into this, too. Intense training, being watched like a hawk for any slip-up, and thrown out if I don't perform. I could just save everyone the trouble and quit now...which would make Pallin's day.

I'm stronger than that, I have to be. With his views on humans, he's almost certainly exaggerating this, too. If I'm stuck on this station, I'm not letting this prick block me out of my best chance at getting home. "I'm capable," I manage to reply, pushing down the shake in my voice. "I didn't go through all of this to get bullied out of it. You don't want me here, fine, I get it. We don't have to be friends. But I'm not going to give you and the rest of the place the satisfaction of being able to label humans as quitters." That's something I have to remind myself, too. However that asari wrangled this, I'm setting an example for human development, here. I fuck this up, and I push the equality movement backwards for at least a few years. I'm not 'pro-human' by any means, but I'm not supportive of a turian stranglehold on C-Sec either.

Pallin sits there for a few seconds, tapping a talon on his chin, before giving a chuckle and shaking his head. "An admirable sentiment, though I suspect it's born from naivety. To be expected, given that they sent a child." I bunch my fists at that, but bite back a retort. It won't do much good, and I can't give him any excuses to make my life harder than it already is. "Still, I'm glad to have...what is you humans say? Removed the air?"

"Cleared the air," I correct him. "And yeah, thanks for the clarity. I'm glad you didn't even bother pretending to like me."

"I keep C-Sec as straightforward an organisation as possible. We leave the political posturing and maneuvering for the ambassadors and politicians in the Tower," he chuckles, a deep, flanging rumble that seems to pass through the table and up my forearms. "You report in at-" He checks his omni-tool. "Yours will be calibrated to human time, so report in at what is equivalent to '6am'."

"Six?" I ask, raising my brows in alarm. "How long do people work in C-Sec?"

"You'd be on shift until 6pm." Pallin seems to really draw out the human time terms, obviously not enjoying them. "Tomorrow will just be your induction around the building, meeting your department and your future partner, before you're introduced to your Academy tutors and begin the training process. I'd recommend you don't think about the hours. With your condensed training, any time you're not here, you'll be needing to spend studying. Now, if that's all, I do have important matters to attend to. You can show yourself out and prepare for tomorrow."

I'm left at something of a loss for words, eventually standing up as Pallin turns his attention to his datapad, not even bothering to look up as I leave the room, and pretty much walk straight into Garrus.

"Oh, sorry-" I start saying, before my breath catches as I see the extremely familiar turian looking down at me. Eye visor attached, same blue C-Sec armour, those blue markings I was thinking about before present and correct across his cheeks. Younger than I remember him looking, and lacking the massive scar across his face. I'd forgotten what he looked like back before all that.

Still, the fact I'm stood right in front of him makes it really hard to focus on things like forming words or coherent sentences, just standing in front of him as I try to rationalise the fact I know this man's future for the next four years, what he'll be involved in, the friends he'll make, decisions he'll have to live with-

"Ian, right?" he asks, looking me up and down with a visible sense of...disappointment?

"Y-yeah?"

"I'm Garrus Vakarian." He does, in fairness, reach out a hand, but the movement is awkward, and he places at around my shoulder height, making me contort my arm slightly to meet it and almost get my hand crushed by his grip. "I'll be your partner in contraband once you've left the Academy. Pallin told me that you'd be coming in. We're supposed to be meeting tomorrow, but I was in the area and figured I'd come by for a couple of minutes and see what I'd be dealing with."

"Oh, well. Thanks." At least he seems more friendly than Pallin. I just need to stop being so starstruck and get through this conversation. "It's, uh, nice to meet you, Garrus." He eventually lets go of my hand, and I try not to wince as I place it back at my side. "I guess you picked the short straw getting me, huh?"

"What?" He looks confused.

"You know, you were the unlucky one. It's a human thing, everyone takes a straw from a jaw, and whoever gets the shortest one has to do something that everyone else doesn't want to do..." I trail off at Garrus' blank expression. "I'm just saying, you must be the unlucky one for getting lumped with me."

The turian shrugs uncomfortably. Fuck, I meant it as a joke, but am I even wrong? "It's fine," he eventually says. Hardly a firm rebuttal. There's a lingering silence as I struggle to think of anything to say on top of that, before he gestures over his shoulder. "Look, I need to go and chase someone up on a report for a red sand case I'm on, but it was nice to meet you, Ian, even just briefly. We can talk more tomorrow."

"Right, yeah, thanks for coming by," I nod, forcing a smile onto my face for him. "I'll see you tomorrow!" He gives me a cursory nod in return, before heading off towards the lobby. I watch him leave, before heaving an enormous sigh, giving it a few more seconds before following in the same direction.

I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else. The Garrus I know of was always awed by Shepard, and that made their conversations a lot easier; they had a common goal, and Shepard actually chose Garrus to be on his or her team. I might pretty much hero worship the guy, but to him, I'm pretty much nobody. The human that he has to babysit. Hell, if Pallin's been talking to him, he's probably convinced I'm going to be quitting in a couple of weeks too.

Sighing, I flick open my omni-tool with the hand-squeezing gesture. Right now, I just need to find somewhere I can sleep. With the credits I got from the asari, it should be enough to get into a hotel, at least until I find somewhere to rent. I can find out how the Citadel property market works, between working out what food I can eat without killing myself on dextro based substances, and studying so that I don't lose this job and get trapped in the future forever.

So, when I see a message flash up from the only pre-programmed number on my omni-tool, it gives me a flash of hope that I've so desperately needed.

'Get to Delaran Heights Hotel, Surda Ward. We need to talk about what happens next. -S.'

If that asari wants to talk, then I'm ready for it. I pull up the Citadel map from my omni-tool, plotting my course and stepping back out of the C-Sec Academy, sparing a glance back at the place that's going to become very familiar to me in the coming months.

I'll just have to see what she has to say. Right now, I'm entirely at the mercy of what she has planned; perhaps I can finally start getting some answers about all of this.

Start working out a way back.

A/N: Apologies for the delay on this, I've had some busy weekends, and work has been pretty hectic.