Sorry for the long wait, I know I said I would have this done earlier but you know what happens. Life. Been sick actually, a lot in fact, blocked nose, loss of appetite and even going to bed and sleeping for ten to twelves hours straight for several nights. I have not had a good few days if you ask me.
But now I am better and this chapter is ready who is complaining? Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
Are We Alone
Chapter 17: Over Tea and Biscuits
Wrex barely listened to the two cops chattering insistently, and instead focused on going through some of the files that Fist had on his Omni-Tool. He had to delete them and make sure nothing was left, as it was always good to do that in case his employer withheld his payment because of leaks and information getting out. He had more than a few pay checks get slashed because he didn't do one little damn thing.
'Not this time.'
He was getting paid a lot of money to kill Fist, and he was not going to lose it on a technicality. But even so he was looking at some of the information, it was surprising what kind of shit Benezia was looking for. Whatever she was planning was going to be big, galactic war big.
"Anomalies? Are you saying you have info on the Anomalies?" Garrus said, the detective stepping uncomfortably close towards the Quarian.
Wrex was paying at least a little attention now. Believe it or not, his own people were actually praising those God-like bastards, thinking that they were so fucking incredible. Wrex had to admit that they could wrack up an almost impossibly massive body counts without any obvious effort, so he couldn't say he didn't see the appeal. Hell, he even heard that some of the clans were worshipping the Butcher of Torfan as some enigmatic war god. Enigmatic his ass, the fucker was a madman that liked killing shit- there wasn't anything mysterious about him at all. Yet his people lapped it up since probably the only thing his entire race could agree on was that the Anomalies were true gods when it came to war.
"Yes, I don't have a lot, but it was enough. What I learned from that is incredible; it explains more about what they are. But that isn't what is truly important." Tali said.
"Alright, we need to get you out of here, back to C-Sec and to safety." Garrus ordered.
A thought suddenly hit Wrex, and he had to look down at his Omni-Tool to confirm it. Well, that wasn't good. "Best start running now cop, you're going to have some company real soon." Wrex said, looking down at his readouts to see that there were nearly a dozen signatures closing in on them.
It looked like some of Fist's men survived, and thinking back on it, he never did really kill many of those guys. Mostly because they ran away at the first sign of danger, unlike Jacobus' men and the Commandos, who actually had spines. But now that their boss was calling they all were come running, likely worried about their pay checks drying up, or their ride off the station going bottoms up. It was too late for both of those things, but they didn't know that.
"How many?" Garrus demanded, drawing his pistol.
"A lot more than that pissy pea-shooter can handle." Wrex muttered, skimming the last of the data from Fist's Omni-Tool and then turning away.
"Wait! You're not going…" Chellick started but was stopped by Garrus.
"Let him go, we don't have time. If more mercs are coming, then we need to leave. Now." Garrus said. "Miss, come with us, we can protect you."
Wrex was almost tempted to stick around and kill the thugs running blindly towards him. After a hard day of real work he's had, a little game of shooting pyjacks sounded fun. Sadly, he didn't have time to deal with idiots, not when he had to get back to Barla Von and get his credits, then he would move onto the next job. He heard the three of them planning their escape, something about getting a skycab to the Presidium and then down to the C-Sec offices.
"Hey Krogan!"
Wrex turned and looked to the detective with the visor, who raised a talon and pointed at him. Was this guy seriously trying to be threatening right now?
"Don't start anything on this block, you hear me?" Garrus said, keeping his words low and with the intent of being threatening.
It was fucking atrocious.
"Yeah, I'll be on my best behavior…for the remaining ten minutes you idiots are still breathing that is." Wrex grumbled, turning around and not bothering with them anymore.
Did those three actually think they would be getting out of here in one piece? That was stupid, even he knew that coming down here was basically a guarantee some dumbass was going to try something just because he was a Krogan. Not like he cared all that much, he would walk out of here and blow holes through anything that got in his way. Of course, said dumbasses weren't even real threats, just a bunch of street thugs with guns and very fragile egos. As the two Turians and their Quarian ward scampered away down the alley, going as fast as their feet could take them, he walked. Stepping over the unconscious Commando, completely ignoring her, he kept his eyes forward.
At least he tried, when he noticed something just to his left.
Standing there was a man, wearing baggy green pants and a slightly oversized overcoat, topped with a rather ridiculous stripped bucket hat. In his hand he carelessly spun a pistol, an Armax Arsenal pistol from what Wrex could make out, meaning it belonged to the Asari he had just hopped over. He was spinning it on his finger, smiling as he looked at him with eyes that seemed to glow from under that bucket hat of his.
"Who the fuck are you?" Wrex grumbled.
"Hello there, my name is Kisuke Urahara~!" The human chimed in a silly sing-song voice. "And I was wondering if you're available for hire?"
Wrex looked over the rather scrawny man. There was nothing there. Nothing was wrong, nothing gave away the man, and if anything, he seemed rather like an idiot with the way he kept spinning a loaded gun around. But there was...something there. A hidden little something that nagged at the back of Wrex's mind like an annoying gnat. It wasn't large, but one didn't live for a thousand-plus years without simply learning to trust that nagging thought in the back of your mind.
Wrex wasn't the best at reading human body language, but the glint of intelligence in eyes was nearly a universal trait. And those eyes were a bit too intense for the hat's shade to hide, dissecting and taking apart everything. Wrex felt laid out on a table, bare and exposed, and he knew that this wasn't someone he could fight. There really was only way to sum up this man. And Wrex made sure to phrase it in the absolutely politest way any Krogan could.
"You look shifty as shit." Wrex deadpanned.
The man burst out laughing.
It wasn't exactly a nice sound.
Garrus took the lead, carefully ascending the stairs and scanning left and right, his hand on his pistol even if he currently kept holstered. He looked over his shoulder constantly, making sure his ward and fellow detective were alright, as well as to make sure no one was sneaking up on them.
Call him paranoid, but as soon as he stepped into the open streets and started to mingle with the crowd he felt eyes on him. A lot of them, at that. He kept seeing people looking their way, and he might have chalked it up to being Turian in a human dominated block if this was any other day. That was wishful thinking, because while he got a few scornful stares he also saw quick glances from people who then quietly started shuffling away. People didn't do that while in their own territory, especially not when he was here to begin with and asking questions. Right now, he felt like he had the entire block peering at his back, and he imagined that there was a nice big bullseye on it.
"There are an awful lot of stares." Chellick practically whispered over the radio.
"I noticed, maybe Fist's men put the word out." Garrus muttered back.
He wanted to hope that that wasn't the case, that with Fist's death he didn't have to worry about those bastards making a move against their witness. But he was beginning to doubt that with every passing second, as the moment they came into view people were already talking and looking at them. Something lighting up in their eyes? Familiarity? Recognition? Whatever it was it didn't bode well for any of them.
"They are all looking at me, what's going on?" Tali, as Garrus had finally learned, asked.
Tali'Zorah nar Rayya had left the Migrant Fleet over a week ago on what should have been a completely normal Pilgrimage only to have the unfortunate luck to run afoul of some very powerful people. He had only been given the barest of details, mainly detailing on three particular people that seem to be working together. And she had a recording of a meeting that took place several hours ago that shed light on the events on Eden Prime, a human colony that had been attacked.
The recording says it was Saren that lead the attack with an army of Geth at his beck and call. As strange and impossible as it seemed, this information came from a very influential source that lamented on his capture: A high ranking member within the Council of Matriarchs, who was currently sending mercenaries and Commandos to try and kill Tali. But most of all, and probably the juiciest of details, was information on the Anomalies.
They had a name. A name which, according to Tali, made numerous appearances in human history, practically confirming that they were– at least to ancient humans – gods. A sufficiently advanced race's technology could easily be mistaken for magic, and Biotics blurred that boundary even further. As tempting as it was to demand the details despite Tali's protests about the danger of such information, they had to move. Once they had reached relative safety then they could think about taking a look at that data, and not a moment before.
"We need to get off the streets now." Garrus said, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Let's pick up the pace. Just up one more level and we can make it to the sky cab terminal."
Up some stairs and then maybe a hundred meters, that was all they needed to do before they were home free. But he didn't think for a moment he would be making it that far as the feeling of being watching only grew with every step they took. He was certain he saw a few of the people actually activating their Omni-Tools and scurrying off somewhere.
People were on the lookout for Tali.
"Get ready for a firefight." Garrus whispered to Chellick and got a curse in response.
They moved up the stairs quickly, taking them two at a time and then nearly running ahead and through the crowd towards the end of the walkway. He could see a sky cab bay just ahead, it was within arm's reach.
But that was still too far it seemed.
The crowd hushed and parted before them in one great motion with eerie synchronicity. But it wasn't them that the humans were scattering for but instead the threat of what they brought with them: A firefight.
'Shit.' Garrus came to a halt and drew his pistol. To move forward was to walk into what had to be a kill box, so instead he let his optical scanner search the crowd for any weapons. He got a ping, three just to his right, just a moment before a trio of men exited their hiding spot.
"Contact!" Garrus shouted, raising his pistol and firing several shots towards the ambushers.
Chellick was at his side, both of them covering their witness, firing at the aggressive humans who were advancing on them slowly. One was taken down with a burst of failing shields before they took cover.
"We got more coming up the stairs!" Chellick said, already firing at the landing and forcing them back down.
Garrus looked and saw he was right, already they were taking pot shots over the rim of the stairs trying to spray them with poorly aimed shots. It was only a matter of time before someone threw a grenade, and their weak cover wouldn't survive that. They were being flanked and so they had to get out of here. But they were trapped on a narrow stretch of walkway with both their main escape routes cut off.
"We gotta run!" Chellick said, firing another burst towards the stairs. "Got a door to my right, want to get out of here?"
"Take Tali with you, I'll give you covering fire." Garrus said, holstering his pistol and drawing his sniper rifle.
It might be a little close for something as long ranged at that, but it was also more than capable of going through their shields and armor in one hit instead of mildly annoying them. The quicker he took them down, the fewer bullets he would have to avoid.
"Mark." Garrus said, turning out of cover and quickly lining up a shot.
He fired once, and the merc's head exploded out the back of his helmet. He turned back into cover and aimed for the stairs, and as soon as someone's head popped up he fired, the top of his skull was blown off. It was a glancing blow, but it did the job.
Looking up he saw Chellick already by the door, in position to give him some cover fire. Garrus ran to the door, drawing a pistol in one hand and firing it blindly towards the stairs. He made it to the edge before he felt some shots ping against his armor, he let out a curse and one dug a little too deep.
Tripping, he fell to the ground and let out a curse, the door closing behind him and banging omniously as shots bounced off it. It was probably worrying about the state of things if such heavy-duty doors were being used freely like this, but Garrus wasn't going to complain about a stroke of good luck for them now.
"Are you okay?" Tali asked, kneeling beside him and looking stuck between trying to help and not knowing what to do.
"Just a graze, nothing life threatening." Garrus grunted, using his rifle to hoist himself up. "You locked down the door?"
"Of course I did, what do I look like? A rookie?" Chellick replied.
Garrus could already hear cursing and slurs on the opposite side of the door, the thugs likely had no idea how to open up the damn door. That was something Garrus was happy about: dumb thugs were a thousand times better than smart ones.
"We need to keep moving and find somewhere to bunker down and get out of here." Garrus said, moving down the tight hallway.
They had to get off the streets and somewhere nice and quiet, but in this section of the Wards that was easier said than done. The region was unknown to them and they were probably the only three aliens in the entire block. Disguising themselves would be next to impossible.
"Do you know where the C-Sec station is around here? We could bunker down with them." Chellick said.
"No idea." Garrus replied but considered the option. Contacting them was probably at least worth a shot…
Before they could decide, however, the door ahead of them violently burst open. Two mercs came in through the door ahead of them, rifles at the ready. Chellick rushing forward and put himself between the Quarian and their enemies, for all the good that would do when bullets started ricocheting.
A massive hand suddenly grasped the side of one mercs helmet, slamming it into the wall with a sickly crunch. One man tried to turn only to have his weapon ripped from his hands and used to bash his helmet in. Both men collapsed to the ground with shattered helmet and, most likely, shattered skulls. Garrus might have been worried that they had just stumbled into some other gang's territory and were about to have to hold off two different enemies at once, except…
"What in the name of the spirits are you doing here?" Garrus shouted, his voice pitching with frustration in a way he knew had to be messing with the translators, but he really couldn't care. Not when he was here.
Urgnot Wrex just stared at them, looking decidedly unamused at the greeting.
"Saving your asses, that's what. Now get a move on, we need to get away from here; more of Fist's boys are on the way." Wrex grunted, drawing his shotgun and moving back the way he had come- through a door that looked like it had tried and failed to tank a charging Krogan.
Garrus didn't like his sudden change of heart, but right now their only real choice was to follow. Wrex seemed to be able to track the people following them, and anyone who somehow managed to slip by wasn't exactly going to be standing up to a veteran Krogan Battlemaster. There was a certain safety with him, but whether or not they were just being led to a different killing pit was yet to be seen.
"Do you know where we can hide out?" Tali asked, keeping close to him and Chellick as they trailed behind the Krogan.
"Yeah, got a nice little shop two levels down. Nice and secluded. You won't have to worry about a damn thing." Wrex replied, eyes shifting down to his Omni-tool and he made an abrupt turn to the right.
Garrus had to question exactly where they were going: the directions they went seemed entirely random and arbitrary. Sometimes it was through streets, other times through alleyways, and on occasion they would pass through a building or even a store to get out the back door. They had so far avoided trouble if you didn't count one very flustered shop keeper, but the farther they went, the clearer it became that they were going deeper into the Ward.
"Where are we going?" Garrus finally questioned some ten minutes of wandering later.
"Got these directions from the guy I'm taking you to, and he knows these Wards. Fist has a few informants around here and they were tipping Fist's men off to where you are. So we've got to go around them." Wrex replied.
Garrus had guessed as much, but that didn't mean everything had suddenly gotten better for them, "Are we really avoiding them by doing this? How does this 'guy' know how to avoid the informants?"
"I don't know, but this guy knows who is in Fist's circle, and don't ask how he got that information, I have no fucking idea. But this human is damn smart, to the point it's almost scary how much he knows." Wrex said, the last part tacked on almost like an afterthought.
Garrus didn't like the idea that they were being led around by a shadowy stranger one bit.
"Who is he?" Garrus barked, stopping and tightened his hold on his rifle when Wrex kept walking. "I am talking to you! Hey!"
"I don't fucking know, assholes got a shop and a place for you to hide. What do you care?" Wrex barked back. "If anything, you lot got lucky that he's interested in you. I wouldn't cross him."
"What do you get out of it?" Chellick asked.
"A nice, fat, paycheck." Wrex replied, turning around and walking forward once more. "So it's either with me or on your own. And there's no way you'd make it back that way."
Garrus looked around and realized just how true that was. He had been led on a damn goose chase around this entire block and had no idea where he was right now. His armor was in bad shape, he was wounded – even if it was only a minor graze – and now his only option for protection and getting out of here was leading them towards an unknown but powerful human.
"What can you tell me about this man who hired you?" Garrus asked, giving a meaningful glance towards his partner.
On cue he kept closer to the Quarian's side. Good, she was safe in his hands. Now he had to figure out what he could about this man they were being taken to before it was too late.
"Don't know much, just a peddler for crappy candy and dolls." Wrex muttered. "He's probably actually moving drugs or something, or could have been a competitor of Fist. I don't know and don't really care as long as I get paid."
That at least made sense as there wasn't a single dedicated candy store on the entire station– there just wasn't enough money in it. And if this guy knew where all of Fist's contacts and lookouts were, then it was easy to see that he wasn't a random but wealthy good Samaritan. There had to be an angle to this, and Garrus was worried that the details might involve his life.
"Anything else?" Garrus asked.
Wrex didn't even hesitate. "He's fucking weird."
It was dark, the entire area lit up only with a sickly artificial light. Tali felt nervous walking down this abandoned street, surrounded by nothing but vandalized stores and led to who knows where by a Krogan. The entire place was a dull shade of grey, the very color drained and diluted away by violence. Fire bombed, looted or just left to the ravages of time, this place was a terrifying length of road to walk down. Her keen eyes saw more than just dilapidation, having lived in a ship her entire life she had a keen sense for a structure's lifespans and the damage they could suffer. And this wasn't something that happened overnight. No, this place was a mishmash of broken parts from many patch jobs and half-repairs. People had tried their best to save this place, resuscitate it again and again with scraps and hard work countless times before finally allowing it to die.
Despite so many attempts to keep this place alive, someone else didn't want that.
"Why the hell are we down here?" Garrus asking, shifting uncomfortably as he kept his assault rifle raised.
He was on edge, but he wasn't the only one.
"This is where he told me to bring you." Wrex replied, he was taking the lead and didn't seem concerned at all.
"Sound like an ambush waiting to happen." Garrus muttered, briefly glancing towards Tali, "Tali, you still have that pistol?"
"Yes, right here." She replied, hand reaching for the weapon and feeling some assurance as she grasped the handle.
"Keep your hand on it, we don't know who might be down here." Garrus said.
Tali felt even more nervous now. This place may look abandoned, but there was no telling who might still be here. Lurking in the shadows and waiting to pounce on then, almost like those horror videos she had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting through.
"What happened here?" Tali asked.
"This is Block 92, that, along with seven others, make up the intersection between the Upper Wards and the Main Commercial District." Chellick said. "When things started getting bad for humans a lot of them moved to the Upper Wards, and the closeness to C-Sec stopped a lot of crime."
"It didn't stop enough of it, if you ask me. This is basically where humans and aliens always met, as you can guess, things got heated and it became a battleground." Garrus grumbled, looking at the smashed windows and broken doors. "A lot of people actually died here. Riots, murders, looting, terrorist attacks, you name it and it happened here. Segregating the human population helped a little, but it was too late for some places."
"So, they abandoned it?" Tali breathed. All this unused space was baffling.
"It makes sense. Create a neutral zone to keep fighting low, and you end up losing a lot less than if you tried to make idiots get along." Wrex said.
"Yeah, sad to say since so many blocks got closed, a lot of people were displaced. Some humans had to move back into the Wards, leaving them open to be targets." Garrus said, sounding bitter as he made the declaration.
Tali had thought her people had suffered the brunt of mistreatment from other species, after they had been blamed for the creation of the Geth, but humans were getting it a lot worse. Being called Vagrants and Suit-rats was one thing, but they had been able to retreat to their ships and keep to themselves. But many humans didn't have that backhanded luxury and were persecuted and attacked on sight. It was so bad that they needed to separate humans from other species to protect them. And despite this, plenty of humans kept worshiping the Anomalies. They knew almost nothing about them, had only misfortune heaped on them just for looking the same as the Anomalies, and yet they thought of those creatures as gods and spirits that would protect them.
The truth was so much more cruel than they realized.
Reaching the end of the street they came to a halt, standing before probably the only shop on this block that hadn't been vandalized. It was made of wood instead of the standard metal plates of the other stores down the street, a surprising choice of building material given its fragility. But it gave off a strange feeling, like an old temple or building, and the way it was designed made it appear to be a very important place, something definitely not fitting then the silly sign above the entrance.
'Urahara's Shoten: Delicious Candy and Knickknacks'
The sign itself made this place seem more ridiculous than it should have. But really, the silly little cartoonish human with a bucket hat on his head right next to the sign all but destroyed whatever imposing feeling the original architect was going for.
"Shit, I know who this is." Chellick muttered aloud, sounding equally annoyed and worried.
"Who is he?" Garrus asked. "Come on don't keep me in suspense here."
"Some loon that dresses like a hobo even though I know he has to have money. How else would he be able to afford a bodyguard the size of a Krogan? And before you ask, yes, the bodyguard is a human and no, I'm not exaggerating." Chellick said at Garrus' disbelieving look.
"Wait, as in that human that's the size of a Krogan? The one that supposedly beat up ten guys when they tried to torch this place?" Garrus asked, sounding surprised. "Thought he was a myth."
That wasn't exactly reassuring, Tali secretly thought. But what choice did they have? They were here, and she doubted Wrex would allow them to leave without trying to stop them. Not before he got his money, at least. But even so, she grasped her pistol and pulled it from the magnetic clamp on her hip.
They stepped inside, going through a small narrow entryway and into the main trading floor. It came as a massive surprise at the state of the place: it was absolutely pristine.
Eight aisles with shelves stacked with hundreds of varieties of candy and confectionary crammed the room. It may have been plastered on the sign outside, but it still took them by surprise that this place was exactly what was advertised: a candy shop. Considering the place's reputation, one cemented in both fact and myth, none of them expected it to look so normal.
"How is this place even still open?" Garrus muttered, walking down one of the aisles and examining some of the different candies on sale.
Tali trailed down another, finding some sweats that were for made for Dextro-amino physiology. But she came to a halt when she found something on the far wall: a line of dolls and posters of certain black-clad individuals that was probably dangerous, if not outright illegal, to have.
She knew them: Guardian, Ice Angel, Butcher, and several others that she didn't recognize but probably had plenty of rumors about them somewhere. The fact that this man had an interest in the Shinigami was quickly painting a clearer picture of why he had helped her, and it certainly wasn't for altruistic reasons. She had information about the Shinigami, and, if her suspicions were true and this unknown human knew that, then what was to stop him from taking it?
They had no idea what kind of man he was, what he was capable of, what he would do when they met him.
"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome to my Shoten, how may I be of service?"
Tali turned to the jovial cry and saw…a man, arms extended in what was probably meant to be invitation but just looked ridiculous. Frankly he reminded her of a hobo; an unkept stubble on his chin and a messy hair only made his dark green clothes look cheap and ratty. In fact, with that color she couldn't even be sure if they were clean or not.
Wrex huffed, "I brought them. Now, where's my paycheck?"
"Oh. I had thought that you were actually customers and I got excited. Though, I haven't had any in…two years now, I think?" The man mumbled and deflated with a disappointed sigh before he waved them over. "Come on into the back, we can talk there."
Tali looked to the too-normal door where the man had disappeared through, then turned back towards her two protectors who were quietly speaking to themselves. She didn't hear them, but when Garrus walked up to her he guided her towards the backroom. Wrex was right behind them, leaving Chellick near the door doing something with his Omni-Tool.
Walking into the backroom, they found a haphazard of products, crates filled with candy, and other such merchandise. In the center of the room sat the strange man, Urahara if the sign was to be believed, looking perfectly at home at a modest table. He beckoned them over with an airy wave.
Garrus did just that, sitting opposite of him and laying his rifle and pistol at his side, within reach in case something happened. Tali looked around nervously, not exactly sure what to do during this very tense situation. She decided after a moment to sit down next to Garrus, too nervous to stay still while standing, and let her hands fumble nervously in her lab, hidden under the table. She was sure the shopkeeper noticed, but he just smiled and rested his chin in his hand. In the back of the room was Wrex, standing in the corner with his armed cross, waiting impatiently for the end of his deal.
"Now that we're all here, how about we have a little chat over some tea?" Urahara chirped.
"Who are you?" Garrus asked, his tone clipped and to the point.
"My name is Kisuke Urahara, and I am a simple businessman who sells candy."
The way he said it made Tali feel he was far more than that, and she had a feeling that she hadn't suddenly learned to perfectly read humans. No, even to her it was apparent that he didn't care if the person he was talking to knew or not. Was he being arrogant? Or just annoying, knowing that they were out of options?
"From what I was told along the way here I doubt that." Garrus said. "Knowing who was working for Fist, knowing routes to avoid them, and somehow keeping this place up and running in spite no one coming here...Take a guess as to what I think this is?"
For a moment the man was silent, staring at the detective with an unblinking gaze. Tali felt a little unnerved by how intense that stare was, there wasn't anything really behind it, but it was as if he was staring right through the detective.
"A drug dealing sort of thing?" Urahara asked, cocking his head to the side in some strange attempt at looking innocent.
It did however seem to take the wind out from Garrus' sails as he was now looking at the man unconvinced. Tali wondered if he was doubting the man's lack of understanding or his own suspicions about him being a criminal.
"Allegations aside, I honestly didn't bring you here to cause problems, I actually just want to talk." Urahara said, raising his hands to calm the C-Sec detective.
"I don't care, you're already on C-Sec's radar with all the assaults that have happened here." Garrus shot back. "Why should I trust a guy that likes roughing people up?"
"I was simply protecting my store! There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" Urahara asked.
"Be that as that may, we aren't doing anything but sitting here and waiting until our ride comes to pick us up." Garrus explained with a sense of finality.
It was awkwardly quiet for a fairly long time after that.
Chellick finally walked in, sharing a nod with his fellow Turian and then taking a seat, setting his weapons to his side before staring down the shopkeeper.
"Still, we have time before they get here, why not have a nice little conversation?" Urahara suggested, but again there was a tense silence that lasted uncomfortably long.
Finally, Garrus spoke up, "Alright, how about you tell us why you brought us here?"
"Getting a little jumpy with all the guns pointed at you I see. This is a safe place, you don't have to worry that someone is going to kill you here. Take a breath and maybe have some tea." Urahara said, his words coming out smoothly. "But to answer your question: I want to know what your little friend Tali-san has on her Omni-Tool."
What little sense of calm was present immediately evaporated with those words, and suddenly both the Turians were on guard and glaring at the human. Urahara, on the other hand, was completely calm, taking slow sips from his cup as he ignored the pointed looks from both Turians.
"How do you know about that?" Chellick hissed, hand hovering over one of his weapons.
"He was there." Wrex rumbled. "Why do you think I was on your ass so quick? He was watching us the entire time."
Despite this Urahara did not seem to be fazed by the accusatory stares he was receiving.
"You were following us? Why were you there?" Garrus demanded.
"I was just passing through, met with a friend, and then decided to walk back home. I heard some shooting and decided to make a little detour to see what was going on, heard through the grapevine that Fist was looking for someone. It's a good thing I did, too." Urahara stated, trying to brush off the matter as he left the sentence hanging.
Garrus didn't seem to like it, and neither did his partner, and Tali had to wonder what was going to happen as the tension rolled on for a choking amount of time. She had the feeling that there might be some sort of gunfight about to go down, or maybe an ambush of some sort.
"But to give you some clarity, I am actually interested in what Fist wanted, and from what she said to you, it interests me as to what those recordings may be." Urahara replied, eyes peering out from under his hat with a predatory glint.
It was scary how quickly his demeanor completely changed, or maybe, Tali reflected, it had only been a mask. Gone was the jovial man and in his place was something with a stone-cold professionalism that she wouldn't have ever attributed to him. He was so comical and strange looking that she hadn't thought he could ever be a threat. Instead, it turned out that she was the fool.
"Why are you interested in them?" Tali asked and flinched slightly when he glanced towards her with those stone-sharp eyes. "They're monsters, they've killed thousands, and even humans think of them as bringers of death and misery. Why would you be interested in those things?"
"I don't think that is what the man said on the recording, is it?" Urahara asked with a small smile one might give a child. "Roaming around on the extranet I suppose?"
Tali felt a little stupid now, as if somehow, she was being made fun of for believing in tall tales. She didn't understand how he could be so sure though, how he figured it out and thought just her being paranoid and scared.
"It was all in their name. He…he mentioned them by name. What I could find on them is limited, a few scarce myths and nothing else. But what it says about them isn't exactly good and considering what they've done I am inclined to think they really are Shinigami." Tali replied.
She noticed Garrus and Chellick seemed struggle to stay calm at her bold statement, and even Wrex expressed some interest. But the one other person in the room, the one who wanted to know about them so badly, he didn't even twitch. He didn't even so much as blink. And suddenly she was worried.
"What they're called is not my concern, nor is what you think they are. What actually interests me is the person who somehow knows all this. I just wish to hear his voice and know if it's who I think it is, that is all." Urahara said, sounding as if what she had just revealed was unimportant.
Before she could question his lack of interest in knowing about the Shinigami, Chellick was on him.
"I think we need to go over this again, who the hell are you and why are you so interested?" Chellick interrogated and, when the human opened his mouth to reply, he slammed a hand on the table hard enough to shake it. "You are not some damn store owner who sells candy, don't even try to feed me that line!"
"True, I also sell dolls and paraphernalia." Urahara replied with a pleasant smile.
"I get the feeling you know more than you're letting on." Garrus said, his hand now on his pistol.
"I think you're giving me too much credit, these days I really am just a simple candy store owner." Urahara replied, barely putting any effort into lying to them.
Tali wasn't stupid, she was actually quite smart, and she could tell when someone was trying to intimidate someone. The methods were a bit different between each race, but, well, as a Quarian, she had plenty of experience. Her people often received the brunt of people's suspicions and animosity, something goes missing and any Quarian within a hundred meters gets blamed. Therefore, it was almost necessary to survival to learn the signs of building agitation, no matter who or what it was. And right now these two detectives were ganging up on the shopkeeper, slowly trying to pry any information they could out of him.
She had never seen an (official) interrogation before, so she had no idea how long it took to typical wear a human down. But, from the looks of it, Urahara wasn't going to even start sweating if this went on for hours.
"What is it about the recordings that you're so interested in? If it isn't the name of the Anomalies then it is something more than that." Garrus asked.
"From the sounds of it, you likely already knew what they were called." Chellick said, taking over the conversation. "So, what is it then? What do you want so badly?"
"I thought I told you that already." Urahara replied, pouring himself a new cup of tea and blowing to cool the steaming brew. "Besides, isn't it a bit of a stretch to think I know more about the Anomalies than anyone else in the galaxy? I just don't care about what they're called."
"You can't expect us to believe that you don't care at all, so just who is this man who interests you more than the Anomalies?" Chellick demanded
"No one you need to be concerned about, and it might not even be him. But I won't know until I hear the recordings." Urahara responded. "That is all I want. I listen to the recording and confirm who it is, and we can all sit here without having to worry about a thing."
Tali was torn about what to do, would he throw them out if they didn't tell him what he wanted to know? Even if they were in an abandoned district and waiting for help to arrive, were they safe outside this shop? Would he even allow them to leave? Or would he just tell the mercenaries where they were, and leave them to their fate?
"You aren't going to throw us out, are you?" Tali asked.
"No, I was actually just hoping you would feel the need to repay me somehow and thought that making that suggestion would be enough for you to open up." Urahara chirped, quite honest and open with his less than pure intentions. Though, now that Tali thought about it, he hadn't exactly been hiding them in the first place.
"So that's it then, all I have to do is let you listen and we can stay here, no problem?" Tali asked hesitantly. It sounded too good to be true, but really what else could she do?
Maybe she was being paranoid, along with the two C-Sec detectives, but that was to be expected. They all had been shot at and spied on all across the Wards, followed at every turn, so it was obvious they were expecting someone to come along and shoot them at any second.
"You can stay either way, I'm not forcing you. This place is quite safe, no one comes here because there are no other shops to buy from. And since no humans are here, aliens stay away because they don't have anyone to victimize. There aren't even any gangs- I have someone here that keeps them away." Urahara said, smiling at the end.
"Your bodyguard?" Garrus guessed.
"No, he is a stock boy." Urahara replied, smirking slightly as if he found the title to be more amusing than it should be. From the way the two Turians bristled, Tali guessed that they didn't buy that either.
"I owe you, I guess." Tail finally relented. Even if she wasn't being forced to do anything, there was still a sense of obligation, "But I hope you realize that learning this information may put your life in danger."
He remained silent for a moment.
"Well, then I guess you owe me another thing then." Urahara said with a small smile, and Tail felt just a bit worried at how he was looking at her. "How about you repay me by posing for one of my dakimakura? I'll even give you a cut of the profits. Say…fifteen percent since this is a 'special' job?"
Dai… what? What the hell was that? Her translator wasn't immediately giving her a result, so it had to be something niche, like most of the things in the store.
"We'll talk about that later." Urahara said, waving off her confusion and to her worry somehow sealing whatever deal he had presented to her.
Tali had a feeling she was suddenly in over her head.
"Tali, I advise against telling this man anything." Garrus said softly to her. "We don't know him, and he's too suspicious."
"That's rude." Urahara chimed in, feigning a sad look. "I have feelings too you know."
"We'll wait here until our transport arrives and then we get back to C-Sec headquarters and hand this information in. From there, it's to protective custody." Garrus continued, ignoring the human completely. "You need to trust me Tali, this is for the benefit of everyone. That information cannot fall into the wrong hands or get lost."
"If you hand it in you likely will lose it either way." Urahara interrupted with a shrug.
Tali saw that same emotionless look on his face again, that scary monotone and mask of indifference that made her quake a bit.
"Something like this couldn't get lost, not with who is involved. Once we report this to C-Sec and the Council we'll be able to take down two very dangerous criminals, and who knows how many others." Garrus said, sounding quite determined to see that happen.
"Including the Citadel Council itself?" Urahara asked, glancing up towards Garrus who seemed to have hesitated to reply.
But Tali also froze, what the hell did he mean by that? What did he know?
"Told you he was smart." Wrex muttered.
"I am going to say that this information is important enough that it can implicate two very powerful individuals in a certain event that would see them both stripped of their status and imprisoned. But do you actually know the real ramifications of this information being released and what it means if you do?" Urahara asked, his piercing gaze stabbing right into Garrus'.
The Detective gave no reply, seemingly cowed beneath the intent stare of the simple 'candy store' owner.
"More than likely, you only know the bare minimum of what is going on right now. You don't know the entire story and the implications that could not only destroy Saren's career but the Council's as well." Urahara continued, lacing his fingers together in front of himself continuing to stare with that unnerving intensity. "The Council is culpable to their crimes, not because they helped them, but because they hindered it from being made public."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Chellick said, looking anxious.
"How much have you told them Tali-san?" Urahara asked, glancing towards her.
Her mind went blank for a moment as she felt some of her nerve fray and threaten to snap on the spot. It felt like he was looking right into her soul with that cold stare of his. But as her wits returned to her she realized that she had never actually told them the details. Not all of them, not the important ones at least.
"Saren was involved in an attack on a human colony: he destroyed it and was captured and detained by the Council. An Asari Matriarch was working with him if not outright controlling him, along with someone else I don't know." Tali spoke up, looking at the surprised detectives.
That was all she had on details, mostly his capture and his involvement with Eden Prime. What other implications this could have she had no idea, but it still it was damning enough that this involved an Asari Matriarch.
"She is correct, Eden Prime was the name of the Colony if you're curious. Saren led an army of Geth and completely destroyed it. His actions caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of humans at least, and the Council hid this from public knowledge." Urahara informed with a calm detachment.
"You're lying, there's no way the Council has that much authority! They don't have the power to hide something like that away, not in Alliance Space." Chellick hissed, quick to try and counter the shopkeeper's claim.
Tali didn't want to believe him, but…
Urahara looked at them with what might have been pity if it wasn't filled with so much contempt, "If you look down on the Wards you can get a very good reflection on what it's like back in Alliance Space: humanity has all but been stripped of its political rights and privileges by the Council over the last five years. The Alliance Parliament is but a puppet regime put in place by the Council to keep control through politicians that won't resist them. And the Navy has been grounded, with most military personnel also forced out of service. More Council ships patrol Alliance space than System Alliance ships, if you need something to put it into perspective."
The Council couldn't possible have that much power, right? They couldn't have pulled something like that off. It was a gross misuse of their power and an undertaking that would require more than just their authority, but that of their respective governments working together in rare tandem to do it. Was that even possible? Had they imposed martial law on a foreign governing body?
"They couldn't have done that and then managed to cover it up! It's impossible to hide something like that! I could understand one colony being destroyed, but even that's a stretch and wouldn't hold for long. How can they hide the fact that they have the System Alliance on a leash?" Garrus asked.
"Actually, it's currently six colonies." Urahara said coolly. "In the last three years, six colonies have been lost: Four to pirates, one to an uprising that the Council personally saw to putting down, and Eden Prime that was destroyed by the Geth."
That truly sent a shockwave through them- humanity was suffering more than they realized. It was suffering more than it should, but how could the Council get away with this? How could they pull it off?
"The Council doesn't have the authority to do this, though. The Republic, Union, and Hierarchy would not permit this, they would stop the Council." Garrus said.
That's right, the Council may be the ruling body of the government, but even they couldn't do anything major without the backing of their respective governments. Tali doubted that they could get the full support of their own governing bodies to endorse this plan, let alone the funding and manpower needed to make something like this happen. Hostility to humanity or not, there were lines that simple wouldn't be crossed.
"They would have to know in order to disapprove, wouldn't they? You would be surprise at the lengths the Council has gone to hide this from their own governments. They have been very busy trying to keep their fellow politicians from knowing the lengths they are willing to go in order to maintain this 'peace'." Urahara said. "In fact, they pretty much have been stealing money to keep this operation going for as long as they have."
The implications were staggering, but suddenly Tali understood why she had been chased so fervently. This was bigger than just bringing down a corrupt Spectre and Matriarch, this implicated three of the most powerful heads of state in the Galaxy. A conspiracy on a scale never before seen.
Considering the way humans were being treated today and the lack of effort the Council had put to stopping the hostility, she wondered if that was what they wanted. To make everyone hate humans so much that when it was revealed what they had done it could be justified or supported by the angry mobs who wanted humanity to suffer, and didn't even remember the reason why.
"If what you say is true, then this information needs to be revealed. Now. This can't go on any longer." Chellick growled. "They need to be held accountable for what they've done. What's on these recording could be both the thing that stops criminals escaping justice, and possibly prevent a damn war from starting."
"Sadly, you can't do that." Urahara informed. When the officers tensed, he waved his hands in surrender, "I don't mean that I'll be doing anything, but you have to think things through. If you take it to C-Sec, what will happen? They'll confiscate it and it'll simply cease to exist. Oh, they'll almost surely prosecute Saren, as his involvement cannot be denied and it's an action that will make them seem fair and balanced even when dealing with humans to any outsiders. But Benezia is someone they cannot touch, or risk persecuting."
Tali felt her a chill go up her spine. He…he couldn't be serious, right? Saren wasn't the one who was after her right now, and he was saying that the one person who had been sending Commandos, mercenaries, thugs, and information brokers after her was untouchable. Invincible. It made her already slim odds of survival slide down to somewhere around 'might as well be dead' or 'dead woman walking'.
"But why? Why wouldn't they try to apprehend her?" Tali asked.
"Because that means revealing the recording." Garrus informed before the shopkeeper could speak, his words low and a mere hiss. "They would need to reveal her involvement in Eden Prime, but in turn they would also be implicated in the aftermath of the attack."
"He is right." Urahara said. "The Republic, most of it anyway, have no idea about the depth of the Council's actions against the System Alliance. They won't depose one of their own Matriarch's unless they have evidence, evidence that implicates the Council in a major conspiracy. To save themselves, they would let Benezia go."
The Council wouldn't risk all their crimes being revealed, from the illegal policing to the loss of colonies that could be directly blamed on them. They would be imprisoned at best, and execution wasn't exactly an unlikely possibility with all they had done. If they wanted to keep themselves alive, they would do everything they could, and exterminating a single, unimportant Quarian was certialy not off the table. Blackwatch, STG, even the Spectres could be after her head soon.
Benezia wouldn't have to lift a finger to end her.
"Then we reveal it ourselves!" Garrus shouted, "Go outside of official channels and…"
"That would be worse." Urahara interrupted. "I don't need to remind you that tensions between humanity and every other alien race in the galaxy is but a hairsbreadth away from exploding, and very violently at that. Just think about what would happen if the Council is charged? All those dirty secrets that the Council kept hidden are suddenly revealed, without any chance of stopping them."
Wrex it seemed, was following along perfectly. "It would mean war." The Krogan rumbled, uncaring as he made the harrowing declaration.
"We are already on the verge of war." Garrus spat.
"And that information, if revealed incorrectly, will be the spark that ignites that war, likely beyond anything we've seen for hundreds of years." Urahara warned. "The information on the recording like is limited and lacks plenty of context. It would reveal that Eden Prime was attacked by a Spectre who had not formally been charged yet, aided by an Asari Matriarch that still holds her position in the Republic. Imagine what people will think? Imagine what crazy theories they will come up with when just that is revealed?"
It would be chaos.
"Then we reveal the information along with what we know, it will be enough to convince them that it is the Council's fault." Garrus said.
Tali herself was surprised how quickly he had latched onto the Council being responsible, she wondered if he had some personal investment in this or maybe it was Urahara being that convincing. But either way, his attempts were stopped.
"People build off information they have, information that they know is true. They can twist it however they want, and what is likely said on that recording paints a clear picture. From there, any other information that comes along will just be used to support whatever theory they come up with, even if it's contradictory. They won't see anything differently, just whatever they want, using whatever justification they need." Urahara stated, taking a sip of his tea. "Anger makes one irrational, whatever logic they create will be a flawed papier-mâché shrine to whatever has enraged them."
Garrus growled, "You sure do seem to know why it shouldn't be done, so how about you start saying something that actually helps? Do you honestly think information this important should be hidden behind red tape?"
"No, hiding it won't do and would in fact just delay the inevitable. While I have no interest in the political climate between the Alliance and Council, a certain friend of mine does. He has a knack for helping those in trouble, and he'll probably want to hear what is on that recording, if only to see if it can stop what is happening now." Urahara said.
"And you?" Chellick asked. He didn't know what types of 'friends' the shopkeeper had, but he sure seemed confident in him. A possible political mole?
"My reasons are my own, but my mutual friend would like for the fighting to stop. I understand his motives and reasoning, but his methods can be a little…chaotic. I am hoping through this I can mitigate any damage." Urahara replied with a touch of fondness.
"But how are we meant to do anything when revealing this information will cause a war?" Tali asked. As far as she could see, there were only two choices for her now: to reveal the information and start a war if something went wrong, or keep it hidden and stay on the run for the rest of her severely shortened life.
"I never said that we shouldn't ever reveal it, but how it should done and in what context is key." The shopkeeper continued. "As I said before: with so little information people will create their own theories of the worst possible case scenario and drive themselves into a mass hysteria. What we need to do is to control that hysteria and what forms it takes and targets it chooses. If we control what they see, then we can make sure that they blame only the correct people."
"You want to make it so that people only target the Council?" Garrus guessed.
That was a tall order to put it lightly, and one he just couldn't see working. How do you practically turn the entire hate of all humanity, and possible several other races – including their own – against three people? There simply wasn't enough there so everyone to take their own piece of vengeance. And without their need for revenge satisfied, they would move on to other targets who were guilty of nothing but association.
It was how the entire situation with humanity had devolved in the first place, after all.
At Urahara's thin smile, the Turian sighed, "Why do I get the feeling you know just how to do that?"
"Yeah, even a scary guy like you can't do something like that on the fly. Especially to the Council." Wrex said, sounding unconvinced. Tali wondered if he was unsure of the human's abilities, or his own statement.
But the blond's smile remained unwavering, a self-assured and cocky smirk almost made Tali believe he had already done that very thing, and they just hadn't heard yet. He had a plan. He had come up with a scheme to do what he just said, that it may even already be in motion behind the curtain.
"What are you planning?" Garrus asked.
Urahara looked at him, still smiling as he looked ready to dazzle them with some very intricate and well thought out plan. But his smile abruptly dropped and gave way to surprise, his eyes darting to something behind her.
"Give me the recordings. Now."
Tali turned and came face to face with the barrel of a pistol.
She felt fear seize her as she looked up the barrel and into the cold eyes of the Asari Commando, beaten and bloody, but far from dead. This was the same one they had left in the alley maybe an hour ago, the one that they had stupidly left alive.
"Hey, detective." Urahara whispered loudly.
Tali didn't dare look away, lest a single move get her head blown off.
"Did you talk with a guy called Harkin? At the C-Sec office? You did? Oh, hate to tell you this, after the fact, but he is in Fist's Pocket." Urahara whispered again.
Tali didn't know what they were talking about, all she could do was try to not shake like a leaf as she looked down the barrel of a gun. Again. At some point you would assume she would get used to it, but the helpless fear was something beyond her comprehension. This wasn't a fight, but a situation where she could do nothing but hope someone else saved her. She was only a finger twitch away from shattering her visor and spray her brains out over the table.
"Give me the recordings. Now." The Commando intoned again, her voice devoid of emotion and sounding more like a recording than an actual person. She then raised her assault rifle. "Don't move Krogan. I have ten men outside right now, anyone moves, and they storm this place."
The Commando looked back down towards her, words cold and eyes just as frigid.
"Give it to me, or they start dying." She said.
Tali didn't know what to do. She had a gun in her face and was certain that the only thing keeping her alive for the next few moments was the fact she had the recordings on her persons. But even then, she likely wouldn't last long if this woman's patience ran out. Searching her corpse would be difficult, but it could be done.
"No need to worry Tali, my stockboy is here. He'll handle the thugs." Urahara said, sounding quite cavalier about having a gun waving around. Maybe if it was pointed at his head, then he would be less confident, a hysterical part of Tali thought. What good would a stockboy be against an armed soldier?
The shadow that suddenly appeared behind the Asari was nothing short of massive. It loomed over her, dwarfing her with its size. The Commando must have felt the thing's sheer presence, for she whirled around and froze at the sight.
"Hmm." It rumbled.
She reacted, swinging her rifle around to club him. He grabbed her arm, forced the rifle from her hand, and then wrapped the other one around her body to restrain her with nothing but his bulk. The commando was immobilized, trapped in the massive tanned arms of the biggest, meanest, looking human she had ever had the privilege to look upon.
She squirmed and thrashed, attempting to break free, but it was to no avail.
"Get in here!" She yelled, likely to the mercenaries she had mentioned before.
Garrus and Chellick were on their feet in an instant, weapons drawn and aimed at the door. The human might be huge, but he was unarmed from what could be seen, and they would need to work together if they wanted to survive. They didn't have to wait long for an intruder to step through the doorway.
Except it wasn't a mercenary or even a second Commando. Instead, a slightly confused looking not-human step through, his sunshine locks almost as eye-catching and iconic as he blades.
Garrus nearly dropped his gun as the Anomaly stepped into the room.
Ichigo didn't really know what he expected when he arrived at Urahara's shoddy shop in the middle of what looked like a bombed-out ghetto, but it wasn't a small cluster dangerous looking thugs. There were ten of them, all well armored and armed, and Ichigo just had to take a moment to sigh. Just who had hat-and-clogs pissed off this time?
He would ask Kisuke, he idly supposed as he knocked out the thugs before they could even react. Right after he convinced him to help with this conflict between the Alliance and Council, of course.
But when he stepped through the curtain he was surprised to see many new faces- all of them quite literally alien.
He glanced over the two gaping Turians, both of them standing there with their weapons raised, and eyed a Krogan in the far corner of the room who he could swear looked familiar. A Quarian was sitting near the table, quivering in her body suit like a frightened dog. Tessai had an Asari effortlessly held still in his grasp, even as she tried to thrash and kick.
And last but not least was Kisuke himself, sitting at the end of the round table, looking as smug and amused as ever.
"Kisuke, why the hell were there a bunch of thugs outside your shop?" Ichigo asked, looking at the smiling idiot.
"Oh, don't blame me! I'm not who they're after for once. For that, you can thank this little lady right here." Kisuke said, gesturing to the Quarian. She froze and, if he could see her face, he was sure he would see her eyes wide with that universal and primal fear.
Well, it wasn't like that was anything new, but it still stung a little bit. The Turians were still frozen in shock, unable to move or even lower their weapons as they gazed at him in obvious terror. The only one not quivering, beside Kisuke and Tessai of course, was that massive Krogan near the back. The bulky alien met his stare, and suddenly Ichigo remembered.
"Oi, you." Ichigo said, pointing towards said Krogan. "Are those idiots that tried to raid this place the same people you said you would be taking out? I clearly remember you making me that promise when I spared two of them."
The guy didn't even flinch, in fact he looked slightly offended by the comment. It almost made Ichigo respect him on principle that he didn't piss himself even knowing full well what he was capable of.
"Not my fault. Pyjacks run away when they're scared." The Krogan replied, giving a huff.
"Worthless lizard." Ichigo muttered. As much as taking out gun toting madmen was a good thing he knew better than to go off the rails and start murdering people left and right.
Besides, he had a few questions he needed answering, such as why they were all here in the first place. He realized he recognized one of the Turians (who still hadn't moved, though their guns seemed to instinctively follow him) and while he wasn't entirely sure about the Quarian, the suit pattern looked familiar. There weren't exactly a lot of them running around, so he was pretty sure he had seen her running around somewhere.
"Shinigami…"
Ichigo turned to the Quarian in confusion. Did she actually just say that?
"What did you just say?" Ichigo frowned, and not getting an answer from her, he whirled on Kisuke. "Kisuke, what the hell?"
If Kisuke had the fucking balls to come and chide him for his actions in the Wards and on Eden Prime, all while going around rounding people up and telling them about Shinigami, Ichigo was going to beat the shit out of him. And then let Yoruichi have a go.
"I haven't told them a thing about you! I promise, cross my heart." Kisuke replied, whipping out his fan and using it to make a few overdramatic gestures that Ichigo was sure was supposed to be some sort of promise.
"Kisuke…" Ichigo growled. He was pretty sure the Turians were about to piss themselves at his tone, but he really didn't care.
"I have a lead on War." Kisuke finally said, and for a moment Ichigo's anger disappeared.
He had a lead? Where the hell did that come from?
"Okay! What in the fucking hell is going right now!?" Garrus finally yelled, letting his rifle drop when his brain reminded him how exactly useless it would be, no matter how much safer he felt with it. The avian alien's head kept darting back and forth between him and Kisuke. "You two know each other? How? Why?"
Ichigo ignored him, though he quickly realized that at the very least, Kisuke had been truthful. They clearly didn't know that he and the shop keeper were colleagues, so how exactly did they know that name?
"How much have you told them?" Ichigo asked after a moment.
"How much are you going to tell us?" Garrus shouted, only to be pulled to the side by Chellick. The two started whispering to each other, and Ichigo ignored them.
"Nothing really, most of what we have been discussing is something little miss Quarian over here has discovered on her own." Kisuke said, as if nothing strange was happening.
Ichigo looked at her. She hadn't moved but was still shaking like a leaf and clearly terrified beyond any coherent thoughts. It took him a moment to realize exactly why: she knew the term 'Shinigami' and nothing else. He had grown so used to working alongside and even being a Shinigami, that he had almost forgotten that humans had a…fragmented understanding of what they were. Humans thought Shinigami were spirits of suicide and bringers of death, not protectors of humanity and spirits who helped others pass on. It was honestly an easy enough conclusion for a spiritually aware person who saw Konso performed on a recently departed soul to come to. And then one rumor would lead to another, and, well, humans really did tend to blow things out of proportion.
And it looked like that aliens were no different, if the petrified Quarian was anything to go by.
"Hey, you don't have to worry, whatever you think about me and Shinigami isn't right. We aren't spirits of suicide or death." Ichigo said, kneeling down and looking at – where he thought at least – her eyes were.
"It's alright, you're safe, I promise no one is going to hurt you." Ichigo said, keeping his words light and his scowl away.
Once there wasn't a proper war to fight, he had been forced to deal with more wayward spirits and properly train in his duties. After a few incidents that he swore weren't his fault (some spirits were just difficult to deal with, ok?) he had gotten enough complaints that he had been given a crash course on proper Shinigami etiquette. Only about 5% of it has stuck, but even he could recognize that having spirits run away from the 'scary sword-man' wasn't good and just wasted everyone's time. So, he had to fix his image up a little, to act nice and sincere even when he really wanted to start shouting. It had mostly been to get Yoruichi off his back, only to later learn that she did it entirely to mess with him. It turned out that she had been getting antsy at her job and couldn't have any fun.
"How about we shake on it?" Ichigo asked, smiling slightly as he offered his hand.
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, looking at his hand as if touching him would cause instant death. Luckily, the shaking had stopped. Eventually she reached forward and grasped his hand, and, to his surprise, gave it a squeeze. He reciprocated and, after a moment, let her go.
He could still feel the tension in the air, but the fear tainting it was gone. It was better than nothing.
As much as Yoruichi used him as her chew toy in the Academy, she did teach a good deal. He recalled her once saying that when it came to speaking with others it wasn't about the words you used. Instead, what really mattered was how you said them: tone, cadence, all of it was incredibly important. And that truly did show, for when body language would inevitably fail, any species that used words tended to have the same overarching vocal cues. Loud and harsh was bad, but quiet and smooth tended to be good.
Kisuke clapped his hands loudly, "Excellent! How about we all sit down and have some tea and finish our little discussion? Oh, and Tessai, would you mind taking care of her and then fetching us some cups, please?"
"On it, boss." Tessa said, carrying the still struggling Asari with him as he departed the room.
"Alright, Garrus, Chellick, why don't you take your seats?" The shop keeper asked, gesturing back to the table. The two Turians froze in whatever frantic and hushed discussion they were having. A quick and wordless conversation passed between them, before one of them seemed to give up and nodded. Ichigo sat at the end of the table, idly noting how the Turians still kept a fair distance between themselves and him and kept glancing between the Shinigami and 'human'. Clearly they would have questions to ask, but had at least decided to hold off on them until the biggest threat had left before they tried to interrogate Kisuke.
Ichigo snorted. Let them try, they would get exactly nowhere.
That Krogan was still standing at the end of the room, watching the proceedings from a distance. It might have been threatening if he could actually do anything, but he couldn't, so Ichigo ignored him.
There were a few moments of silence, broken only by Tessai returning, Asari exchanged for a tray piled with a tea set. Whoever the Asari was must have been a pretty big deal, because Ichigo could hear the hiss of breath from one of the Turians at the sight. One by one he poured the cups out for everyone and placed the aromatic tea in front of each of them, the clinking of knockoff china the only sound in the room.
"Now, how about we listen to that recording Tali?" Urahara said once he had nursed his tea for a few moments, looking towards the Quarian expectantly.
She was silent for a moment, glancing around to the other occupants of the room, before she activated her Omni-tool and played and audio log.
"The attack on Eden Prime was a failure, we did not secure the Beacon and Saren was captured… How can we hope to defeat the Alliance if the Anomalies protect them?"
The woman's voice was calm, an odd thing to hear considering she had just suffered a massive blow to whatever plan she had. It was as if any emotion she had was gone, reminding Ichigo a little of Ulquiorra and his rather disturbing existence.
"I can assure you, the Shinigami will not interfere again."
Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the familiar voice of the Horseman. So, it seemed he had found a new friend to help along his plans for galactic genocide.
"I hope you are right; our plans are already in jeopardy with this. All we have worked towards will mean nothing in we fail. We cannot afford another loss like this. We must find the Conduit… we must ensure the return of the Reapers…"
The recording ended there, tapering off into a staticky and unintelligible mess. Ichigo glanced up to Kisuke to see that the man was still smiling. So, there was more to this than he was letting on.
"It doesn't say much, but it proves Saren and Benezia were at Eden Prime. Where did you get this from?" Garrus asked.
"I recovered it from a Geth's memory core." Tali said.
"Nicely done, those are certainly hard to crack." Kisuke chimed in with what Ichigo recognized as genuine praise. Whatever the Quarian had done must have been something quite difficult to accomplish in order to truly impress him.
"They are, you have to be extremely careful and lucky to secure a little bit of data, and I was just lucky enough to get this." Tali said, taking the praise in stride. "Or maybe not, considering what's happened…"
Garrus nodded, though he seemed more focused on the issue at hand. "If you got it from the Geth, that means Saren was working with them. We have what we need now."
"Don't think it is going to matter, we need to actually implicate the Council in this." Chellick said with a sigh. "Remember what he said: The Council will never allow this information to get out, not when their careers and very lives are at stake. They will bury this, and us if they need to."
"Hence why the Council needs to be removed from power." Urahara said. "Do this right and you can remove them from their position."
"It it's not like any of us have the sway and pull to make that happen." The other Turian noted.
"He's right, there is no way any of us would be listened to." Tali said.
"Maybe none of you would be, but I'm pretty certain I can draw everyone's attention." Ichigo said, "And they can try to 'bury' me if they want to, but I'm not exactly east to put down."
Ichigo knew that out of all of them here, he was the best candidate for the job. He would draw the largest crowd by far, he didn't have a cover to keep like Kisuke, and he couldn't be so easily assassinated. Word would spread fast, and the Council might try to keep things hidden, but he doubted they would be able to. The ball was already in motion, all he had to do was tag his own agenda on it and watch momentum do the rest. The Council wouldn't be able to hide from their mistakes for much longer.
"Ichigo, could you come with me please." Urahara said, rising to his feet and retreating into the back room.
Ichigo raised a brow, before shrugging and following the blonde into the back room.
"I suppose you still intend to go through with this plan of yours?" Kisuke might have phrased it as a question, but both already knew it was fact.
Ichigo scowled at that. Was yet another person going to get in his way of fixing this clusterfuck of a political climate? Sure, it wouldn't be fun or clean, but the alternate was much, much, worse.
"You know damn well I am. We're all on the brink here and at this rate war is going to break out even if we withdrew completely. We can't allow that to happen." Ichigo said.
"As much as you might not like to hear this, the Shinigami have been making attempts to stem the conflict. It has been difficult, directly interfering in human affairs without giving away ourselves isn't simple or easy. With so many factors to manipulate, it has been impossible to keep control over the situation." Kisuke stated. "Every single person in the southern part of the galaxy wants to throw a punch, and even we can't stop all of them."
Ichigo knew that the Gotei had been keeping an eye on things, and while they didn't directly interfere and stop things from getting worse they do use more discrete methods. But those obviously haven't been working.
"We think that someone has been working against us, possibly another one of the Horsemen." Kisuke said, giving a shrug to show even he was unable to determine if it is true or not.
"Anything else?" Ichigo asked.
"Things have escalated as of late: The System Alliance is discretely mobilizing. They're gathering all their forces together, likely to retaliate." Urahara explained gravely. "The Council's best Spectre attacked an Alliance colony and then the Council detained everyone on that colony and even tried to arrest one of its admirals and keep it quiet. Obviously that didn't work, and because of that, the worst possible message has been sent to humanity. But the worst part is you."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow.
"Apparently word got out about your 'capture' on Eden Prime. It doesn't exactly look good when you capture someone's god after they saved the day." Kisuke chuckled humorlessly.
"Not a god, but I get what you mean." Ichigo shot back automatically. Even if it was just a joke, thinking oneself as a god had led to some of the worst wars in the entire Soul Society's history. "Great, now everyone will know about my colossal fuck up within a day, if they don't already. The Captains are going to have a field day with this." Ichigo groaned, knowing that those glares were going to be boring into his skull for the next few centuries. Maybe until they were dead, or he was.
"Yes, yes, you certainly are going to get some rough treatment when you get back. Personally, I'm just disappointed I couldn't tell Yoruichi myself. She would have put a nice spin on the story to make it all the more funny." Kisuke babbled, shamelessly ignoring Ichigo's fuming.
Ichigo grumbled. But really, thinking about petty things like this was probably a bad idea, because it meant that he had less time to do what he needed to. Humanity was mobilizing for war, intent on avenging all the wrongs that had been inflicted upon them by the Council. Likely his capture and incarceration after protecting Eden Prime was going to stir up a lot of angry mobs. People worshipped him like a god, what kind of reaction would they have if they thought that their god was being locked in a cage and experimented on? Well, hopefully he could talk them down, but you could never be sure about that. Fanatics were the absolute worst to deal with.
"Kisuke, right now we need to do something. There is no point in being inconspicuous, not when we don't have the time or manpower to pull some shady puppetry shit that you like to do. It's just us now." Ichigo said. "This won't stop and you know it. So we have to be the ones that make them stop and see things differently."
"What do you plan to do?" Kisuke asked after a long moment.
"We talk them down. And yes, I do mean talk, because violence will just make them even more afraid of us. This entire thing was started out of a misunderstanding and misconceptions of what we are. We need to set the record straight." Ichigo said.
Kisuke looks genuinely surprised.
Ichigo rolled his eyes, "You thought I was going to go up there and start a fight didn't you?"
"Well, it certainly crossed my mind. After all, you have a knack for flattening anything and everything in your way. Corrupt governments, evil traitors, armies…" Kisuke replied, running his hand through his hair.
To say he was insulted was an understatement. "I know that starting a fight is only going to make things worse, so you don't have to worry about that." Ichigo grouched, "We need to help them, and do it the right way. If war breaks out, then everyone is going to suffer for it."
"I agree, sometimes I forget you aren't that same kid that I helped all those years ago." Kisuke mused.
"A hundred and eighty years changes people Kisuke."
"Sometimes, but the impression you left doesn't seem to change that much, which just shows that your heart has stayed the same." Kisuke replied. "Always challenging the status quo. Perhaps I should take a page out of your book."
"So, you will help?" Ichigo asked.
Kisuke turned away and moved for the door, snapping out his fan and waving it around. That usual cocky grin of his was in place, he had something in mind and it was just crazy enough to work – whatever it was.
"Yes, and I think I just have the perfect plan." Kisuke said.