The next morning Shepard sat drinking a steaming cup of tea in her suite. She read a data pad detailing the special cargo taken from the Normandy deemed too valuable to be locked up in the warehouse Rex provided. Most of the special cargo was locked behind the Top's presidential suite's biggest room guarded in shifts by the Normandy's security personnel.
One crate she deemed too valuable to house anywhere but her own suite in the Ultra Luxe. It sat before her on the table; the crate was solid black with the Cerberus logo engraved across the lid. Shepard opened the crate letting the lid slide off onto the tabletop and found a small white cube about the size of a Rubik's cube inlayed with a glowing blue circuit pattern. Six small hexagonal white crystal disks with small squares of black metal in their centers each slightly smaller than one side of the cube.
The Cube was a prototype quantum computer, a miniaturized version of the EDI's "blue box", capable of storing a working A.I with space to spare. The disks acted as hard drives that could store up to a petabyte of data each. Shepard had gotten her hands on the computer after the research facility developing it had been attacked by a Geth platoon.
Shepard's destruction of the Heretic Geth had shut down the attack, but not before the station was damaged beyond saving. When the research station's distress signal was finally answered Shepard found a tomb of synthetics and organics alike. The prototype core had been locked away behind a bulk head guarded by the emaciated corpses of the former crew standing sentinel over the scattered remains of deactivated Geth platforms. She had practically forced the Illusive man to generously reimburse the dead researcher's families.
Rex seemed particularly interested in computation technology and had bargained for several small computers as well as schematics of the ancient (in technology years) microchips used in the 21ist century. EDI had dug deep into her memory banks for schematics and textbooks on historical programming and modern system maintenance. She decided to keep this device close at hand just in case she needed another bargaining chip with Rex.
Shepard was wary of Rex, not that she was frightened of him but she felt that Rex wasn't exactly someone you could let your guard down around. He seemed chummy enough almost sincere in his concern for the Normandy and her crew during the negotiations remaining mostly silent as she explained their situation. Under the surface, Shepard sensed a cool calculating mind taking in all the new information.
His demands, while straight forward and very simple made Shepard uneasy; it was against everything she had been taught in the Alliance. She thought of the Salarian uplifting the Krogan from the nuclear remains of Tucana and the chaos that action caused. But this was different, wasn't it? Shepard shook her head dispelling the thought; they would be out of this universe soon anyway and whatever happened here had no impact. The reapers were coming and she needed to get back before they arrived; whatever it cost to get back she would gladly pay it.
There was a knock at the door and Shepard hears Jack's voice loudly yelling "Hey let us in Girl Scout we got your damn Intel".
Shepard closed the crate and stowed it in an armored container before walking to her door and letting her crew in. Jack stood outside sporting a pair of sunglasses and rubbing her temples while Kasumi, Jacob, and Miranda stood behind her obviously enjoying Jack's hung-over state. Shepard gestured for them to come in and asked:
"So, what have you got for me?"
"Well I talked to a few of the locals about Rex, apparently the guy hasn't been in charge long, only about two years, but in that time he's done a lot of good" " Kasumi said handing Shepard a data drive "Most of the locals think he's some kind of mythical hero straight out of the old west, and if any of the stories about this guy are true I suggest we be very cautious in our dealings with him. I mean you don't take over this much land and topple two armies and a dictator by being nice".
Miranda and Jacob detailed the Mojave's perceived military strength "The soldiers are equipped with standard semi-automatic weapons and grenades from the looks of them" Jacob began "But those are just the normal soldiers; those mechs are armed to the teeth. We saw them blow a few street thugs down the block with a modified rocket launcher firing concussive round after they tried to rob a truck. They didn't harm them but knocked them out long enough for some soldiers to pick them up off the street"
"It seems there is a form of court system in this back-water universe" Miranda said pouting "Anyway Shepard we were followed all night by what I assume was Rex's men. We would be prudent to be cautious here"
"Yeah no kidding" Shepard said turning to Jack "Anything to report?"
"Yeah the booze in this town is strong; probably brewed by some Hill Billy fuck" Jack said rubbing her temples "Oh and I talked with that Rex guy last night seemed ok didn't come on to me or ogle just bought me a bottle of booze"
"It seems you have an admirer Jack" Miranda said with a smirk.
"Fuck you cheer leader I don't need you shit talk right now"
"You know it wouldn't hurt to get to know Rex if he is interested in you" Jacob said scooting away from Jack slightly.
"Did I ask you?" Jack responded leaning back and turning to Shepard "He wasn't too bad maybe I will give him a spin; you keep telling me I should be more social"
Shepard looked at her for a moment and sighed "Alright then, I want all of you prepping the Normandy for transport to the repair facility". She stood and shooed them out of the room ignoring Jack's groans.
After her crew had left, Shepard dressed and left the suite. Once she was outside the Ultra Luxe she walked down the lightly crowded street to the Lucky 38. Two Securitrons guarded the door as men and women wearing the red and black uniforms of the Mojave government filed in and out of the building. When she reached the door the Securitrons eyed her for a moment before letting her past.
The Lucky 38's interior had apparently been a casino once, but now it was filled with open cubicles and computer terminals. Workers hastily darted around the room carrying parcels and stacks of paper while others sat at computer terminals entering and checking information. An older black-haired woman sat at a reception desk at the bottom of the steps to the elevator at the center of the room. Shepard approached the desk and said:
"Excuse me I need to speak to Mr. Craster"
The woman looked up and squinted for a moment before saying "Mr. Craster isn't taking appointments today"
"I think He'll make an exception for me. Tell him Shepard would like to see him"
"I have specific orders not to allow anyone to disturb him"
"Listen here…" Shepard began before someone interrupts her.
"It's fine Judith; I'll take her to see him" Veronica said appearing behind Shepard "Follow me please."
Shepard followed Veronica into the elevator and when the massive doors shut they were plunged into silence.
Veronica turned to Shepard and asked, "So what's space like?"
Shepard laughed, she'd noticed Veronica eying the Normandy yesterday, but instead of cold calculation like she saw in Rex's eyes she saw a hint of wonder in Veronica's.
"Big and beautiful"
"Cool" she said before the elevator stopped and the doors open. Veronica gestured her into the office and Shepard saw Rex behind his desk with a pair of reading glasses across his bony face as he read through and signed various documents.
"Good morning Ms. Shepard, I trust the Ultra Luxe is to your liking" he said not looking up from the papers. A cigarette sat on his lips forgotten and almost depleted as his gun rested freshly cleaned and sparkling about on a piece of cloth an inch from his right hand.
"Yes, thank you for the accommodations, I'm just stopping by to see when the Normandy will be transported to your repair facility" Shepard said taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. She noted a small smear of blood at the edge on the tile floor, and raised an eyebrow.
"Tomorrow at the latest" Rex said looking up at Shepard as he neatly placed the stack of papers in a bin marked out "So how is your crew settling in?"
"They're getting situated just fine" Shepard said smiling "your people don't seem too surprised by us"
Rex chuckled to himself letting his aloof expression slip away before saying "Ms. Shepard half of the people on the strip down there could tell tales about the wastes that make aliens seem mundane."
"I've gathered that" She said leaning back away from the smoke cloud floating over Rex's desk.
"So, would you like some weapons or do you just want to continue this delightful small talk?" Rex said his smile slipping away into a toothy conman's smile.
"What do you mean? Our weapons are just fine" Shepard said maintaining her calm posture.
"We both know your weapons don't work" Rex said tossing away his depleted cigarette before taking a fresh one from a drawer and offering it to Shepard when she refused he lit and continued "I've been reading through that codex of yours; I found the entry on modern weaponry fascinating, must be a shame having most of your tech based off one type of science that's not trans-universal."
"Why would you want a potential hostile group armed in your home town?" Shepard asked suspicious.
"Well to be perfectly honest. I have a personal stake in the local arms trade so I would be lying if said I wouldn't directly benefit from this deal" Rex said blowing a ring of smoke at the ceiling "Also if you or any of your crew plan to leave my fair city to explore the Mojave during your stay it would be prudent to carry a weapon"
"Trouble controlling your populace?"
Rex unamused replied "The people pf the Mojave are very independent and love their assorted guns, explosives, and home brews to a fault. Couple that with a few random gangs of common thugs makes any trip to the less developed segments of the Mojave interesting."
"Oh, what would life be like without random thugs, eh?" Shepard said noticing a smile flash across Rex's face.
"Yeah life would be boring without something to shoot" Rex said leaning back in his chair and took a drag from his cigarette "In any case I'd rest easier knowing you and your crew are properly equipped to enjoy your stay. Oh, and do say hello to a member of your crew for me; the woman with all the tattoos if you would we talked a little last night and I bought her a drink"
"How kind of you, and I will give Jack the message but don't get your hopes up she's a bit of a hard ass" Shepard said standing up before turning to leave.
"Of course," Rex said rising to show her out of his office and into the hall before he shut the door behind her with a dry farewell.
Veronica was standing outside with a clip board in one arm and a load of wrapped parcels in the other. When she noticed Sheprd Veronica placed the parcels on the ground and smiled at her:
"Let me guess he sold you guns"
"How'd you know?" Shepard asked.
"He's been wringing his hands like a super villain all morning" Veronica said raising an eyebrow "He's not nearly as heard to read as he thinks."
"Need some help with those?"
"Thanks that would be a lot of help"
Veronica split the stack between the two and she led Shepard through the door opposite Rex's office into a cluttered penthouse adorned with workbenches and computers. Veronica led Shepard through the sea of spare parts and tools into a large kitchen area where a woman with short hair was chopping carrots.
"There you are Veronica I'll almost sent out a search party for you." She said turning to see Shepard behind Veronica "Oh we have company; you must be Shepard"
"Yes ma'am, I was just helping Veronica with these packages" Shepard said placing them on a counter.
The woman puts her hand out and said "Christine Santangelo, it's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Shepard"
"Thank you it's always nice to see a friendly face" Shepard said smiling warmly.
"Oh, don't let Rex get to you; I promise under all that calculation and suspicion is a heart as soft as pudding" Veronica said before her eyes light up as an idea comes to her "Shepard you have to stay for lunch and tell us all about your universe and we can tell you all you need to know to handle Rex."
Shepard began to speak when her stomach growled loudly.
"Well that settles it; I hope you like Brahmin stew" Christine said smiling.