Chapter 14 - Was I Not Supposed To Do That?

Illium Entertainment News Update - Shooting has officially started for the hotly-anticipated Blasto: The Battle for the Citadel. Entire sections of the Citadel's Presidium Ward have been closed off to the general public and converted into sets recreating the geth invasion. "Production was delayed for a while because we were trying to figure out how to film scenes of the heroes' climatic charge up the side of the Citadel Tower utilizing the actual building," director Bik Orbal told our correspondent. "That tower stands at a 90 degree angle from the ward's ground level, so we had to create special mass effect generators to alter the gravity at key points along the tower." Orbal praised the vorcha stunt men who helped test the devices and urged Blasto series fans to contribute to a memorial fund 6th Dimension Vids has set up for them.

Citadel Security's Commander Armando Bailey impatiently tapped his foot as C-Sec Information Systems Specialist Quetzal continued to hover over the bank of control panels. "What is the hold-up? Is there some problem with the connection?" Bailey asked the salarian.

Quetzal, his back to Bailey, continued to tap away at the control panel. "The connection?" he replied. "Oh, that should fine. There were one or two hiccups at the start, but I fixed those a few minutes ago."

Bailey mumbled something under his breath, then asked, "If that was fixed a while ago, then what have you been doing since then?"

"Related and very important preparations for viewing the covert footage the connection has obtained," Quetzal explained. "And they're... just... about... done!" A loud ping sound followed and a section of the panel lowered, revealing a small opening inside it. The salarian reached in and pulled out a pair of containers, placed them on table in front of the room's main monitor, then removed the top parts from both. Steam poured out from inside each container. "I'm told you humans prefer this covered with processed and then melted fat obtained from the lactations of Earth livestock called 'bovines.' I could melt some now, if you like."

The C-Sec commander looked inside the container Quetzal handed him and shook his head. "No, I just prefer a little bit of salt on my popcorn," he remarked. "Now I have a question for you: when did I give you permission to install a cooking unit inside the Covert Operations Monitoring Room?"

"Oh, was I not supposed to do that?" Quetzal asked as he began to munch on a heaping handful of popcorn. "Honestly, chief, how am I supposed to keep track of all of these rules you keep springing on me?"

"These rules are..." Bailey began as he grabbed a handful of popcorn from his box. As soon as he tasted it, his expression changed. "Hey, this is the premium stuff from Eden Prime, isn't it?"

Quetzal nodded. "Yes, it is the best, isn't it?" he replied as he grabbed another handful. "Popcorn became quite popular on Sur'Kesh about two decades ago when they first started importing it. Some salarian snack food companies now make it too but they use arachnid eggs instead of the Earth plant corn," he explained. "The Sur'Kesh stuff pops the same and it's cheaper but it just-" Quet paused to throw a bunch of popcorn into his mouth "-izzzhhent ahhzzz ghhuud."

Bailey finished munching on his current mouthful. "Then I'm even more glad that you splurged the credits for the good stuff," he declared. "Alright, Quet just pull up the live feed. What are we looking at anyway?"

The salarian switched on the main monitor. "Thhhuthhh Fheedduhhh-" he began, then paused and finished chewing on his popcorn before continuing, "This feed is from C-Sec's 'Operation: Blasto Vids Suck' covert surveillance camera #3, situated in the 6th Dimension Vids makeup trailer. The entire acting cast visits the trailer regularly and the makeup artist sometimes deals with multiple cast members at once, so we get a lot of on-set gossip off of this one. We are right about at when the head makeup artist arrives every morning."

The camera was mounted high on a wall and provided a wide view of trailer. Bailey watched as the trailer's main door slid open and a person entered. He leaned forward and squinted at the screen. "Wait, this can't be right. We must be watching another camera," he declared. "That's a quarian who just entered."

Quet put another fistful of popcorn in his mouth. "No, this is the makeup trailer. The studio's head artist, named 'Suzra'Bonah,' izzz ahhh quahhhuriahhhnnn."

"Quarians have to wear those exo-suits at all times," Bailey replied. "How then does she know anything about makeup?"

The salarian shrugged and continued to munch away at his popcorn. He motioned the commander to look back at the screen.

They watched as a young asari dressed as a commando and with golden highlights painted onto her crests darted into the trailer. She immediately flung her body up against the wall near the entrance, making herself as flat as possible. She was panting hard and there was panic in her eyes, which stared towards the door. Suzra'Bonah, also trying to be still and silent, began whispering to the asari. Bailey, his mouth full of popcorn, motioned Quet to raise the volume on the feed.

"... stalking you again?" Suzra'Bonah asked.

Linia T'Pala nodded, the look of panic on her face growing as a shuffling sound became audible just beyond the trailer's door.

"Ok, hang on," the quarian whispered. She brought up her omni-tool and began quickly tapping away.

"Esteemed co-star Linia T'Pala, are you in there? There is no point in hiding. This is inevitable," declared the voice of hanar superstar Blasto from somewhere outside the trailer. A few moments later, Blasto continued, "This One is confident that once you hear the Enkindler's message of hope, you will understand. You will see your species' philosophies as the false path that they are and instead choose the path of light. This One wants nothing more than to open your eyes. Surely, that is worth a few-"

Blasto was interrupted when Suzra'Bonah finished tapping away at her omni-tool and hit the 'send' button. A loud ping immediately sounded in the same area as Blasto's voice. "Oh, dear. This One has been recalled to the set for an urgent matter and must depart," the hanar announced. "Please, esteemed co-star T'Pala, This One urges you to consider your soul."

Suzra'Bonah slowly peered out the door, then few moments later announced, "It worked. The bosh'tet is gone."

Linia exhaled for the first time since she entered the trailer. "Oh, Goddess, thank you!" she exclaimed. "He followed me all the way from the street entrance!"

The quarian motioned Linia to take a seat in a makeup chair. "Apparently, Blasto got a few extras to attend a prayer service the other day. That seems to have emboldened him," Suzra'Bonah announced. "He's preaching at all sorts of people. Lortius announced yesterday that he won't even set foot in the same room with Blasto anymore!"

Linia let out a loud, "Pffft!" then added, "Yeah, well, luckily for Lortius, he's a costume designer and the hanar don't wear *anything*, so he can get away with that. Those of us who have to do scenes with Blasto aren't as fortunate," she replied. "That hanar keeps trying to convert Adria S'Voz and Jorgal Dreed - And those two are definitely cases where you should take 'no' for an answer!"

Suzra'Bonah began touching up Linia's highlights. "I guess I'm lucky too, since the hanar don't need makeup," the quarian noted. "Changing the subject to more pleasant news: how are things going with Solik now that you two have been sharing a hotel room for a bit?"

Linia let out a wistful sigh and smiled. "You've heard of the term 'hopeless romantic,' right? Well, Solik is the 'clueless romantic.' That is, he makes romantic gestures without realizing that that is what he is doing. Like, yesterday I was shooting action scenes that had me sprinting back and forth for, like, forever. I arrived back at the hotel room that evening exhausted. As soon as I walk in, Solik says, 'I fixed up the bathroom for you.' And I go, 'What?' So he leads me into it and I see that he's already drawn up a hot bath, added aromatic salts to it and set the music system to my favorite album for relaxing. He says, 'Go ahead and get in. I won't have dinner finished for another half-hour at least.' And I go, 'It's too bad the tub only has space for one, isn't it?' And he says, 'Really, why?'" Linia chuckled. "He did all that *just because* he heard from someone on the set that I was having a tough day and he thought a bath might be 'therapeutic' for me. No other reason, just that."

"Yet he was thinking of you and took the time to fix it all up without being asked. That *is* sweet," Suzra'Bonah replied as she finished working on Linia's highlights and began applying the makeup for her face. "What is it like? Sharing a bath with somebody, I mean. If you have done it before, that is."

Linia cringed. "Sorry, it didn't occur to me that, being a quarian, you wouldn't be able to..."

Suzra'Bonah shrugged. "It's fine. We quarians learn to live vicariously through others. In my case, I got into makeup so I could at least apply it to other people," she explained. "So, about sharing a bath..."

The asari actress grinned devilishly. "Well, it's not like I have done it *that* many times, but if you really do want to know..."

Bailey sighed, leaned forward and rubbed his forehead. "Is this typical of what we're going to be seeing on this feed?" he asked Quet.

The salarian didn't respond: he was laser-focused on the girls' conversation. "Fascinating..." Quet eventually replied, then asked, "Commander, is this accurate? Is the experience of sharing a cleansing bath with a mating partner really 'incredibly intimate and luxurious to the point of decadence'? That must be hyperbole on the part of the actress."

Bailey glanced over at the salarian. "It depends..." he muttered. "Getting back to business: how much useful intel do we get from this camera?"

"Oh, a lot of fascinating stuff!" Quet replied. "For example, the asari actress playing the commando based on the turian who was part of Shepard's crew is trying to maintain her long-distance relationship with a turian bondmate who is stationed on the planet Taetrus but she also recently started seeing a human she met here on the Citadel. Some of the other actresses have been telling her to leave the turian for the human but the makeup artist has urged her stick by her original turian mate. I'm hoping today we find out that she has made a decision! Personally, I think she should-"

The C-Sec commander curtly interrupted him. "Dammit, Quet, I meant, do we have anything related to al-Jilani? Any indication of who her sources are or what they have been telling her?"

Quet slowly shrugged. "I'm afraid nothing yet, commander. The human reporter's sources are quite discreet." He grabbed another handful of popcorn. "This is the nature of surveillance work: sitting through hour upon hour of footage in search of that moment when somebody slips up and reveals something." He threw some popcorn in his mouth. "Juhhhsst ghiivvehhh ehhht timmehhh, cuhhmmanduurrr."

"Who is this asari again?" Bailey asked.

Quet rubbed his chin. "Her name is Kada A'Lenko, I think... may need to double-check that."

Both C-Sec officers bolted upright in their chairs when the actress asked the makeup artist if Adria S'Voz ever mentioned anything about Aria T'Loak when she came to the trailer.

"Not that I recall," the quarian responded. "Why do you ask?"

Linia looked right and left to make sure that no one else had entered the trailer, then replied, "Since you're so good about keeping the OTHER secret, Suzra, I can share another one with you. You just gotta promise me that it never leaves this trailer, ok?"

"Sure, of course," the quarian replied.

The asari dropped her voice slightly. "I'm doing some intelligence work for the matriarchs on Thessia!" the actress revealed. "They're curious about what T'Loak is up to during her exile. They know S'Voz and T'Loak are close and that I frequently work with S'Voz so they've asked me to keep watch and report anything I find out."

Quet threw a few more popcorn in his mouth and pointed to the screen in triumph. "Sheeehh! Sheehh! Ahhhhh Tohhhlldd Yeewwww!"

"It is interesting," Bailey replied. "We knew that T'Loak has back-channel communications with the matriarchs. We assumed that T'Loak was now relying on the matriarchs for support. This implies, at the very least, that the matriarchs don't trust T'Loak much more than I trust Councilor Udina."

The salarian nodded as he finished chewing his popcorn. "A wise policy in both cases."

"So, you're now a secret agent like Solik too?" Suzra'Bonah asked. "Wow..."

"I know, right?! We're two young spies in love, fighting for our home planets by conducting covert missions on the Citadel during the day and then spending our nights together! All while we're both working on a blockbuster Blasto vid! Someday, when all of this blows over, it's going to be the basis for an awesome vid of its own!" Linia exclaimed, now slightly hopping in her chair with excitement. Suzra was forced to stop working briefly. Linia smiled sheepishly when she realized this and returned to being still. "That said, it's a bit more stressful than I thought it would be. I cannot tell Solik any of this because of his work for the Special Tasks Group. The salarians and asari are allies but, you know, spying is all about secrecy. And watching Adria S'Voz is, well... I feel a little guilty about that, 'cause she's kind of been a mentor to us maidens. It's okay though 'cause what the matriarchs really want is information on T'Loak. S'Voz has never mentioned her when she comes in here?"

Suzra'Bonah shook her head. "No. In fact, Ms. S'Voz hardly says anything when I'm working on her. Most of the time she just studies her script datapad. Or she's looking at test footage on her omni-tool and making notes. The most she's talked to me was when I was devising the scarring makeup for her character and that was just her asking technical questions about it." Suzra stepped back from Linia and let her look at her reflection in a mirror. "There, done... Umm, should you be telling me any of this, Linia? I mean, Keelah, if you tell cannot Solik..."

"Not really, no..." Linia admitted. "It's just that I had to tell *somebody* or I would just burst, you know? Goddess, just promise me again that it doesn't leave this trailer."

"By my ancestors, you have my word: I won't tell a soul," the quarian assured her. A few moments later a rap on the door was heard. The makeup artist shouted, "Come in!" and a young, slender human female entered. She wore a 6th Dimension Vids jacket, a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap.

"Hi, Jenny!" Linia called out and proceeded to introduce the human and the quarian to each other. "This is the new script supervisor for all of us actresses playing the commandos," the asari explained. "She's the one who's supposed to keep track of what scenes are up next in the shooting, who is in them, and then make sure that we're there on time. That might be the toughest job in the entire production," Linia chuckled. "What was it you called yourself the other day?"

"Blueberry wrangler!" Jenny replied with a laugh.

Linia and Suzra exchanged confused looks. "Yeah, I still don't get it," Linia admitted. "I thought blueberries were an Earth fruit."

"They are fruit. It's just that you don't wrangle... Oh, never mind," Jenny said. "Anyhow, I'm here to tell you all of today's scenes had to be pushed back for an hour because one set wall fell over, then hit another set wall as it fell, which caused that set wall to fall on a third wall and so on... So, it's 'hurry up and wait' time as they're being repaired," the human explained, adding, "Mind if I just hang out in the meantime?"

Linia and Suzra both encouraged her to say and then started asking about the set accident. Jenny explained that the crew was still trying to figure out what had caused the first wall to fall. They assumed it was a structural problem and were checking the other walls to see if they had any problems. When Linia and Suzra had exhausted their questions, Jenny changed the topic conversation. "So, Linia, the hot rumor is that you're seeing the salarian who's doing the 'making of' vid..." the human began.

The asari giggled. "Rumor? Really? I thought that had graduated to 'acknowledged fact'!" she exclaimed. "He's adorable, isn't he? If you like his species, I mean. Do humans and salarians ever date? I can't recall if they do."

"Funny you should mention it, but there is a salarian who's kind of pursuing me," Jenny replied. "The whole thing is complicated, but the point is, it's never gonna happen. He's not my type. Poor guy keeps trying though."

Linia shot a bemused glance at the human. "Pursuing you, you say? Consider yourself lucky. I had to chase after mine. He only wanted to be friends at first," she laughed. "But that's part of why I find him irresistible. Being an asari and being in my profession, you meet some unsavory types who only want one thing in particular thing from you. Solik, on the other hand, does the sweetest things without expecting anything in return. That makes me want to give him everything," Linia explained. To illustrate her point, she repeated the story about Solik setting up her bath the previous night.

"For what it is worth, Commander, I believe the human 'Jenny' is incorrect on that last point," Quet announced. "Salarians may be more flexible than other species but we are not that flexible. We cannot fit into a standard, single-entity bathtub if that tub is already occupied. Grabbing us and dragging us in as the human just said the asari should have done last night would not have been successful."

Bailey finished off his box of popcorn. "Thanks for the insight. Not sure if I'll ever be able to put that information to use though."

"More popcorn?" Quet asked, then began preparing another pair of containers after Bailey nodded 'yes.'

"Actually, Solik's probably on the set right now," Linia declared. "If you'd like to meet him, Jenny, I could ask him to stop by the trailer. I'll take any excuse I can get to arrange a visit," she added with a wink. Jenny nodded and the girls chatted away for another five minutes before Vass strode inside the trailer. Linia grabbed him and drew him in for a kiss as soon as he entered, then introduced him to Jenny. "So, what are you up to this morning, dear?" she asked Vass.

"Oh, I was doing a bit about the set walls collapsing for my documentary," Vass explained. "I was luckily filming something else when they started to topple, so I got some dramatic footage of the collapse. It'll look great in the vid. Real curious how they fell over though."

"What's Telak Gaffno's excuse this time?" asked Suzra'Bonah. "Is he claiming that the Intergalactic Brotherhood of Stage & Vid Technicians' rules do not specifically require him to build the sets so they remain upright?"

Vass shook his head. "No, the crew found evidence that the structural supports on one wall were weakened. One support was cut in half with a laser at a key spot. Only enough to cause a wall to slowly tip over though. Sabotage, in other words, but sabotage by somebody who didn't want to cause too much damage."

"Why would anybody do something like that?" Jenny asked. "Really strange."

"Sheeehh! Sheehh! Mhhooorah Enntell!" Quet shouted, his mouth once again full of popcorn.

Bailey shook his head. "No, it's not 'more intel,' Quet. The studio reported the apparent tampering with the wall to C-Sec. We sent a pair of guys to examine the scene and the evidence."

"Ohhh..." Quet replied. "Well, if the studio hadn't reported it to us, we would know about it now thanks to this surveillance footage."

"So... what do you do when you're not working on your documentary, Solik?" Jenny asked the salarian.

Vass shrugged. "Spend time with Linia. Mostly just relaxing. We both work long hours."

"Well, you've got other vid projects too, Solik," Linia interjected. "Like that documentary about the actual geth invasion, remember, dear?"

Vass nodded vigorously. "Yes, of course. I've put that one aside for the time being to do the 'making of' vid, but it is my next big project after that."

The conversation was broken by a loud "ahem." The quartet turned and saw Adria S'Voz enter the trailer. She snapped her fingers at Suzra'Bonah, who quickly scurried over to the lead actress. "I've got to be back to the set in 15 minutes for some promotional shots," S'Voz announced. "I need you to add Commander Shi'Paard's late-stage scars to my face. Do it right but be quick about it."

Suzra'Bonah said nothing in response, instead getting straight to work. As the quarian hovered over her, S'Voz looked Vass & Linia up and down. "As it happens, I've got a pair of extra tickets to tonight's performance of Francis Kitt's all-volus version of a human work called 'Swan Lake.' I'm told it's a comedy," she told the young couple. "Why don't you two come along? The tickets will just go to waste otherwise."

"Well..." began Vass, but he was soon interrupted.

"We'd love to go!" exclaimed Linia, "Thank you so much for thinking of us! Is it fancy dress?"

S'Voz, now with a deep gouge on her right cheek, nodded slightly, forcing the quarian makeup artist to briefly pause. "Yes, the performance is at a rather high-toned place on the Silversun Strip. Dinner is on me too. Just be ready when the skycar arrives at 7 p.m. to pick you two up," the older actress demanded.

Linia grabbed Vass by his left hand and beamed at him. The salarian looked towards S'Voz and slowly raised his right hand. "Will, umm, anyone else be joining us?" he asked.

A faint smile creased S'Voz' face. "Just one. An old friend of mine," she announced as she turned her face away from the couple to allow Suzra'Bonah to begin applying the cosmetic scars to her other cheek. "Aria T'Loak."

"Oh..." replied Linia and Vass in unison.

Commander Bailey leaned back in his chair and began pointing to the people on the vid screen. "Okay, thanks to the asari maiden named T'Pala, we now know for certain that this 'Solik Vass' is a spy for the Special Tasks Group. The maiden also announced that she is a spy for Thessia's matriarchs. We can reasonably assume, given their past association, that Adria S'Voz is operating on behalf of Aria T'Loak. And as sure as my ex-wife is sleeping with her fitness instructor, this Jenny person must be spying for somebody too. She was asking the maiden too many questions about her STG boyfriend," the commander declared.

Quet threw a single piece of popcorn into his mouth. "Maybe this Jenny is al-Jilani's spy? They are both humans, after all."

Bailey frowned. "Hmm, my gut says 'no.' Your source said al-Jilani's interest was in Aria T'Loak. If this human was working for al-Jilani, then T'Loak would have to be her focus as well. But it doesn't appear to be."

The salarian licked some grease off his fingers. "So, of the five people currently in this surveillance footage, four are spying, just not for al-Jilani. Oh, by the way, the quarian might also be a spy."

The commander slapped a hand to his forehead and gave out a long growl. "How do you know? And why did you keep this to yourself for so long?"

"Oh, was I not supposed to do that? Sorry, commander," Quet remarked. "I didn't say anything earlier because I don't know for certain that the quarian is spying. I only meant that sometimes this camera catches her talking to someone discreetly through her omni-tool. She quickly turns it off whenever somebody enters the trailer."

"That's suspicious enough," Bailey declared. "The non-human Council races generally give the Migrant Fleet a difficult time. Maybe al-Jilani used that to her advantage and recruited this quarian?"

Quet shrugged. "Plausible, I guess," he replied and threw a few more popcorn in his mouth. "The thing that puzzles me, commander, is why your ex-wife would hire somebody as a fitness instructor and then go to sleep with them. Wouldn't it make more sense to remain awake and get the training she paid for?"

Bailey shrugged in response. "She managed to get her workouts after all. That was the problem."

Suzra'Bonah finished working on Adria S'Voz, who hopped out of the chair and began heading back to the set. She paused at the trailer's door and glanced at Linia & Vass. "Don't forget about tonight," she warned, then walked away. A few seconds later Jenny and Linia's omni-tools simultaneously pinged.

"They're switching us maidens to a scene using a different set while the fallen walls are being fixed," Linia announced. "Solik, why don't you come along and capture how Shi'Paard's commandos overcome any adversity thrown their way?" Vass smiled and nodded. He, Linia and Jenny left for the set, leaving Suzra'Bonah alone in the trailer. The quarian strode over to a cabinet, pulled a bottle of purified water from it, produced a straw from an exo-suit pocket and began sipping from it while sitting in a chair and reading a datapad. She continued on for ten minutes before she was interrupted by a knocking on the door.

Turian actor Tyruss Aklaysius strode in wearing his full Saren Arterius costume and took a seat in one of the makeup chairs. As soon as he did, Suzra'Bonah hopped out of her chair, quickly strode over to the trailer's door and peered outside. She then closed the door and darted over to Aklaysius. The turian jumped up and grabbed the quarian in a passionate embrace.

"Luzveh! I have missed you!" he announced, his deep, booming voice echoing through the trailer.

Suzra'Bonah nuzzled her face visor against Aklaysius' chest, the turian being a head taller than her. "You know what it does to me when you call me that, darling!" she declared.

They embraced for two full minutes before finally loosening their grip on each other. "I am so sorry, luzveh," the turian said. "This whole process must be agony for you."

Suzra'Bonah squeezed his hands in hers. "No, it's okay. I understand now and I agree. This *is* the right way to do it and I am 100% committed to it."

Aklaysius caressed her head. "I would have stuck by you regardless. But I am delighted to hear that. Have the books I've given you been helpful?"

The quarian nodded. "I've been reading them every night. That's what I meant by, 'I understand now.' I'm learning so much about your culture..."

The turian beamed at her and began speaking to her in quarian, causing the makeup artist to nearly swoon in his arms.

The intimate encounter was shattered a moment later.

"Hey, Suzra! Adria needs you on the set right-" announced gravel-voiced krogan actor Jorgal Dreed as he bounded through the trailer door. He abruptly stopped when he saw Suzra'Bonah and Aklaysius in each other's arms. After a few seconds of silence, he continued, "Adria's makeup got messed up and they need you on the set to fix it. You had better grab the equipment you need and hurry over."

"Right!" announced the quarian, who threw a few items into a box and darted out the door.

Dreed and Aklaysius remained in the trailer, both wordlessly staring at each other. The turian was the first to break the silence.

"Before you start on me, understand that we are not doing this lightly or casually. We care deeply for each other. That's why we are taking the long route and doing everything according to turian custom for these situations. Not that that should matter to you. Suzra completed her pilgrimage a while ago. By her species' customs she is a full adult. Her life and her decisions are her own. You should respect them."

Dreed did not reply immediately. He tapped a foot for a few seconds and then threw his arms up. "You know what, Tyruss? You are right. She is an adult and I should respect her decisions, just as I should respect yours. I owe you that much as your friend. When you're a krogan who's raised asari maidens, you sometimes forget how quickly the children of other species grow up. And what business is it of mine anyway? I am not Suzra's father even if I act like it sometimes. I should remember that too."

Aklaysius extended his hand. "Thank you, old friend."

Dreed reached out, grabbed his fellow actor's hand and they shook. As Tyruss began to draw his hand back, the krogan tightened his grip and looked the turian in the eyes. "You *do* know what I'll do to you if you break her heart, right?"

The turian solemnly nodded. "I have a good idea, yes."

Dreed gave an approving nod in return and then released his grip. "Just so we're clear on that."

Bailey rubbed his hand against his forehead. "Okay, well, that pretty much explains what the quarian makeup girl was being secretive about. Which means she probably isn't al-Jilani's contact, putting us back to square one. We still have no idea who the reporter's inside sources are or what they're telling her. Sheeessh..." The C-Sec commander looked at the screen for a few moments while rubbing his chin, then leaned forward and squinted. "Quet, I thought you said you fixed the feed. Why is the image lagging then?"

Quet threw his now-empty popcorn box into the trash and brushed the remaining crumbs out of his lap. "I did fix it. It shouldn't be lagging like that. Let me see..." The salarian scooted his chair over to a technical readout screen and began swiping his way through one chart after another. "No, that's not it..." he mumbled five times in a row, before letting out a long, loud, "Oh..."

"Well?" Bailey impatiently asked.

Quet cleared his throat and tugged at his collar. "Well, the good news is there is no malfunction, per se. The problem is that the battery for the remote secret camera is overtaxed."

Bailey shook his head. "How's that happening? It should provide more than enough power to send the signal."

The salarian shifted in his chair. "One signal, yes. This camera we have been watching has been sending out two signals. Only one of them goes to C-Sec. And I cannot tell where the other signal is going."

Bailey contemplated this for a second, then suddenly bolted upright in his chair. "Holy Hell! Are you saying that C-Sec's own remote surveillance cameras have been hacked and that that secondary transmission isn't traceable?"

Quet gulped and nodded.

Bailey slammed his fist down and cursed loudly.

Quet cleared his throat a second time. "Yeah, umm, I think you're going to like this next part even less. Whoever hacked the cameras must have encoded a virus into the signal going into this monitoring room. I say that because this room's inter-office cameras and intercoms are silently activated whenever the surveillance signal from the movie studio is watched. The feed from the audio and visual devices in this room is then transmitted to the secret camera we've been watching and from there carried along through the other, non-C-Sec outgoing signal sent by the same secret camera."

The C-Sec commander's jaw dropped. "Are you fucking telling me that whoever hacked our cameras is also watching us in this room right now?!"

The salarian nodded.

Bailey's face turned bright red. 'TURN IT OFF! TURN IT ALL OFF! RIGHT NOW! EVERYTHING!" he shouted.

C-Sec Information Systems Specialist Quetzal shuffled into his apartment that evening feeling mentally and physically exhausted, Bailey's voice still ringing in his head. He walked over to his bed, collapsed on to it and stared up at the ceiling.

'Well, at least this day is over...' he thought.

A moment later, a distinctive chime sounded from his desk computer.

The Shadow Broker was calling.

Quet sat up and darted over to his desk and took the call. "Shadow Broker, I don't understand. I'm not due to report in for three more days," he stammered.

"Operative Quetzal, you have compromised my surveillance of C-Sec's activities," the broker's electronically-modulated voice announced.

The salarian slapped his hand against his forehead. "Oh, that was you! Of course. I should have guessed."

The broker was silent for several long moments. "Yes, you should have known," the underworld figure replied. "After all, you disclosed to me the locations of all of C-Sec's hidden cameras on the Blasto set. Who else could have hacked them?"

Quet nodded. "Yes, now that I think about it, that makes perfect sense."

The broker's voice rose several decibels. "Operative Quetzal, you could have just called the lag a simple technical glitch and Bailey would have been none the wiser. Instead, you revealed the hack to him, causing C-Sec to shut all of the cameras down! What were you thinking?" the underworld figure thundered.

"Oh, was I not supposed to do that?" Quetzal asked. "Honestly, broker, how am I supposed to keep track of all of these rules you keep springing on me?"

[Authors' Note: Magpie & Fred have unfortunately reached the end of their pre-written chapters for 'Her Majesty Is Not Pleased' and so can no longer ensure that a new chapter will be coming out every Sunday. This serial remains very much an alive, ongoing project that will be updated as soon as Magpie & Fred can manage it. As always, thoughts, requests, recommendations & thoughtful critiques are welcome, so go ahead and PM if you have any.]