Chapter 19 - That's What They Want You To Think!

Palaven Gaming News - Several popular 'Galaxy of Fantasy' livestreamers are demanding that the managers of the extranet-only intergalactic RPG permanently ban a player who goes by the moniker 'Infiltrat0rN7.' The mysterious individual managed the improbable feat of advancing their character to level 612 in just a few months and has rapidly become notorious among other players for being unbeatable in a duel. "It is impossible to rise that high, that fast without cheating software," streamer 69NoobSlayer69 told PGN. Galaxy of Fantasy managers initially agreed and suspended the player but reinstated the individual when they were able to recreate some key feats using a monitored manager-created account. "Whoever this person is, they're just that good," one manager told our reporter. Infiltrat0rN7 replied to PGN's interview request with the message, "No data available."

"Grrr…" growled Khalisah as she read the message on her omni-tool. It said, "If you still want the interview, head to the sweets vendor near the lake's western landing."

It was the second time she had arrived at the rendezvous spot specified by the potential source, a location in the Presidium's largest public park, only to receive a message saying that the spot had been changed. Under any other circumstances, Khalisah would have given up and gone home, but only after sending the other party a message directing them to a spot just outside the nearest station airlock.

This time, she couldn't afford to do that. The potential source was too good to give up on, even after this annoying runaround. The top editor for 6th Dimension Vids had reached out to her and offered details on what was going on behind the scenes at the Blasto vid production. The source, a salarian, had verified his identity by sending Khalisah an outtake from the previous Blasto vid featuring the titular star. The clip showed the hanar actor so obviously strung out on drugs that he couldn't even walk through a doorway on the set properly. He then proceeded to berate the doorway for its anti-hanar racism. The studio would have obviously never released the footage in any form and nothing like it had leaked out to the extranet previously. Only somebody who handled the raw footage of the Blasto productions would have it. This was clearly a top level person and he was willing to talk anonymously for Khalisah's story.

There was also the uncomfortable fact that Khalisah's investigation was otherwise going nowhere. She hadn't had any real breaks since she snuck inside the cargo hold of the freighter carrying the Blasto production's equipment back when it first arrived. Her usual practice of boldly striding in to where she wasn't expected and learning all she could before she was escorted out by security or simply assaulted by her interview subject had been undermined by Jacana's 'rescue' of her. Studio security had been on high alert for her ever since and she hadn't been able to sneak past them. Nor had she been able to find any inside sources besides the asari starlet who had blurted out that Aria T'Loak had secretly traveled with the cast and crew. Well, except for the human Terminus Systems pirate who was slumming it as the production's current special effects director. Khalisah had told him to go to hell and she had no intention of revisiting that decision.

The frustrating part was that Khalisah knew she was on to something. Somebody had broken into her apartment and set off one of Zaeed Massani's traps. Who else could it have been but one of T'Loak's thugs? The studio had also sent that bogus salarian documentary maker to try to trick Khalisah into revealing all she knew. T'Loak had had Adria S'Voz try to seduce her. And Jacana, a Shadow Broker operative, had twice begged Khalisah to give up on the story. T'Loak was obviously extremely worried about what Khalisah might uncover and was using her influence to push back hard.

But thus far Khalisah had little idea of what precisely it was the asari gangster was covering up. Meanwhile she had promised her bosses at Westerlund News a major expose that she was nowhere close to being able to deliver. Not that she really needed to keep her job at the news outlet since inheriting Donovan Hock's fortune. But being a reporter was important to Khalisah and she valued the exposure Westerlund News provided for her stories. She had to deliver. So if that meant putting up with this prospective source's oddball demands, she would do it.

"That goddamn two-horned bastard still jerking ya around?" grunted Zaeed Massani through their private communications line.

"Yes, unfortunately. The new location is on the lake's western landing near a vendor," Khalisah replied.

"Bloody hell! I gotta find another new lookout spot?!" the bodyguard exclaimed. "I'm sorely tempted to waste him just on general principle." Before Khalisah could instruct Massani not to even joke about that, he continued, "Relax, I'm just blowing off steam. Moving to a new location. I'll message ya as soon as I'm settled in."

Khalisah made the trek around the lake to the specified area, which turned out to be a nearly kilometer-long walk. When she began to approach the specified vendor, her omni-tool signaled another incoming message from the prospective source. This time it only directed her to the adjacent shop, a tacky souvenir stand, with the instruction to pick up the package that was waiting for her there. The stand's turian clerk confirmed that another customer had previously made a purchase with the instruction that it would later be picked up by a human named "al-Jilani."

"Hope you like it. It should fit you," the clerk declared as she handed it over.

On top of the package was the note, "Meet you on the purple boat. Do NOT rent a boat yourself." She puzzled over the message until the clerk directed her to look in the direction of the lake. Khalisah turned around and realized significance of the boat reference. There was a business that rented out small, brightly-colored two-seat motorized boats for people to take out on the lake, the type of thing a romantic couple might use. She scanned throughout dock for a purple one but could not find any. "What now?" she grumbled. It was then that she looked out on the lake itself and spotted a purple boat far away from the shore. It was the only one in sight. 'If I can't rent a boat myself then how are we supposed to meet?' she thought. Khalisah returned her attention to the package and opened it.

It contained a swimsuit.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Khalisah messaged the source.

The reply came immediately. "No."

Khalisah groaned inwardly and asked the turian clerk, "Do you have a changing room?"

Five minutes later Khalisah emerged. The suit was a basic one-piece that, while not exactly flattering, at least wasn't embarrassing either. She wrapped the dress she had come in and her shoes inside a plastic bag the clerk had given her and walked to the edge of the lake.

"I'm either hallucinating or yer about to go fer a swim. Which is it?" Zaeed asked through her omni-tool.

"I'm going for a swim," Khalisah matter-of-factly replied.

"Uh-huh. If ya need a penicillin shot afterwards, I know a guy," the mercenary offered.

Khalisah strode into the lake until the water was above her knees, then dived forward and began swimming. The water was far chillier than she had hoped and, while fresh, didn't taste particularly good either. She put that out of her mind and paddled her way to the purple boat. When she finally reached it and began to clamber in, the gray-skinned salarian seated inside watched silently without offering any help. He instead pulled up his omni-tool and began scanning her. Khalisah merely tried to keep her teeth from chattering.

"You don't even have a towel, do you?" she eventually asked.

The salarian ignored her as he checked the results of his scan. "You're clear," he announced. "Please power down your omni-tool."

"Why?" Khalisah growled as she wrung the water out of her hair.

"To be certain that the Special Tasks Group is not listening in, of course!" the salarian declared. "That's why I changed the meeting spot to the middle of this lake – No way for them to plant a bug nearby. That's why I had you put the suit on and swim – to ensure you're not wearing a wire. Now, power down your omni-tool. There's no indication that it has been hacked, but that doesn't mean the STG won't find a way to tap into any transmissions sent from it."

"That's what all of this was about?!" Khalisah replied.

The salarian sagely nodded. "The STG's eyes and ears are everywhere! It takes a mind as brilliant as Olo Stunn's to devise a way to foil their surveillance methods. Now we can talk, secure in the knowledge that only the two of us will know what is said here."

Agent Vass was adjusting the settings on Special Tasks Group equipment monitoring Stunn and Khalisah's conversation when Kirrahe returned to the hotel room they were using as a base of operations with two piping hot cups of tea. "Good timing, major!" the young agent announced. "They've just started talking. I'm trying to reduce the static on the connection." He moved one slider on the device and the voices became almost crystal clear.

"Well done!" Kirrahe declared as he handed Vass his tea. "Remind me to make a note in my mission report of Morlan's helpfulness in pointing out how to tap into the omni-tool scanning upgrade he sold to Stunn."

"So, you say the Special Tasks Group is involved in the Blasto production?" Khalisah asked Stunn. "You're certain of this? How did they manage to get 6th Dimension Vids to go along with them?"

Stunn arched a brow in response. "They didn't need to do any persuading, if that is what you mean. The entire studio is a front for the STG."

Almost as if she in were in a duel, Khalisah arched her own brow in response. "Some of my other sources had mentioned that that was a possibility. But others have said Aria T'Loak was blackmailing the producers," she remarked.

That was a bluff. In reality, Khalisah was struggling to contain herself. The STG was in league with Aria T'Loak and the vid production was a front for that?! This was exactly the break she had been waiting for. She just had to play it cool and hope that by indicating that she already knew about the STG connection that Stunn would drop his guard further and volunteer even more information. She was suddenly thankful for the swim since her still-chattering teeth covered up the fact that she was now trembling with excitement.

"Blackmail? Bah!" sputtered Stunn. "Whoever you're talking to is clearly an STG operative feeding you misinformation!" he declared. "They probably also told you that the purpose behind the vid production is to instigate a coup here on the Citadel! It's not, of course. The real purpose is to help T'Loak re-take Omega!"

Khalisah thoughtfully nodded. "I see," she said in the calmest and flattest tone she could manage.

This was big, she realized. Really big. And it made sense too: the vid production had arrived with enough weapons and explosives to outfit an army because that's what they were for: a private army to storm the massive satellite in the Terminus Systems and take on the Cerberus forces there. What Khalisah needed to do now was get Stunn to tell her how the STG had became involved in this in the first place. What did it hope to gain by restoring T'Loak to power?

"I've heard a couple of different things from my sources about why the STG is allied with T'Loak," the human declared. "Tell me what you know, and I'll see how that matches up."

Vass began fidgeting in his chair. "Umm, major, are we sure that allowing the human to talk to Stunn is a good idea? It may just be guesswork on his part, but he does appear to have correctly intuited what is going on behind the scenes."

Kirrahe blew on his tea to cool it. "It's fine. Just keep listening," he advised his partner.

Stunn leaned in towards Khalisah. "It's about credits, of course," he explained. "More specifically, it's about commerce and trade throughout the Terminus Systems. The STG is setting it up so that the Salarian Union can corner the market on a particular commodity. And the key to cornering that market is control of Omega. So the STG is helping Aria return to power on Omega in exchange for her giving the STG a monopoly over all trade in this precious good. Secretly, of course. Everyone will think it is Aria's doing."

'This is it,' thought Khalisah. 'The toil, the aggravations, the hardship, even the danger. It's all been worth it. I saw through the smokescreen of lies that fooled everyone else and now I'm finally getting at the truth.' She steadied herself and asked, "What is the commodity?"

Stunn looked to his right and then to his left to be certain that no boat had moved near them in the last minute. Satisfied that nobody was within earshot, he turned to the human and, in barely audible whisper, said one word: "popcorn."

Khalisah stared at her inside source, a baffled expression on her face. "What-what did you say?" she replied.

Stunn, annoyed at having to repeat himself, shouted, "POPCORN!" in a voice loud enough to startle Khalisah and make her hop up in her seat. The sudden motion made their boat wobble in the water and Khalisah nearly fell out of her seat and into the lake. It took them several seconds and a fair amount of fumbling to steady the craft.

"Are you fucking telling me this is all about popcorn?!" the reporter exclaimed. "That's preposterous!"

Stunn smugly wagged a finger in the human's face. "No, that's what they want you to think!"

Kirrahe took a sip of his tea and then smiled at Vass. "See what I mean? Nothing to worry about."

Vass nodded slowly as he listened to Stunn explain this conspiracy theory. "I still have a lot to learn about STG operations, I guess."

Khalisah rubbed her forehead as she tried to process the information. "Popcorn?! Not Eezo or weapons or illegal tech or drugs? Popcorn."

Stunn folded his arms and leaned back in his seat. "Yes. Since your species introduced popcorn to the rest of the galaxy decades ago, it has become the most popular snackfood throughout the Salarian Union. Several of the union's colonies now produce it. But they've hardly made a dent in the galactic market. Other species hardly buy the salarian brands and even my own people prefer the human-made varieties, despite them being much more expensive. So the STG arranged for T'Loak's ouster."

The reporter shook her head. "This just doesn't make sense. Why would the STG care so much about how well a few snackfood companies are doing, even salarian-owned ones?"

The salarian again wagged a finger at the reporter. "Not just salarian-owned! STG-owned! They're front organizations. The STG needs the profits from the snackfood companies to underwrite its other activities. Cornering the galactic market on popcorn will allow the agency to extend its reach even further!"

Agent Vass rubbed his chin. "We're not actually in the popcorn business, are we, major? I mean, it's popular but the trade in it isn't nearly large enough for the STG to have any interest in how it goes, right?"

Kirrahe sighed. "Correct, Agent Vass. It is not a concern for the agency."

"I'm embarrassed that I even asked," the young salarian sheepishly admitted.

The major took another sip of his tea. "No, it's fine. How are you supposed to learn if you never ask questions?"

"I'm still confused," Khalisah told Stunn. "You say the Special Tasks Group arranged for the ouster of T'Loak? But you said it was also helping her to regain control of Omega? Why?"

Stunn let out an exasperated sigh. "It's perfectly simple: to increase the profitability of its popcorn trade, the STG had to give T'Loak a strong reason to give up her own iron control over that trade to the Terminus Systems colonies. She wouldn't do that willingly, so the STG arranged to have Cerberus invade the station and oust her. That way, the STG could leverage its help for T'Loak's bid to regain control to get her to grant the STG a monopoly over the popcorn trade."

Khalisah shook her head again. "But-But that would mean that the STG controls... Cerberus?" she sputtered. "How can- How is that possible? Cerberus is an anti-alien terrorist group! It's interests are in cutting edge technology and bioweapons."

Stunn nodded. "The perfect cover! Nobody would ever suspect that they were a front group for salarian espionage!"

"According to the Alliance Navy, Cerberus tried to clone the rachni!" Khalisah exclaimed.

"If you believe the official story," retorted Stunn, adding air quotes to the word "official."

Khalisah was becoming genuinely dizzy trying to keep track of all of this. "So... the Alliance Navy's own intel on Cerberus is misinformation created by the Special Tasks Group to prevent anyone from realizing that the salarian espionage agency secretly controls the human terrorist organization which ousted Aria T'Loak from power on Omega? And that was so the Special Tasks Group could help T'Loak to regain power so she'd be willing to give the STG secret control over the Terminus Systems' trade in popcorn? And to do that, the STG is using the movie studio that makes Blasto vids, which it also controls, as a cover for the operation to take back Omega from Cerberus, which the STG also controls? That's what you're telling me?"

"Correct," declared Stunn. "The STG's control of 6th Dimension Vids ties it directly to the popcorn trade through sales to theater-goers. It's all pretty obvious, really. You just need to connect the dots."

"But... if the STG controls Cerberus, why does it need an invasion force to restore T'Loak to power?" Khalisah asked. "Can't the STG just contrive some reason for Cerberus to leave the station and avoid the need for a huge, expensive battle?"

Stunn threw up his arms in exasperation. "It has to make this look good to maintain the deception!" he explained. "Besides if Cerberus just left, then T'Loak wouldn't feel the need to give up control of the popcorn trade, would she? And then there's-"

Khalisah put her hand up, motioning the salarian to pause. "Okay, okay... How exactly do you know any of this?"

The studio editor, now visibly irritated, made his voice rise a few decibels. "AS I SAID, it's all obvious once you think about it. You just need to connect the dots, look at the patterns."

"No, no, no... " Khalisah replied. "I mean, what information do you have or that you have seen that could verify what you have told me? Stuff like off-the-books accounting ledgers, hidden bank accounts, or secret communiques to the studio? Or have you personally witnessed executives talking about this or talking to STG officials? What can you provide or just direct me towards that would irrefutably connect the studio to either the STG or to T'Loak?"

Stunn folded his arms. "The STG doesn't ever say, 'Hey, editor, here's the smoking gun in case you ever need to reveal our secrets to a human reporter,' if that is what you mean."

"Can't you download something from the vid company's systems that would verify the connection?" Khalisah asked.

Stunn vigorously shook his head. "I'm not even connected to the studio's own communications network. That way, the STG cannot tap into my own communications and monitor me! This has required some elaborate workarounds so I can still do my job as an editor, but that is a small price to pay to know that the STG is not following my every move!"

"I understand you actually visited Stunn's office during your internship at the studio?" Kirrahe asked Vass.

"Yes, sir," the young agent confirmed. "Stunn's office was more like a bunker. He had it set up so that it was completely cut off from the studio's internal communications network and the extranet. Savara Korek had to personally give him physical copies of the day's shooting every time filming was wrapped. It was the only way to get the footage to him so he could edit it. One day she was busy and I had to do the delivery for her."

Kirrahe took another sip of tea. "The STG figured it was best to just let Stunn indulge in his eccentricities."

What had begun so promisingly for Khalisah was rapidly turning into a disaster. Not only had her supposed top inside source given her a ridiculously outlandish account of what was going on behind the scenes but it was now apparent that this was just his own personal conspiracy theory and not based on anything she could use as proof for her expose. Still, there was at least one thing that this salarian had to have at least some knowledge of that would salvage her efforts.

Khalisah took a breath and asked her question. "Okay, what did you see or hear regarding Aria T'Loak during the trip from Illium to the Citadel? My sources say that she traveled with the cast and crew. It's public knowledge that she and Adria S'Voz are friends but who else was she seen with? What was she doing during the trip?"

"I have no idea," Stunn replied. "I didn't travel with the cast and crew."

Anger began to swell in Khalisah's chest. "Then how did you get here?!" she growled.

"I chartered private transportation," Stunn explained. "The studio may have said that I needed to be here on the Presidium for the on-location shooting to keep my job, but they couldn't force me to travel in a STG-controlled freighter!"

With that, the remaining threads of Khalisah's patience snapped. "You-you can't even corroborate that T'Loak traveled with the cast and crew?!" she shouted. "I don't fucking believe this! You've given me nothing!"

Stunn let out a triumphant laugh. "Yes! Ha-hah! I knew all along that you were an STG asset and that your plan was to pose as a reporter and get me to incriminate myself! But Olo Stunn isn't so easily duped, is he?! Now, tell your handlers in the Special Tasks Group that I know everything about what they're doing but I have given them no way to prove that I do! What do you think about that, hmm?" the salarian chortled.

Khalisah was dumbstruck. "After all of that, you think that... I'm working for the STG?" she asked incredulously.

"The time for denials is long past, human!" Stunn exclaimed. "As your species likes to say, 'The jig is-AAAAHHH!"

The audio connection from Stunn's omni-tool suddenly cut out. "Do we know what happened?!" Kirrahe asked.

"The transmission was lost at their end," Vass replied as he checked the systems. "It appears something caused Stunn's device to shut down."

"Help!" screamed Olo Stunn as his flailing arms splashed water everywhere. "Somebody help me, please! I can't swim! Help!"

Khalisah didn't even bother looking up as she tried to figure out what part of the boat's control panel was the ignition. "Consider yourself lucky that pushing you off the boat was all I did," she declared.

"I'm going to drown!" Stunn shrieked. "Anybody! Help!"

The reporter found the ignition switch and the boat's motor began humming. She turned and looked at the salarian as he continued to thrash about in a panic. "This lake is less than a meter and a half deep. Your feet should touch bottom easily."

Stunn stopped panicking for a moment as he tested the human's claim. The water, he discovered, only went up to his shoulders. "Oh..." the salarian quietly muttered.

"I'm keeping the suit, by the way," Khalisah declared as she began motoring towards the shore alone.

"It's no use, major," Vass declared. "I can't re-establish the connection. Stunn's device remains off."

The senior agent sat back in his chair and rubbed his chin. "Based on the last part of the transmission it appears that al-Jilani decided Stunn was not a trustworthy source. That's rather unfortunate because it suggests she won't be wasting time trying to confirm his mad theories. Her investigation might still be on the right track," Kirrahe surmised. "She also confirmed having multiple inside sources, but - blast it! - didn't divulge anything that might help us to identify them."

"What about that asari, Jacana Aragem? We could try to track her down again," Vass suggested.

Kirrahe shook his head. "Too risky now that we know she's a Shadow Broker operative. Any direct communication we have with Aragem becomes information about STG activity that the broker can sell to others. Attempting to buy information on al-Jilani straight from the broker itself has the some problem: what's to stop the broker from selling that information *and* the fact that STG has that information to others, including al-Jilani herself? We could try to watch Aragem covertly, but the broker has surveillance technology that matches the STG's, so that could backfire on us as well. Besides, al-Jilani's co-workers told you that she and the asari are estranged. I'm not convinced that Aragem knows much anyway."

"The human must still be missing something key to her story or else she would have published it by now," Vass argued. "We still have time to stop this."

"I hope you are right, Agent Vass," Kirrahe remarked. "Speaking of time, we need to get back to our other current project. Hide out in the other room for a bit. There is one bit of information that we can get from the broker that shouldn't tip off what we're planning."

Vass darted into the next room as the STG officer activated his own omni-tool and placed a call. A few seconds later the omni-tool began projecting the image of a volus.

"Ah, Major Kirrahe of the Special Tasks Group. A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Barla Von, financial advisor, at your service," the volus announced. "Are you seeking advice on how to invest your STG salary or...?"

Kirrahe shook his head. "The reason for this call is for you to convey a message to your associate, the Shadow Broker. Tell the broker that Major Kirrahe is calling in his favor and he requires information on the routes used by Cerberus-allied merchant vessels in the following systems..."

"So, I'm guessing from the fact that ya shoved him into the lake and took off in his boat that the interview with the salarian was a bust," quipped Zaeed, his voice sounding even more gravelly than usual over their private com line.

Khalisah, who was back at the souvenir stand's tiny changing room and putting her regular clothes back on, muttered inaudibly under her breath for a few seconds, then replied, "Complete waste of time. I'd rather not talk about it."

"I got ya," the mercenary declared. "So, what's next on today's agenda?"

"I'm out of ideas at the moment," Khalisah admitted. "I'm going to head back to the current hotel and think for a bit. Plus, I need to call Daniyah on Earth, just to say 'hi.' You're sure I can do that without the call being traced?"

The mercenary grunted out an "Uh-huh," then added, "I got the masking tech from a colleague. She's the best goddamn thief & hacker in the galaxy. Not ordinarily one to give out this type of tech, but when I told her it was so ya could call yer baby girl, well, let's just say she's one helluva softy when it comes to that stuff..."

"Oh, well, tell her I said thanks," Khalisah requested as she put her shoes back on and gave herself a quick once-over in the changing room mirror. "Okay, I'm heading straight to the hotel. Things okay on your end?"

"Yeah, we're good. I'll be watching out fer ya every step of the way," the mercenary announced. "As for my thief friend, I'm pretty sure she knows already. But I'll tell her anyhow."

It was late in the evening when Kasumi Goto received the call. "Okay, I'm at her hotel, so I got it from here. Yer off the hook for the next day at least," declared Zaeed Massani. "How'd today go? Anything I should know?"

"Her latest possible source, the salarian, led her on a wild goose chase, even making her swim to a boat in a Presidium lake to meet with him," Goto revealed. "She got nothing anyway and so she pushed him into the water! It was pretty funny."

"No shit, really? Just my luck to only watch her during the boring parts," the mercenary grumbled.

Kasumi laughed. "What I wanna know is, how did YOUR day go?"

Massani chuckled in response. "This modeling shit ain't half bad, ya know? Lotta standing about, but that's about the worst of it. Today was probably the most times I've ever been shot by a turian," he quipped. "Anyhow, I really gotta thank ya fer giving me the time to do this, Kasumi. You're absolutely sure she thought I was the one guarding her all day today?"

Kasumi switched on her omni-tool's voice-mimicking tech and replied in Massani's voice, "I'm goddamn certain of it."