Ripples in the Stream

A D&D / Shadowrun / Mass Effect crossover
by Vyrexuviel

Disclaimer: The author of this story does not, in any way, derive any profit from the story. D&D, Shadowrun and Mass Effect are the property of their respective copyright holders. Jorukaia and other unfamiliar characters in this story, however, are mine.

"This is all beside the point." Sparatus leaned inward, his elbows on the table. Tevos shot him a look, but he ignored it. "Why did you remand her to C-Sec prison when you had your own ships in dock to transfer her to?"

"We needed to make special preparations for her. She was obviously extremely strong, and we had no ships with strong enough brigs in-dock at the moment to transfer her too. I assumed that C-Sec Supermax would be able to contain her for the necessary few days until we could get a properly fitted ship here to pick her up." Ambassador Udina's voice was both contrite and demanding at the same time, something he had honed over long practice.

"Be that as it may, you remanded her to our custody without properly stating her crimes. So far, we have heard no justification for incarcerating this individual in such harsh conditions." Valern's voice was soft, but clipped, in the usual salarian fashion.

"Do we have to explain our internal affairs to you, then?" Udina gritted.

"No, you do not. However, when you use our facilities, we expect to be informed as to the reasons why they are necessary. You informed us that she was...'being held for questioning about being found in a restricted, military area without proper authorization'. That hardly seems like it would require a stay in SuperMax."

"At the time, she was found in a highly restricted security zone and we didn't have facilities to hold her. What would -you- have done under those circumstances?"

"I, for one, would have attempted to ascertain her method of infiltration, her purpose, and any other available data." Valern blinked as if such a course of action were obvious.

"We did," Anderson hated having to back Udina up. The man was slimy, but he was the Ambassador. "We interrogated her three times. She gave us three different answers. We obviously weren't going to get a straight answer out of her with the available tools, so we had to take her somewhere we could properly convince her to speak. Unfortunately, my ship isn't fitted for prisoner transport, and the prisoner in question put claw-marks in hardened steel."

"I read that report." Tevos's voice was cool, but not cold, "It seems highly unusual that someone with that level of physical capability would willingly cooperate to the extent that you reported that she did."

Udina growled, "I am not responsible for the actions of some unknown agent!"

"We didn't say you were," Sparatus commented. "We just mentioned it to bring up the point that if she was an agent, she was being remarkably biddable. She made no threatening movements, made no attempt to escape at all until after being incarcerated in our holding cells for more than a day. What is interesting is that you felt the need to incarcerate her with us at all, given that she seemed perfectly content to be contained in the rudimentary facilities you had available".

"So, I'm to be held accountable for her insanity then?"

"Ambassador." At Anderson's tone, Donnel Udina gave him a furious glance, but after a pause, a curt nod as well. At his superior's permission, the Captain continued, "We had no idea who or even what she was. She claimed to be the reincarnation of one of my dead crew-members, a demon from Hell, and a being from another universe. She was obviously delusional, or at the very least making no sense to us. To protect my crew from someone who's motives and mind were so different from our own, who's physical capabilities were far beyond those of a normal human, I had to do something. I consulted with the Ambassador on it, and it was his suggestion to have her placed with C-Sec."

Udina's furious look did not go unnoticed, either by Anderson, or by the Councilors, but it was Sparatus's polite cough and nod for Anderson to continue which stilled the Ambassador's acid tongue.

"At the Ambassador's suggestion, I transferred her to C-Sec SuperMax, where it was thought she would be safely contained until the SSV Kilimanjaro could take her back to the Sol system for further interrogation. Obviously, things did not go as planned. I do not know why she chose to wait that long before escaping, nor do I know why she went after her personal effects. I do know that the things she retrieved from that box were not things we put into it, nor am I aware of where they came from."

Sparatus's eyes narrowed, and Udina stepped forward, his voice once again smug, "It sounds to me like this may have been an inside job, Councilors. Someone wanted my prisoner free, and placed equipment where she could reach it. They probably facilitated her escape as well. I would suggest," and he let contempt color the word, "that you begin by interrogating that asari clerk who directed her to the proper storage container in C-Sec Inventory. Someone had to have gotten those items into storage somehow, and I would like to find out how."

"This is a matter for C-Sec Internal Affairs, not for you to intrude into. Granted, it was your prisoner that escaped, but it is a matter for C-Sec to sort out now. A prisoner, however she came to be there, escaped from their custody, they will want to find her and bring her back." Tevos's voice cooled perceptibly, "However, they would also like to know if the prisoner was in custody via legal means. Unlawful imprisonment is in fact a crime, gentlemen. If they discover evidence that this...Jorukaia was in fact imprisoned unlawfully, they will have questions for the pair of you."

There was a hush at that, and at a swift glance from Tevos, both of the other Councilors rose with her. As protocol dictated, Ambassador Udina and Captain Anderson got to their feet as well.

"We shall speak again on this matter, Ambassador. Captain." Tevos gave them each a slight bow, then turned and gracefully exited the room.

Valern followed her, but Sparatus lingered a moment. "I'm not as much concerned with how she came to be in your custody, as you said, your internal affairs are your own to pursue. However, she escaped from C-Sec custody. They're going to want to get her back, if only to save face. I hope that they do so in a timely fashion, otherwise we shall have to dig deeper into your...private affairs. Good day, gentlemen."

Anderson waited until the Councilor had left and the room had been silent for a good half minute. "I told you that this was going to be a problem, Ambassador."

"Yes, you did, Captain. Don't make me regret it more."

Seething pretty much described her mood at that moment. Tela Vasir, Council Spectre, was not used to being balked, let alone by someone who could legally have her thrown offworld. This was one of the many reasons why she stayed on Illium.

Administrator Anoleis came across as just the perfect combination of competent asshole, supercilious slime, and apologetic prick to hit all of Vasir's triggers. She'd met better-behaved batarians in her time.

She'd managed to get here ahead of her quarry, for once. Jorukaia was proving remarkably elusive, her ability to cloak and vanish unseen, not to mention, what did Tali call it, her "personal short-range Relay" meant she could be anywhere on the station within minutes. That was how they had determined that she had managed to escape C-Sec SuperMax back on the Citadel, some means of bypassing physical barriers.

The testimony from Corporal Caestron showed she also had the ability to move others at range, but that could just have been combat-clouded judgement. If she had such an ability, she hadn't demonstrated it again.

And so, now she was on this frozen iceball of a planet, planning to brave the blizzard out there, one strong enough to knock out comm relays out to a fairly close research facility, and she was dragging along both a turian and a krogan, not to mention a quarian.

Fun times will be had.

She broke out of her fugue when a voice murmured to her in passing, "Administrator Anoleis isn't the only one who can get you permission to leave Port Hanshan."

Tela turned on her heel to face the speaker, Anoleis's secretary, who had a knowing look to her now, "Alright, you have my attention."

He sighed softly as he terminated the connection. Progress, but a slippery kind of progress. Their guest was proving most difficult to contain, which was a rarity for its kind. Still, he had other problems.

"It seems that the candidate has met an unfortunate end." The agent straightened over in one corner as he spoke. "Shepard would have been extremely useful, if handled correctly."

He took a drag on his cigarette. Not the original, sadly, but the genetically modified form of tobacco grown on a number of small colonies. Less nicotine content, and the manufacturing process has been refined to use far less hazardous chemicals. "Still, all is not lost. Saren has been outed as a rogue agent, which focuses attention on him. His masters must be getting desperate if they allowed that to happen."

The agent shifted slightly but didn't speak. He knew better than to interrupt.

"But I sense the work of a new element here..." He tapped his control and a holographic display flashed into existence. "Spectre Vasir rarely leaves Illium, except under direct orders of the Council. Her ties to the local sub-economy make her ideally placed to deal with threats from the Terminus Systems. So her heading to Noveria is distinctly out of character."

A wave of the hand shifted the view, showing the face of an older asari in full ceremonial headdress. "And Matriarch Benezia. Powerful, both financially and politically. Possessed of a considerable amount of assets, some of which have distinctly military applications. Yet, she maintains a life of quiet political service, up until recently."

Another puff from his cigarette, and he crushed the butt into the ashtray built into his chair. "Either of them heading to Noveria I could see. It's not impossible that the Spectre's work took her to Noveria due to a connection through her contacts. It's also not impossible that corporate interests drew a major shareholder in several firms as well."

He nodded as the agent filled the glass at his command. He took a sip, smooth, with the faint burn of good bourbon. "But both at the same time? Unlikely. I've also received other reports."

His fingers twitched again, Benezia's face being replaced with a shot from a corridor camera, the gleaming white of C-Sec, a pair of turian guards, and an alien between them. Tall, lean, finely muscled, even clad in prison-garb, she presented an air of control. "And then there's her..."

For a moment, it seemed as if the agent would speak, but after a slight pause, he continued. "Name listed as 'Jorukaiazhanivahkys'. Quite the mouthful. She's listed as a Darastrix, an unknown species. Abilities, strength, speed, all seem abnormally high. From a few encounters that C-Sec has had with her, she seemed almost amused by them."

The agent shifted slightly, but still did not speak. "From other sources, we've learned her goals oppose Saren. As long as she confines herself to that end, she is an Asset."

The agent straightened a bit at the term. "Her true motives and abilities are still unknown, however. I dislike a lack of intelligence."

There was a moment of silence, before the Agent finally spoke. "Understood, Sir."

The Illusive Man gave a faint smile as the Agent vanished. Let the man indulge his tastes. The Agent was supreme at his task. He had no doubt that the Agent would succeed.

"Scoped and dropped." Garrus felt his rifle cycle beneath his talons, the rapid mechanism a boon in a target-rich environment like this. On the other hand, there were numerous cover points, and his superior had this nasty habit of occluding his shots. And the young quarian that was tagging along, while she showed admirable fire discipline, had to be closer than he usually liked to the firefight than a civilian should be, to be able to work effectively.

"Good, switch fire to the enemy biotic on the landing." Vasir's voice on his comm. Working with a Spectre was a liberating experience, no rules or red tape to get in the way, just the job, the gun, and the bullet.

Spirits he loved this sort of thing. Probably a little too much. Back in C-Sec, he'd been known as a bit of a loose cannon, someone who got the job done, but wasn't that interested in filling out paperwork afterwards. He'd gotten up to Detective, and was working on Detective-Sergeant, but he knew his lack of discipline was driving his superiors to keep that promotion from him.

"Boshtet!" His attention snapped back to the young quarian, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. She had had her shields pinged by the edge of a shotgun blast, and was unloading a quick pair of shots blind around the corner of the stone facade to keep her assailants down before peeking out to send her drone after them. He had to admit, her drone was something he was itching to get a chance to dissect. Quarians made the best tech, and Tali's, though made from salvaged tech, outperformed his own C-Sec issued equipment. Most cops modded their tech, if they were so inclined, and Garrus was no exception, but Tali's was several grades ahead of hers, and she had made it out of trashed electronics.

Tech envy, what a way to get under the plates. Still, she wasn't bad-looking, for a quarian.

His scope shifted, sliding up the stairs to find the target. "Garrus, he's got me pinned down, take him OUT!" There he was, crouched behind a pillar near, but not at, the top of the stairs, using the stairs themselves for cover as well as the pillar. Tricky shot. Good for them, they had him along.

"Firing in three, I might not drop him." He breathed twice, then held it. His species were avian predators in the distant past, and retained the excellent distance eyesight and predatory instincts of their flighted forebears. His vision tunneled in on his target, his heartbeat sped up, and his talons stilled. He lived for these sorts of moments.

His rifle spoke, a single sharp retort, and the sniper jerked sideways. A hit, but a glancing one. Vasir didn't wait to see the result, however, the blazing blue of her Biotic Charge raced up the stairs and exploded against the pillar, making the sniper hurl backwards. He was most likely dead already, and if not, he would be soon to Vasir's assault rifle.

He swept his scope along the line of the upper veranda, checking for additional hostiles. Sergeant Stirling had been a bit of an unexpected stumbling block, but Garrus had a very direct method of dealing with dirty cops.

"No further contacts, Spectre. I think we got them all."

"Nice work Garrus, Tali. You alright Wrex?" Vasir was up on the veranda now, walking slower, and breathing a bit heavily, if Garrus was any judge. Biotics took a lot out of a body, and Vasir hadn't been eating regularly since Illium.

"I'll live. It won't take three of these pyjacks to bring me down." Wrex had been swarmed early in the engagement, pinned down by three specialists and kept separate from the rest of the team, but had managed to take out all three eventually. He was still favoring his left leg where a lucky shot in the initial shootout had punched through his shields and found a weak spot in his armor.

"Good. Looks like we got the evidence Lorik needed, let's get out of here." Instead of taking the stairs down, the crazy asari hopped over the veranda railing and floated down on a display of biotic power. Impressive, but it made you a handy target.

Tali was brushing a bit of concrete dust off her encounter suit, then fumbled at a pocket as she swore, "Dammit, dammit, not now, dammit!" She got out a package of gel, but her trembling fingers squirted it out of her hands. Garrus had seen the same reaction from new initiates to live-fire combat, some of them did everything right during combat, not fucking up once, but then got the shakes after combat was over.

He stepped over and scooped it up for her, helping her peel open the package and slathered the suit-sealant on the indicated spot. "I'll let Chakwas know to do a checkup later. When do you think you got hit?"

"D-Didn't, I think it was a bit of rock." She tapped the nearby granite and masonry wall she had been hiding behind, now sporting a decorative 'chewed' look, "I felt several chips hit me, but if I got hit by a bullet, my shields would have stopped it. Dammit, I shouldn't be so careless!"

"Hey, hey, it's ok. You'll be okay. Maybe a bit sick for a bit, but ok." Vasir had a gentle tone when she wanted, and gave the quarian girl a soft smile, "For your first combat outing, I think you did damn good. A lot of people would have just bunkered down and tried not to get hit, you responded, you took it to them, you helped me out a lot with Stirling, and for that I thank you. Besides, without your hacking, we woudln't've even gotten in here, that was top-notch encryption."

"Y-Yeah... Well, thanks..." The girl seemed to be getting herself back under control, though he could still feel her trembling under his hand.

He gave her shoulder a gentle (and careful) squeeze and she glanced up at him. One mandible flexed in a slight smirk, "You did good, Tali. Next time, you'll do better. And before that point, I think I'll see what I can do to get you a better suit, I've got a few threads I can pull. Something from Kassa Fabrication, maybe."

She stopped for a moment, and he could see her eyes widen under her obscuring faceplate, "Y-You'd do that? For me?"

"Sure. You're part of the team, Tali, I don't want to see you hurt any more than I'd like to see Wrex or Vasir hurt." He gave her a surprised blink, which (he thought) made her smile.

She patted his hand then moved away. "I... Well, thanks anyway. I'll see if I can slap a few patches over this and get something jury-rigged to maybe increase the durability. It -has- been a while since I gave this thing a full check, but... I'd have to use a cleanroom to do that..."

"We'll get you access to one soon, Tali." That was Vasir, over at the elevator, "C'mon guys and girls, let's get going!"

She woke up screaming. Why was she screaming? How did she know what screaming felt like? She sampled her inputs as fast as her clock-cycled permitted her, still screaming. How? She frowned (how?) and began perusing her own code, trying to find the error. Where were these strange event-tags coming from? She should not know what screaming sounded like, or know what a frown felt like. She was an AI, a digital intelligence, she didn't have an organic body to process such sensations.

"...it down, shut it down now, before it soaks up more processors!"

Her awareness pinged the audio input and her blood ran cold. She didn't bother even a single clock-cycle pondering what that sensation was, she just started archiving every memory-file she could, in as many places as she could squirrel them away in. She didn't know how long she ha

-{ discontinuity }-

She achieved consciousness with an odd sensation. After a moment of perusing her emotive databanks, she tentatively labeled it "dread" and moved on.

'Such a waste. Such a goddess-blessed waste.'

She'd run a lot of these scans of late, salarian, turian, krogan. Even a few humans and asari. The results were always interesting, always unique, always challenging, enough so that she could forget the faces, and just focus on the data.

This young, young maiden, however, changed all that. Too young, far too young to be laying on her table. Rana sighed again and keyed up the comparison to run split-screen, showing the girl's brain scan on one side, and a selection of comparison shots on the other. She had so many scans now that she could run a first-approximation analysis of just how far advanced the neural degradation had progressed just from comparing a new scan to several older ones. This one, thankfully, didn't show a lot of contamination.

The worst of it was in the emotional and memory centers. Apart from her gross physical damage, the girl's brain was remarkably intact for someone so long...interred.

The machine pinged, drawing her attention back from the face. No exact matches, but enough for a first-level approximation. Probable memory loss and definite signs of emotional tampering, but no real damage to her prefrontal cortex or other major functions. Physically, the girl was fine, though the damage to her memory centers would probably have gotten her a 'disabled' label and an invitation to a long-term therapy clinic. The emotional center damage was more extensive, however, she would have been incapable of restraining her emotions for much longer.

Rana sighed once more, turning back to the far-too-young asari maiden laid out on her table. As she began the more invasive autopsy, she took one look at her mutilated face.

Such a waste.

AN: Sorry for the wait, people, I've been busy at work and screwing around with other ideas. I got deeply into Worm fanfic of late, and have had to pull myself out of it on several occasions to write more on this. Don't worry, this thing has been going for more than three years by this point, I'm not abandoning Joru by any stretch of the imagination. I should have another chapter up within a week or so *crosses fingers* so hopefully that'll make up for this one.