*** Embassy ***

With the airlock's inner door open, Shepard, Ash, Kaidan, and Richard stepped in.

Richard asked, "Sir, we're just waiting for the Captain, right? Oh yeah, and I brought some concentrates in case you guys forgot to eat," Richard pulled a food bar out of a pocket and held it up, "I hear it can be expensive to eat here."

"You heard right." Kaidan patted a legpocket. "Brought a kilo myself. But good thinking; it means you won't be mooching mine, right?"

Richard sighed. "Not if I can help it, sir."

Shepard smiled to himself, turned to Ash. "Well, look at you, Chief. You are a walking battleship." Shepard's ARO switched to Analysis and covered his view of her with callouts identifying systems and their respective statuses. "Did you transfer that shield generator to this?"

"Yes, sir. You saw what it did to a Sirta Phoenix." She turned so he could see the SmartPak; technical callouts shifted around her as she did, some disappearing, new ones replacing them.

Footfalls announced the approach of Captain Anderson, in his service dress blues. He stopped, just outside the airlock and surveyed the team, nodded his approval, and stepped in, closing the inner door behind him.

He waited until the door was closed before speaking. "I don't know how bad this could get. I'd bet the farm that Saren's dirty, but the Council will probably dismiss our evidence. He has a long history of getting done what they want done, and they'll back him up because of it." He shook his head, seemed briefly lost in thought.

"Equalizing interior pressure with exterior atmosphere," the Boatswain VI announced.

Suddenly he straightened, faced them squarely. "But you're all heroes. You saved the colony, and the Alliance knows it."

"Sir, do you mean the Council doesn't?" Richard looked quizzical.

"They know, but they won't care. Humans aren't high on their list of priorities. We established Eden Prime because the planet is an unpopulated garden world, but it's on the edge of the Terminus systems, so it's at risk from pirates, batarians, and so on. However, it's also outside Council space, so they don't have the authority to stop us." He frowned to himself. "But it means we're probably going to get an 'I told you so,' or something like it."

Richard seemed offended. "Won't the geth make them sit up and take notice, Captain? If they have a fleet of those dreadnoughts, we are all in some bad trouble."

"They may actually blame us for it. They will try to protect Saren; they can't afford not to. The ambassador is a no-nonsense guy, though; he'll step on their toes until they apologize. But we have to get up there; I have to make sure he knows the geth have turian weapons, and more importantly, that they have those massive super-dreadnoughts."

As the outer door grumbled open, the Boatswain VI said, "The Commanding and Executive Officers are ashore. OD Pressly has the deck."

Anderson immediately set off down the docking arm, speaking as he walked. "They've been hiding in the Perseus Veil for almost three centuries. It takes us about three years to build an Everest-class dreadnought, and we're limited by treaty...uh...of Farixen. The geth aren't. That means they could have a hundred…if they build them as fast as we do without the bureaucracy and second-guessing." He shook his head as he walked. "And that thing was twice the size. God help us."

Shepard's ARO displayed a message: Exiting Alliance jurisdiction. DisplaiD active?

He gestured to accept the status change. His name and other helpful information would be displayed to all systems that tracked such things, and to people who interacted with him. Though the system made purchasing and exchanges practically frictionless, and kept people responsible for their actions, it had not quite managed to render introductions obsolete. There was still something personal about a handshake and a spoken name.

As they reached the end of the docking arm and turned to the right, Shepard noticed a pair of JGs approaching from the elevator. "Sir? Captain Anderson?" The tiny, dark-skinned woman had a walk that said she'd flatten anything in her way. "Lieutenant van der Reippe, ACL." She stopped and saluted crisply; her salute was echoed by the younger man whose name tag read Jurek. "Sir, there are reporters waiting in ambush for you at the bottom of this elevator."

"I'm aware of that," Anderson saluted cursorily as he walked, "We're going to wade right through them. I have a meeting with Ambassador Udina that starts about three minutes ago."

"I see you have brought backup, sir, but frankly, you don't stand a snowball's chance." She stuck a thumb over her shoulder, "They're at platoon strength, they have superior position, and they know you're coming."

The other soldier, a taller man whose complexion made it look as though he hadn't even seen a picture of a sun in months, smiled but managed not to laugh aloud.

"But if it's any consolation, we're here to rescue you, sir. If you'll follow me." She didn't wait for Anderson to slow down or even to reach her location; she turned on her heel and marched past the elevator, along the gangway to the back wall.

As they walked, Shepard noticed that the bay could easily have handled a larger ship…and this dock was using the largest Kiggs Field he'd yet seen. He turned to make polite conversation with the attractive JG; but her left hand was on her right-mounted omnitool, and she was subvocalizing.

Probably texting Udina that we're here, he thought. He glanced at the Captain. "Sir? Have you considered sending the dreadnought footage ahead? That's serious stuff."

Anderson nodded. "He should have gotten it from Trident…assuming they passed it on to him."

"If we're already late, maybe you want to make sure he's got it. And read it."

Anderson frowned. "Donnel can be kind of cranky, especially if he thinks you're trying to do his job for him. He'll let you do it if he asks, though."

The team continued in silence for a moment.

JG van der Reippe looked over her shoulder. "The word is that the Ambassador is planning to talk with the Council privately. Sounds like he's positioning this Saren thing as a way he can save the Council from being embarrassed." She stopped in front of a door. "We'll have to go through decon here, but there's a car waiting to take us directly to the embassy."

Decontamination took every bit of three minutes, which Anderson spent anxiously flipping through his omnitool, but there were two official Alliance cars waiting for them within ten meters. van der Reippe had split them into groups while they waited for decon to finish, and hustled them aboard as soon as the doors opened; Anderson and Shepard took the car with van der Reippe; Alenko, Williams, and Jenkins took the car with Jurek.

The car accelerated as if catapulted along the short tunnel from the private Alliance access, and inserted them directly into traffic, at speed. Richard, who had been ogling van der Reippe until he found himself in the wrong car, now had a bird's-eye view of the Presidium ring. "Wow, this is huuuge!"

The hollow Presidium Ring was over a kilometer thick, and the sides of it were filled with solid structures; the appearance was of skyscrapers separated by parks and water features. The access tunnel had accelerated them into the traffic lanes with an artificial sky above, so the view from the car was a lot like riding above a small but advanced city in a narrow valley.

Lieutenant Jurek smiled and nodded, but kept his hand pressed against the Security Reader. "Sure is. I've been here a couple of weeks and it's still amazing. And wait until you see the Wards."

"We saw them as we were landing," Richard said, "But how do they keep the air in?"

The other man shook his head. "I think it's a kind of Kiggs field, but it's emitted by the station arms to a distance of seven or eight meters. I don't think anyone I know fully understands it yet. They warned us it doesn't have a sharp boundary. The starscrapers make it look like a groundside city, but they're all pressurized like any other station."

"So where are we going?" Ash asked.

He looked over his shoulder at her. "The human embassy. We're just bypassing Customs and stuff. Normally, you'd go through Alliance Dock Authority."

"This is faster?"

"Faster…and super rare. We're picking you up at the ambassador's request. He probably wouldn't have have done it except I think he wants you there an hour ago."

Ash nodded and looked out the window at the view below. "Gee, at this height, I can't tell the aliens from the animals."

JG Jurek didn't take his eyes off her. "Well, we're all animals when you get down to it…but there aren't any dogs or cats or anything. About the most pet anyone can license is fish."

Ash pointed, "You mean those…are aliens?"

Again, the wiry man didn't bother trying to see what she was looking at. "If it's moving under its own power and it's not human, it's alien. They don't even allow mechs on the station…not since the geth uprising." He shrugged. "It's such a pain…me and Vandy get to do all the grunt work."

"Grunt work?" Richard turned quickly. "You guys are O-2s!"

"Yeah. Know why you won't see any Enlisted working here? 'Cos if you're not getting paid enough, you can't afford to live here."

They rode on in silence for a moment.

"Hm." Ash sounded annoyed. "They've built themselves quite a lake. I wonder if anyone ever drowned in it?"

Jurek shrugged. "In two thousand years, I don't see how they couldn't. But it's just part of the hydrologic cycle here. You can't swim in it, they don't keep fish in it, and if anything falls in, the keepers go out and get it immediately."

"Hey, look...birds!" Kaidan turned his head to follow them as the skycar flashed past. "I thought you said there wasn't anything but fish."

"Those aren't pets. They're asari birds…I mean…they're native to Thessia. I suppose they're like pigeons…but they're prettier. It's weird…they hardly ever land…"

# # #

Anderson stepped into the front left seat, and the doors closed with a sigh. van der Reippe quickly maneuvered the car down the on-ramp. "Sorry, sir. I hope I didn't divide your team up incorrectly, but I need to speak with you and Spectre candidate Shepard privately." She didn't wait for a response, but seemed very focused on driving the nearly automated skycar. She glanced at the rear view and saw the other car close behind.

"I'm monitoring the conversation Ambassador Udina is having with the Council, and it looks like they're just stonewalling him. It's pissing him off." She glanced at Anderson quickly, then forward again. "You might only get there in time to be on the receiving end of him being unhappy. Brace yourself."

"Hm." Anderson nodded, paused to think. "Any idea why he contacted the Council before the actual hearing?"

She shook her head. "I'm just a lowly minion. I think he's pushing too hard, and they're not havin' any of it."

Anderson sighed, looked out his side window. "Well, at least he's trying."

"You can say that again." van der Reippe smiled to herself, as if at a joke. "Sir."

Shepard leaned forward, "But what was he hoping to accomplish? We don't want to get there and start working at cross-purposes."

"Like I said, sir, I don't know, at least not yet. But he keeps talking about Saren as if he's responsible for the attack on Eden Prime. I thought you didn't even see him."

"We didn't, but that…"

"Saren was there," Anderson interrupted.

"That shot Nihlus took looked like an assassination," Shepard continued. "I heard a Predator gunshot at a time that coincides with what the Field Forensics says it happened. Nihlus was carrying all Spectre-issued gear, some really exotic stuff, so it wasn't him shooting at something." He read from the VI's analysis as it appeared in a window on his ARO, "Entry angle, cellular impact propagation at the wound site, even hypersonic burn on the entry wound; he was really close to the linac that launched that round. The only thing we don't have is biometrics on Nihlus to correlate the timing. If the Spectre office will release his blackbox data to us, we can wrap this up in five minutes."

van der Reippe shook her head again. "Sorry, sir, that's outside my expertise. But it sounds like you can do something ambassador Udina hasn't been able to. Don't let him catch you doing it, though. He's a real glory hound."

Shepard turned to Anderson, "Captain, do you think he'll actually stand in the way of us getting the right thing done?"

"Not if we can get him to see past his planet-sized ego."

Shepard put an elbow on the bottom of the windowframe and leaned to the right, watching the Presidium Ring race past. Though it was quite an amazing sight, he was reminded of a friend's observation: To err is human. To err spectacularly, just add power.

"There's also the issue of Spectre secrecy," van der Reippe continued, "They may not let you access Spectre agent blackbox data. If they did, it could implicate Saren."

Shepard sat up again, "They'd protect a dirty agent? If he's actually working with the geth, the Council might as well shoot themselves in the foot!"

Anderson growled quietly, "Not like they've ever done that before."

van der Reippe glanced over her shoulder at Shepard. "I just don't know that much about Spectre operations, sir. We've had a few Spectre visits at the embassy – mostly asari…one turian – but I only knew they were there because I'd been informed. I was supposed to stay out of their way, give 'em access to whatever they wanted to see, and I wasn't supposed to say until they were gone." She shrugged. "Seemed like regular folks to me, though." The skycar slowed as it approached an opening high in the wall-covering buildings, appearing to slide sideways as it did.

They eased into a parking spot; the doors clacked and opened as the other skycar followed them in and parked in the farther of the two remaining places.

van der Reippe led them to a door, through the Security scanner, and into a small foyer. She waved a hand to her left as she walked across to the door opposite, "Just up those stairs and on your right is the ambassador's office. As this is a private meeting, I'll be leaving you here, but if you have any questions, the receptionist in the lobby can help, or there's an Avina terminal at the entrance."

Richard's eyes never left her, even after the door closed. "Mmm...I think I'm in love," he said.

Kaidan made a show of looking at his omnitool. "Yup, it's that time of day."

"Come on, we're already late," Anderson said, jogging up the stairs. The door they found there opened into a spacious office; as they entered, they saw a man facing a holographic meeting interface like the one aboard Normandy. Three figures were displayed; the middle one was speaking, "…to present any evidence you have at the formal hearing."

The man had a fist raised, "This is an outrage! The Council would step in if the geth had attacked a turian colony!"

"The turians don't found colonies on the border of the Terminus Systems, ambassador." The salarian Councillor's hologram, scowling out from under a ceremonial hood, folded its arms.

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse," added the asari.

"Well of course we did; you've had millennia of a head start to colonize every other available garden planet, the Traverse is the only available space!"

"That complaint is Old Business," the salarian Concillor said reproachfully, "and not the topic of discussion."

"What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rogue Spectre; I demand action!"

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, ambassador," the holograph of the turian, hands clasped behind, shook its head.

"Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren," the asari added, "We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing, not before. Good day, Ambassador."

The holographic interface quickly faded off.

With no one else to vent his spleen at, the ambassador turned with a sneer on his face. "Captain Anderson. I see you brought half your crew with you."

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime…in case you had any questions."

"I have the mission reports," Udina said ponderously, "I assume they're accurate."

"They are," Anderson said. "Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience."

"They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason."

Shepard folded his arms. "I don't know that it's treason, but killing a Spectre…isn't that like killing a cop, only worse?"

"Settle down, Commander. You've already done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy for the Spectres. The mission to Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up dead, and the beacon was destroyed."

"Nihlus isn't dead…" Shepard began.

Anderson took a step toward the ambassador, pointed at Shepard, "That's Saren's fault, not his."

Udina was unimpressed. "Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise, the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres." Udina stopped behind his desk, touched the interface briefly, and looked up at Anderson. "Come with me, Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing. Shepard, you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower, top level. I'll make sure you have clearance to get in. The hearing begins at 1300 Citadel time. Don't be late." Without waiting for a reply, he turned and stepped out the door. Anderson looked at each of the crew in turn, nodded approvingly, and followed the ambassador.

Ash waited until the door had closed. "And that's why I hate politicians."

Jenkins, who had walked straight to the balcony railing, was looking out over the view. He gestured to it with both arms outstretched. "This is great! It looks like a business park on Earth!"

Shepard noticed his VI had added a countdown timer to his ARO clock. "Well, we have about fourty-five minutes. It might be expensive here, but they've gotta have something we can do for free. An observation deck or shopping or…something."

Kaidan looked up from the computer interface in an alcove. "There's a public terminal over here with full realtime if anyone wants a new NetBite."

"Good idea." Ash sighed as she walked over. Raising her arm, she tapped at the interface. "I lost a month's worth of local data when that bomb's defenses spiked me."

Kaidan didn't seem to be listening; he has a very serious expression as he read from his ARO.

"Something wrong, LT?"

"Hm? Oh, uh…probably not." He glanced to his omnitool and back at his ARO. "Just…weird. I'll have to do a little digging later, I suppose."

Ash shrugged, looking down at her omnitool to check its progress.

Shepard had stepped over to the balcony next to Richard. "Your family okay?"

"Oh, yeah…I got in touch with them before we left Eden Prime. They saw the geth ship landing, but it wasn't near enough for them to get any mechs dropped on them. They're in town now, helping get supplies out, picking up the pieces." He chuckled to himself. "My little sister thought she had to join up to help with recovery."

Shepard nodded. "Good; glad to hear they're okay." He looked across the room at Kaidan and Ash, checked his ARO for the time. "Well, even in under an hour, we can see something besides the ambassador's office. Let's go have a look." He started towards the door. "Alenko, Williams; feel free to go off on your own, but just make sure you're at the hearing in time. I'd suggest we stay together, though, or at least close."

Kaidan turned off the omnitool's interface, followed quickly, "Let's go, then."

They exited the office, went back down the stairs they had come up upon arrival. The door to the parking lot was locked, so they turned left and went through the other door. Another set of stairs took them down into a lobby with its entrance to their left, an asari receptionist near the back wall, and seating between.

Shepard stopped at the receptionist's desk, but didn't have time to offer a greeting. The asari looked away from the console displays just long enough to let Shepard know he was being addressed. "Good day, Commander; the human ambassador is up the stairs, first room on the right." The one glance was startling; the asari's attractively large eyes seemed to glow from within.

Shepard nodded. "Thank you. We're at liberty for about an hour; is there something we shouldn't miss while we're here?"

The receptionist's hands never seemed to stop moving. "This is the Presidium; more specifically, you are at the Citadel Sector Nine embassies. If you have more questions, please…feel free to access Avina." Looking toward the holograph quickly, the asari held up one hand toward the lobby entrance while the other continued working.

Shepard glanced over his shoulder. There was a small crowd of humans clustered around the holograph, listening as it talked about something. "That's Avina?"

The receptionist gestured to her console, looked up at him again. "Of course…that is not Avina herself, but the VI is designed to look and sound like her. It is the virtual guide for the Citadel. Feel free to access the terminal yourself." This time, Shepard's VI had switched into Analysis Mode, and highlighted the alien's eyes with a callout: Retina construction allows greater light-gathering capability, similar to felines of Earth. Typical of asari.

"What's your name? What do you do here?"

"My name is Saphyria. I am the administrative assistant for the Sector Nine embassies."

Shepard looked down at the console, and then back at the receptionist. "You look really busy; we'll leave you alone."

Saphyria looked apologetically at him. "I'm sorry, Commander. The embassies are the hub of all Citadel politics. When you represent trillions of citizens, it tends to get a little busy. Thank you, Commander, and have a pleasant day."

As they walked to the lobby entrance, Ash sniffed, "Well, excuse me."

"Aw, be nice. Most folks probably come in the front door and ask this VI. The uh…receptionist there looked pretty busy. Probably more than usual with Eden Prime." A window popped open on Shepard's ARO. A still of a blueframe VI face appeared on it, looking very much like the one they were approaching.

"Greetings, and welcome to the Presidium. Allow me to be your guide."

Shepard selected the Accept option, and the window expanded and slid to the right, revealing the whole head and shoulders. It was animated as it spoke, "My name is Avina, and I am pleased to be your virtual guide throughout this level of the Citadel space station."

Looking to either side, he saw that Kaidan, Ash, and Richard were all interacting with their own instances of the VI. He stopped short of the crowd, touched his left ring fingertip to thumb to activate the omnitool holo; a social cue that he was paying attention to augmented or virtual reality. He subvocalized as he spoke to the VI, "Who is…or was…Avina?"

"Avina T'Yreen was the mission leader of the Limalia, the first crewed ship from Thessia to board the Citadel in 633 BCE by your calendar. I am a fully interactive virtual intelligence based on Avina. Programmed to provide spontaneous guidance at predetermined points of interest throughout this level of the Citadel. I may also be contacted through any of the Presidium VI terminals, or your personal omnitool, should you require assistance."

He shrugged. "Give me the tour."

"You are standing at terminal nine two seven. On either side of this lobby are the embassies of the various Citadel races, along with a workspace for accessing the diplomatic archives, and the C-Sec storefront for Sector Nine. On the far end of this level you can see the Citadel tower, where the Council meets regularly to discuss matters of interstellar importance."

"Tell me about C-Sec."

"Citadel Security serves as law enforcement for all regions of the Citadel, though the majority of officers serve in the Wards. Executor Pallin, a turian, is the current head of C-Sec. But individuals from virtually every species across Citadel space serve as officers beneath him. If you wish to learn more, Executor Pallin's office is located in the C-Sec headquarters."

The crowd of people had been dispersing as Avina spoke on Shepard's ARO; now that they were gone, he stepped up to the terminal and closed the ARO window. He spoke to the hologram, "Where are the other embassies?"

The figure picked up right where the VI had left off. "Each species in Citadel space important enough to be consulted on matters of galactic politics maintains an embassy on the Presidium. The volus were the first non-Council species to be granted an embassy, roughly 2,384 Galactic Standard years ago."

Ash lowered her omnitool and stepped over next to Shepard, listening.

The Avina holo continued, "As Citadel space has expanded, more embassies have been added. The most recently added embassy belongs to your own species, Commander Shepard: Humanity. It was added nineteen Galactic Standard years ago, despite some rather vocal opposition."

"Opposition?" Shepard tilted his head. "Hm. Who? And Why?"

"Some species felt that humanity was given preferential treatment. It often takes a century or more before a new species is granted an embassy. The Council gave a great deal of thought to this matter. In the end, they decided Humanity's impact on Citadel space was significant enough to warrant an embassy."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Didn't actually answer the 'who,' did it?" She shook her head. "Even the VIs are politicians."

Shepard continued, "How come the volus were the first species given an embassy?"

"In the early years following the formation of the Council, the volus were – apart from the asari and salarians – the most populous, and widespread species in Citadel space. They established many new colonies and trading outposts, and they petitioned the Council for a greater role in determining interstellar policy. In recognition of their work to expand interstellar trade, and particularly to establish a standardized galactic economy that accommodated Scarcity and Non-Scarcity economies across civilizations of all sizes and structures, the volus were granted an embassy here on the Citadel."

By now, Kaidan had joined them. Shepard asked, "Why weren't they made a 'Council race'?"

"The Council races have extensive responsibilities. They must provide personnel and ships for the Citadel fleet. They often provide economic aid in times of disaster. It would be unfair to demand such an enormous burden of a species unable to meet these obligations. The embassies allow lesser species to have a voice on the Citadel."

Ash turned to Shepard. "'Lesser species'?! That's pretty damned arrogant," she snarled.

The hologram inclined its head slightly toward her. "I apologize if my personality has offended you. Please submit all formal complaints by email or RTM to the Citadel Tourist and Visitor Board."

Kaidan thought aloud, "I didn't see any orders for offloading Nihlus or his gear. I wonder how much it knows about Spectres?"

Avina answered immediately, "The term 'Spectre' is derived from the branch of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. Each Spectre agent is 'hand-picked' by the Council. Their primary role is preserving galactic stability and resolving volatile situations that cannot be handled through normal political means. In this role, they are granted extra-territorial rights and jurisdictions. Spectres answer to no law or authority except the Council itself."

Shepard had checked with Pressly via RTM while Avina spoke. "Pressly says they're offloading Nihlus and his gear now."

Kaidan said, "He still…uh…comatose?"

"His VI said 'estivating.'" Shepard answered. "And it was a turian medical team that picked him up." He turned back to the Avina VI. "What can you tell us about the Citadel Council?"

"Originally, the Council consisted or representatives of the asari and salarians, the two dominant species in Citadel space. Roughly 1,304 Galactic Standard years ago, turians were invited to join the Council in recognition of the role they played during the Krogan Rebellions. Since then, the three Council Races have worked together to ensure the peaceful coexistence of the galactic community, while preserving individual autonomy for each species."

"It can't be as simple as that," Shepard replied, "There must be problems somewhere in the system."

"I am not programmed to make that kind of qualified judgement. My code is limited to information, and simple interaction simulations."

Kaidan said, "Well, the goal may be simple, but the means of accomplishing it could get complicated."

Shepard snorted. "I suppose it wouldn't be the first time a mission controller has said something as unhelpful as, 'This mission is simple: save the galaxy, using…a banana.'"

Kaidan smiled to himself and nodded thoughtfully; Ash simply rolled her eyes.

Shepard spoke to Avina, "Alright, so what is there for tourists to see or do that doesn't cost a lot?"

"There are airtours of the Citadel available from the Presidium that start at 270 credits, though less expensive toward the ends of the Ward arms. There is a viewing area in the Wards access from which you can look out over much of the Citadel.

"There are a great variety of shopping areas to which access is free. If you are in financial distress, each ward has its own shelter area, where you can rest, apply for a credit extension, receive free or low-cost medical treatment, attend to hygiene needs, and secure working transport off the Citadel."

Richard looked up from his omnitool. "Hey, there's a lounge right over there," he said, "Can we just go poke our heads in there and see what it's like?"

Shepard looked at Kaidan and Ash; she shrugged indifference, he smiled as if amused.

"Five minutes," Shepard said. "I'm not paying twenty credits for a drink."

As they stepped away, Avina said, "Goodbye, and thank you for using Avina. Please enjoy your visit to the Citadel."

Shepard let his VI continue to study the tourist guide he had downloaded as they walked back through the lobby and into the left corner. The stairs there were a mirror image of the ones they had come down from the embassy.

As they went through the door at the top landing, his ARO displayed the Avina face briefly, then highlighted the door to their right. Sector 9 Diplomatic Archives, it read. They followed Richard through a door to their left.

Entering another small foyer, his ARO added, Sector 9 C-Sec Storefront to the door to their left, and Fezziwig's Grill and Lounge to the door ahead.

"Hm," Kaidan was looking over his shoulder, "I wonder what's in the Diplomatic Archives?"

Shepard nodded. "Go find out. You know which dead end we'll be in."

Ash watched him go, and then indicated the door to their left. "Do we want to stop in the C-Sec office and offer them our blackbox data?"

"Kind of surprised they didn't already ask for it." He turned to Richard. "Go on ahead. We'll catch up."

"Sure thing, sir." He ambled toward the doorway.

Shepard and Ash stepped through the C-Sec entrance and found a lone turian sitting at a desk. Shepard's ARO added a callout:

C-Sec Executor Pallin.
Stand at ease, do not salute. Address as 'Executor.'
Face Executor Pallin until interaction is complete.
Keep hands off belt and away from weapons unless they are already in hand.

Pallin looked up. "Commander Shepard. I didn't expect to see you here. Did Ambassador Udina send you?"

"Good afternoon, Executor. In fact, he didn't. I have a meeting with the Council in about half an hour, and I'm hoping C-Sec's very hurried investigation has all the information from the Eden Prime ground team. I didn't know if you had our blackbox data, but I thought it might be useful, and wanted to personally make sure it had been made available to you."

"Sorry, Commander. I don't make a habit of giving out details about ongoing investigations."

"Quite all right, Executor; I'm not looking for information, I'm offering it."

"But I have not asked for it. For you to offer it suggests you have an agenda. One does not pluck the berry before knowing it is of plant and not wad'nes."

Shepard's ARO displayed a window, The idiom suggests one does not grasp without knowing what is offered.

Wad'nes: a ferret-sized predator native to Palaven that lives in rocky terrain. It has an appendage that looks like a newly-budding plant; it will extend this appendage and remain very still for days at a time until herbivorous prey approaches and attempts to eat it, whereupon the wad'nes will sting and eat it.

Shepard read this quickly and nodded to himself. "Hm. Very well, then. I'll confess to being a bit surprised to see you here. C-Sec's Administrative offices are elsewhere, aren't they?"

"I'm working from this office because I'm overseeing the investigation, and the proximity to your ambassador is helpful."

Shepard sighed. "All right, if you find you want our blackbox data, I'll be sure Ambassador Udina has it." He nodded politely. "Good day, Executor."

"Goodbye, Commander."

*** Glossary ***

ACL: Alliance Citadel Liaison

ARO: Augmented Reality Overlay

blueframe: like wireframe, but with a dedicated to voxel rendering; the result is spatially accurate, but otherwise uncharacterized, which keeps it on the "not human" side of the Uncanny Valley (providing users with a degree of separation that allows them to be more comfortable with it,) and also makes it less computationally demanding during rendering

DisplaiD: an opt-in technology allowing user identity to be readily available. Ostensibly for security and commercial purposes - something like a civilian IFF - but also used as a way of knowing how to address someone without first being introduced

IFF: Identification Friend or Foe; system for distinguishing allies from targets

Kiggs field: an atmospheric containment shield technology, used at docks and on warships to contain atmosphere and protect against some electromagnetic radiation. Most ships carry the generators but use them only if the hull has sustained damage that compromises atmospheric integrity. Warships use them only in such circumstances, because the field is easily detected at megameter ranges

NetBite: An extranet protocol that allows a user's Pview (see Pview) of the extranet stay local to their processing for apparent realtime access when no connection is available for actual realtime access

Pview: "personal view," a VI-augmented assemblage of data from the extranet that a user is considered likely to access at any given time. It is necessarily a subset of extranet data, but still measured in petabytes or exabytes; allows for an approximation of functional extranet access without using bandwidth.

RTM: Realtime Text Message

SmartPak: VI-controlled backback that interacts with armor and any available user interface to carry, present, recharge, and retain a soldier's weapons