This chapter is a bit shorter but I felt that was a good place to stop it. I had some fun with this chapter and I hope you like it and that it doesn't feel out of place. I am not quite sure what to do next as I have three or four competing ideas.
Anyway. Hope you like this. Please enjoy. And as always feedback is welcome.
Edited 30.05.2021 for grammatical, stylistic and logical errors. Added a codex entry
08/01/2174, Serpent Nebula, Widow, Citadel, Zakera ward.
It took longer for me to get back than I had anticipated and it seems the previous owners of the shuttle had eaten everything else so I was down to emergency rations which I have to say are as unappetising as they have always been. It was hard packed dry dirt in texture and vaguely salty, vaguely sweet, slightly greasy day old oatmeal in taste that had far too many mystery ingredients for my liking. And as I learned the hard way soaking it in water is not an option, the hard packed dirt texture is replaced by soggy, lumpy cardboard texture while also producing a smell that could have been easily used to fumigate. I tried to find out what it was made from but apart from the generic nutritional value and a disclaimer that all the ingredients were organically sourced the extranet could not come up with an answer the few times I was close enough to a comm buoy for a connection. Apart from my battle with the food my journey was uneventful. I spent my days writing reports, exercising and planning my next step. I just had two things to do first.
So finding myself on the Citadel I was incredibly relieved, while human presence on it was still quite small compared to a decade later and so the food of choice would be either asari or batarian. What salarians was best left for salarians. Even krogan would rather eat a salarian than salarian food. Despite the closure of batarian embassy four years earlier there were still plenty of them around to support a batarian food import business. Or if I was feeling adventurous there was always the krogan cuisine, which despite their ability to eat nearly anything is mostly digestible by the other levo species. Mostly. Some of the spices that they used were not always easy to distinguish from neurotoxins.
But I had already decided back on the shuttle that I would just go to the nearest asari fast food joint and get myself a double of lurn and jossy, basically their version of fish and chips but with a thick blue-green seaweed instead of chips, chopped and fried slightly on high heat and a vaguely lobster like creature instead of fish. Ordinarily any non-asari who were also not biotic did not eat their native versions instead opting for reproductions sourced from planets without eezo in everything but as I had found out a while ago trace amounts of eezo worked in a similar way on me as caffeine. But as I didn't know what long-term effects on me it would have I only indulged on rare occasions.
I had sent a message as soon as I dropped into Citadel space to Kal'leena hoping that she was also on the Citadel but I got an automated response back saying she was out on business and she would return in a few days. Hoping that was true as I had far too many questions to ask her before I went on doing anything else I headed for the rapid transit terminal.
Two hours later I found myself in Chora's Den. When I played the games I had simply assumed it was a random name to make it seem authentic but here I found out that Chora was actually a real person. She was an old turian mercenary tough as nails as they say which in this case her being turian and all was probably literally true. This version of Chora's Den was not as sleazy as the one I remembered, the central bar area did not have asari dancers on top instead had several screens showing a variety of info feeds, the kind that mercenaries and other assorted rabble that rattled around the various corners of the galaxy would find interesting. The booths along the walls were all equipped with smart privacy screens so I couldn't see what was going on in them but judging by the flow of the people inside for the past hour or so I was pretty sure that Chora did not allow anything more than slight over the clothes action and only if her girls and boys were fine with it. At least that what I thought seeing two batarians get kicked out by Mogk, her asari bouncer. I must say she was the meanest looking asari I had ever seen. Taller and more muscled than any asari I had seen she also had a glare that made even some of the krogan patrons shiver. Draining the last of my drink I motioned to Chora again. I was in the process of tasting every drink on the menu.
Roughly half an hour ago Chora had taken an interest in the strange human who has been sampling all the levo-compatible drinks in her menu and despite drinking an amount of alcohol that she knew would have made a krogan woozy the human kept drinking. So Chora took over from one of her bartenders and starting personally pour him drink after drink. And yet he was still behaving as if he was completely sober. Chora liked a challenge.
"What will it be this time?" she said tapping her claw on the bar counter.
"You know what, surprise me." I said as I looked at her, by this point I have consumed at least two thirds of her drinks menu including the cocktails and yet I have not reached my limit. I don't know what drove me here really, curiosity or fatigue or both but I knew that I was not moving from this bar stool before I could get at least slightly beyond tipsy. Maybe then I could forget about Joan, forget about Kal'leena and forget about everything else and find myself one of those nice asari for one night. But I knew that without a great deal more of alcohol that would compromise my usual strict sense of propriety I would never do it. I had unfortunately carried it over from my previous life. I did not do casual relationships or hook ups.
"Heh, you asked for it." Chora said and brought up three bottles from under the counter. One of them glowed slightly purple in the fluorescent lights. Another one was pale green and the third one simply looked like vodka. She poured two measures from one, another measure from the second one and topped it off with a half measure from the purple one. Squeezing a bit of asari lemon analogue she put the drink in front of me with a clear challenge in her eyes. I took the glass and looking straight back in her eyes downed the liquid. The mix burned down my throat like I remembered vodka doing it back when I was in my old body. There was a slight mint like sweetness to it which made my mouth feel cool as I sucked in air.
"That was something. What's in it?" I said putting the glass back down on the table feeling the afterburn from it. Considering how it affected me it must have been borderline rocket fuel.
"You are one tough human I can tell you that. First time I seen anyone but krogan drink this. Two parts ryncol, one part elasa and a dash of horosk. I wouldn't pour horosk for any human but seeing what you have drunk so far I doubt it would give you any trouble." Chora answered making it clear that my earlier guess was right. IT had been rocket fuel. I get elasa that is just asari variety of whiskey or something like that but horosk was a purely turian alcohol, their variant of absinthe if I remembered correctly and I was sure that the only reason krogan didn't use ryncol as fuel was because they would rather drink it.
"Isn't ryncol usually radioactive?" I said wondering if this counted as an attempted poisoning.
"If it's cheap. Or if someone is feeling authentically krogan and tries to make it the way they do on Tuchanka. The stuff I have is clean. Anyway you are still conscious." Chora said sounding disappointed but before I could reply I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"Mr Knight? Mr Sam Knight?" she said her australian accent clear even through the noise of the bar.
Turning slowly around I couldn't help but smile as I looked at her. Her long black hair cascading down her back. While she was dressed in exactly the kind of clothes that people coming to this kind of bars would have she still looked out place. Dark trousers, black high heel boots just above the knee, white t-shirt and a black and white leather effect jacket making her colour scheme very similar to the one she had in the game.
"Who wants to know?"I replied not even trying to hide as my eyes took in her form. I couldn't help but compare her to my world version of her both digital and the actress she was based on. And it would likely make her underestimate me, if what I knew about her from the game still held true. Miranda Lawson as I live and breathe.
"I am." she said smiling back a smile that promised quite a bit. I knew she used her looks as a weapon as much as her biotics or an actual weapon. But I was still at an advantage, I knew who she worked for and what he wanted.
"Then I am Sam Knight. Can I offer you a drink?" I said gesturing to the seat next to me.
"I would be delighted." she said and slid into the seat and yet somehow managing to accentuate every curve of her body as she moved. I wondered if this was a skill she had learned or just her natural ability at work.
As we both ordered something I turned my full attention on her and thought about what to do next. It was pretty clear that Illusive Man had Cerberus stake out the Citadel and likely any other major port hoping to catch me. He simply was not the kind of man to let destruction of his facility go. However he could never guess that I knew all about him and enough about Cerberus to seriously damage them. Which I had thought about doing but I had been busy with another crisis.
"I would be remiss in my duties as a man not to tell you that you are the most beautiful woman I have seen in the past six months at least." I said meaning every word.
"Then I would like to return the sentiment and tell you that you are the most impressive man I have seen in the past six months." Miranda said letting her eyelashes flutter just a bit as she looked at me, making me wonder if the flush I was feeling was from the alcohol I have been drinking or something else. Seriously how does she do that, it looked perfectly natural and yet just by that I knew how much actual effort and control it must have taken.
"I am pleased to hear that. But what brings someone like you to a place like this?" I said not wanting to stop our nice little game but knowing that it would be best to speed it along before she actually charms me enough. I was a reasonably normal guy after all and even if you discount the old crush I had on her prototype because of the TV show called Chuck and the fact that she was one of my favourite characters in the game, she had the looks and the knowledge to charm any more or less straight man.
"If I said I was looking for someone like you would you believe me?" she answered and leaned forward slightly giving me an easy view of what was down her neckline not that the simple white t-shirt hid much anyway. That was a bit of a cheap shot on her part but I wasn't going to complain.
"Without a doubt in my mind. Just one question. Is this personal or business?" I asked and for a moment hoping that this was just some random coincidence and Miranda simply had the same idea I had from before and I was indeed the most impressive human guy she could find. But as soon as I thought that I chased that it away. No such coincidences exist. Not when it came to Cerberus. She did know my name after all. My true name and none one of the dozens of aliases I have been using.
"And what is that your are implying there Mr Knight?" she replied her tone hurt. I guess my words could have been construed to imply that she was a hooker.
"What I mean were you looking for me specifically or just someone like me, Miss Lawson." I said deciding it was time to stop playing games. Startled she sat up straight and I could see that she was ready to leap off that stool and fight. Her reaction told me everything I needed to know. A pity.
"There is no need to be alarmed Miss Lawson. Yes I know who you are and I know the people you work for. But let's be civil here. I have absolutely no ill will towards you." I said opening my hands in a placating gesture.
"Who do you work for?" Miranda asked her voice tense. She clearly was not yet as experienced as her version in game. Which was a good thing. Maybe I could lure her away from Cerberus. It was 2174 and she had run away from her father when Oriana was a baby. Oriana was 18 or 19 in 2185 so that would make it 2167 or 2166. So she has been with Cerberus for about 7 years now. But as stir-crazy as Cerberus is I doubt they would have been sending her on missions when she was a teenager. She would have likely been sent to some kind of university. It would have been a complete and utter waste by Illusive Man not to continue her education. Miranda Lawson was far more than beauty and biotics, she as also brains.
"I wish I knew. Honestly. When I tried to look into it the only thing I found was an ancient human religious order called Knights Templar." I answered truthfully. That was something from my training. Never lie when you don't have to. Lies have a habit of making a mess of themselves. Tangling up with no rhyme or reason.
"I don't believe it. You are far too well informed." she replied tersely
"That's your choice. But I am telling you the truth. For example, I know you work for Cerberus. And I know what Cerberus does. What atrocities Illusive Man orders under the guise of protecting humanity. But I also know that you are not like the rest of them." I said and I could see my words making an impression, I just hoped it was the right one.
"Here, let me give you some food for thought." I said and reached into my jacket inside pocket, I saw her tense up again probably preparing to fend of an attack but as I brought my hand back into view holding only a datachip she relaxed slightly. I had prepared several copies on my flight here to drop off at the Alliance embassy and at the SPECTRE office. Maybe some good would have come of it but I haven't made up my mind yet.
"What's on this?" she asked clearly not sure anymore what to expect
"Information. And an extranet address where you can reach me." I said and waving my credit chit over the payment console I left her behind. I could have just continued talking but that would have been the wrong approach. Miranda Lawson I knew liked to make up her own mind, liked to take the information given and then decide what she is going to do about it. I hoped that her sense of right and wrong was still intact. Getting into a cab I flicked open my omni-tool to find a message waiting for me there. It wasn't marked as high priority but seeing who it was from I decided to answer straight away. It was an open invitation from Ray Shepard to meet. Tomorrow. He had been assigned to one of the Citadel clinics on a medical exchange. For now I needed to get some sleep, that last drink had finally tipped me over the edge and I was feeling rather tired.
Secondary Codex Entry/Alcoholic Drinks/Ryncol
Ryncol is a krogan family of drinks traditionally brewed on Tuchanka from a variety of ingredients and several different ways of preparation depending on the clan that is brewing it. Some notable examples of traditional ingredients include varren dung, crushed pyjack, clixen fire spit and clan Urdnot signature, Thresher Maw venom. Practically all ryncol brewed on Tuchanka will be slightly radioactive as the water used in the process is radioactive. As most water on Tuchanka harmless to krogan and easily negated for most other species with some anti-radiation drugs. Citadel Health Service reminds adventurous visitors that it is still not recommended for other species to drink ryncol produced on Tuchanka as the ingredients used in it are sometimes a mystery even to the krogan that brews it. Ethanol content varies from 65% to 85% by volume. Due to deficiencies in the process methanol is usually present in quantities large enough to cause poisoning in non-krogans. Ryncol is a multi functional liquid on Tuchanka. It is used as fuel for lamps, generators and even an occasional vehicle. It is used as a degreasing agent and as mild anesthetic for krogan medical procedures. Citadel Health Service reminds that krogan meaning of medical procedure is fatal to other species so any such help should be refused especially if it's being offered by a krogan 'medical professionals'.
Clean versions of ryncol exist, specially made for sale in Citadel space. Drinking it without passing out immediately remains a badge of honor for many young men and women across the galaxy. It is best to avoid any offers of ryncol made outside of Citadel space. Setting off radiological alarms in spaceports is not taken lightly by the security personnel.