"Back so soon, Shepard?" Joker called to her from the innards of the ship. "Oh... and you brought company," he finished cautiously after peering behind his pilot's chair to get a glimpse at her entourage.

EDI - her mobile platform, at least - was already up and protectively sidestepping in front of her helmsman. "Commander, what brings you back so soon?"

"We have a situation. Can you get Tali up here?"

"Of course. She is on her way."

"Thanks." Turning back to her would-be captors, she straightened and leveled her gaze at the Omega's CEO. "Anyone else you want to bring along?"

"Hardly," Aria replied scathingly. "I just cleaned house, Shepard. I don't plan on leaving the door wide open for the bugs to get in. I barely approve of your Quarian friend. But if she's as good as you say she is I'm willing to take that risk."

"I'm flattered." Tali's beautiful neckpiece glimmered as she lifted her head in a cool nod, only her bright eyes visible behind her ever-present helmet. "But I'd assume you were used to bugs by now, Aria. Omega isn't exactly known for its cleanliness."

"Then you'd do well not to poke any holes in that suit while you're on my rock. I hear Quarian immune systems are just awful. Wouldn't want you to catch anything life threatening now would we?"

Tali crossed her arms impatiently, her forked hands tapping at the intricate fabric wrapped around her suit like an aerial silk. "What exactly were you enlisting our help for this time anyway? I take it you haven't managed to lose Omega twice in such a short span of time."

"Enough, both of you," Shepard chastised. "Aria's base was bugged. Whoever it was tried to cover their tracks and make it look like I planted it."

"Do you have any leads?"

"No. But my shit list is pretty long; it could have been any one of the enemies I've made over the centuries," Aria supplied.

"Then I think it'd be a good idea to bring one more along with us."

"Like who?"

"Well," Tali drawled, choosing her words carefully. "Someone whose reaction time puts any of ours to shame. EDI has the software to run a full sweep of the device in nanoseconds, something no organic could do."

"I see." Only the thoughtful tilt of her head read any emotion; EDI's polymer facial features retained their usual neutrality. "I could also corroborate the monitoring device's design with that of known Cerberus models that were previously installed onboard the Normandy."

"Point us in the right direction if the connections are there." Shepard nodded. "Sounds good."

"Now you want to bring in an AI to infiltrate my nightclub? Shepard, it's a walking, talking synthetic. I'd at least prefer the 'monitoring devices' lurking in my establishment not be sentient."

"And I would rather the Commander not help you," EDI shot back. Shepard's eyebrows arched in surprise; she'd never seen EDI openly defiant. "But Shepard has deemed you an ally and I take my lead from her."

Aria crossed her arms in front of her to mirror Tali's, defiant as ever. "What's your problem, sex bot? You have an issue with me and your boss' alliance?"

"I have an issue with your attitude. You are full of hate and spite and any would be kindness you've shown is backhanded at best. But, lucky for you, I don't have to like you to keep your best interests in mind. Assisting you helps my crewmates. That is enough for me."

"Then, lucky for you, I don't want your goddamn assistance."

"Will you get over yourself?" Shepard's tone cut the tension in the air like a hot blade. "You're insulting the people who can actually help you instead of blowing smoke up your ass like you're used to. I've about had enough of your shit Aria. You can either change your tune or I can kick you off my ship and you lose my support for good."

"You say that like I'd be heartbroken. Did you forget that I have surveillance in my establishment that's damning evidence of your real motivation for helping me retake my station? Do you remember who I am? How long I've lived, how many have come and gone before you? How many there will be long after you're dead and gone? Again." The words fell into the space between them like the tinkle of broken glass on hard cement, jangly and jarring; Shepard heard the hope she'd been holding onto shatter somewhere in there. She hated to admit it to herself.

"How little I matter in the grand scheme of things, right? Well, so be it. I'm done trying to be person I needed when I was in your shoes."

"When have you ever been in my shoes?"

"We all have a past, Aria," the human trailed in hushed tones, deftly palming the Normandy's airlock hatch by means of opening the door for the pirate queen to see herself out. "I'd have died on Earth a long time ago if I'd let what had happened there blind me to the good in others. If you only see what suits your narrative, you blind yourself to people's true motives. I didn't bug Afterlife, but your tunnel vision will give whoever did a chance to strike while your head's in the sand."

"If you think-"

Bray, who had remained silent as the scene played out before him, winced in pain as a piercing sound reverberated through his earpiece. He gripped it with a grimace as someone shouted through the static.

"What is it?" Aria pressed.

"Something's happening at Afterlife." Bray turned on his heel and marched back to the gangplank and the parked skycar. "They experienced a power surge that knocked out half of the systems on the lower levels. They're headed down to investigate it now."

"Dammit." Shards of ice darted upward as she met Shepard's gaze. "Are you coming?"

"Not this time. Go figure out who's trying to frame me and come back with an apology. Or don't come back."

It only took Aria the span of a deadpan blink to process the shift in the balance. Without a word, she deftly turned to follow Bray at a lope. Shepard watched as the pair disappeared from view, standing firm against the sinking feeling in her gut.

"I know that was hard for you, but you did the right thing." Tali's words were soft at her side, but they did nothing to alleviate the nagging sense of dread steadily rising inside of her. "You can't help someone like that."

"Yeah, maybe," the human muttered, turning to face the helm of the ship.

Peering around EDI's waist were the bright eyes of her pilot, as wide as dinner plates at the spectacle that had just unfolded. EDI turned with Shepard's gaze, then straightened with a brief pause. "Tali, I think it would be wise to discuss countermeasures should they fail to identify the actual spies."

Tali shrugged but headed off to the elevator with EDI in tow. "Maybe we should talk to Garrus; he has a good grasp of Omega's layout and major players. With luck, maybe he can help narrow down who could have gained the upper hand on Aria."

"Hey." Joker's voice brought Shepard out of her mulling a few heartbeats after the women's voices had faded from earshot. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she repeated noncommittally. "I'm not happy that it came to that."

"What are you talking about? I love it when your fangs come out. Way to stick it to her, Commander."

"Yeah. About that," she began slowly. "I'm sorry she called EDI a 'sex bot.'"

Joker didn't meet her gaze as he chewed over his next words. "...she kind of is."

Shepard pinched the brim of her nose and her mouth scrunched up unpleasantly. "Ew."

"What?" he called after her retreating figure.