Chapter 39
Captain's Quarters - SSV Normandy SR1
"I... I can't…" gasped Liara as she squinted down at Ashley through her dark, mysterious eyes. Her hand was locked on their head, her biotics lit as she tried and tried to scan, but through gritted teeth and pure frustration, they managed to hold out. Finally, the asari let go of the human with a tired sigh.
Shepard released the woman, who collapsed onto the floor, sweating and panting heavily, but not without a grin on her face. "Haaah... the Lieutenant gets to vacation on Arcturus, and I get brain probed by an alien," said Ash as she rolled onto her back. "I'm calling you out for favoritism, Shepard."
The spectre chuckled and stood to her feet, flexing her legs to work out the soreness that had been accumulated by locking the gunnery chief's wildness in place. "Congratulations, Williams. You've successfully fought off an invasion of the mind for the first time," she said as she slumped back in the chair next to her table.
"First time?" asked the woman as she stared at the upside-down form of Shepard questioningly.
Nodding, the commander picked up the small, chrome-looking orb on her desk and rolled it around in her palm. "Just because you did it once doesn't mean you're good at it. It's like every other skill, Williams. Practice begets perfection," she said with a playful smile as the chief groaned, then finally sat up.
Turning, Ash eyed the curious little object that the redhead now wielded while the asari took a seat on the bed to regain her composure. "I'm getting the feeling you just like watching us suffer," she said playfully to the woman before she nodded towards the small orb. "Is that what the consort gave you? Every figure out what it is?"
Shepard looked down at the small, palm-sized sphere and shrugged. "Not entirely, no," she said as she held it up for closer inspection. "Me and Liara think it's a prothean… something. But all I've managed to get it to do is show me a vision of a world I know next to nothing about."
Ash cocked an eyebrow as Liara planted her elbows on her knees, and her chin directly in her hands. "Unfortunately, all we have is visual images to go by. There's no other information besides what the world's surface and what its system looks like."
Nodding, the chief eyed the object curiously. "You know, I did have an interest in extrasolar worlds when I was younger. Maybe I can help?"
"Unfortunately, it appears that Shepard is the only one who can use the device," said Liara as the commander handed it to the chief. "Whether it's because it was her gift, or some other unknown…" started the doctor, but she sat up straight as Ash clenched the object and the surface rippled.
Suddenly, Ash found herself on the surface of a world, staring around at jagged, sharp mountains. She immediately recognized that these mountains were new, not weathered by time yet. Then she noticed… green snow. Or it looked like snow considering how it flew around in the air as if it were a storm. But these were plant-like organisms instead. Immediately, she inhaled sharply, her sinuses already itching at the thought of breathing them in.
But nothing happened. Instead, she looked around some more and noticed that the ground wasn't covered in the normal flora of most garden worlds. Instead, this was more moss and algae-like than the large, leafy plants of Earth and Eden Prime. Suddenly, her feet vanished from under her, and she found herself now staring at the world. It was… green. Greener than Earth had ever likely been. The landmasses were enormous, covering a large majority of the planet, making the soft blue of the waters look green even in comparison.
Then, she zoomed out again, and saw the system itself. She got a glimpse of four planets in total, one with rings orbiting around it, all circulating around a yellow dwarf sun, very similar to Earth's.
Finally, she found herself sitting on the floor of the cabin with both Shepard and Liara staring at her wide-eyed. "Did… did you just…?" asked Liara with a stupefied look on her face.
Ash nodded and looked back down at the orb. "Yeah, I saw it." Reaching up, she handed the orb back to the commander.
"How!?" asked the asari as she stood up, almost outraged. Reaching over, she took the device from Shepard and glared at it, getting a chuckle from the spectre. "Show me damn you! Why won't you show me!?"
"Well, if you look at common ground, we're both human," said Ash, who got a surprised look from the doctor.
Liara plopped onto the bed again, her brain looking like it was running hot inside her head. "But… that would mean…" she started as she stared questioningly at the odd device.
"We had prothean ruins on Mars, so we know they knew about us. Maybe they only programmed this device to respond to human DNA?" said Shepard thoughtfully as she played off Ash's idea.
"Given that they built the Citadel, relays, and pretty much laid the groundwork for our entire civilization, I wouldn't put it past them to have that kind of tech," said Ash as she propped her elbows up on her knees.
"But… you don't understand. That has vast implications, the least of which is the fact that if it were true, it would mean that the protheans intended these to be in human hands! And that opens up so many more questions than it answers!" Liara groaned in exasperation as she plopped onto the bed again.
"Well, we can always test it with the other crew members," said the chief with a shrug.
Liara's head whipped towards her, surprising her slightly as her eyes narrowed. Getting up from the bed, the asari bent down and placed her hands on Ash's shoulders. "Gunnery Chief, did I not already have vested interest in someone else, I would kiss you for that," she said before standing up and practically sprinting from the room, leaving a laughing Shepard and a fiercely blushing Williams.
Mess Hall - SSV Normandy SR1
"So, it's true! Joker, XO Pressly, Engineer Adams, Tyson, Greico, Gladstone, and Pakti were all able to recount the vision with no prior knowledge! But none of the turian fire team, Garrus, Wrex, nor myself had any reaction at all! This… this is incredible!" she practically shouted as she stared wide-eyed at the orb that now sat on the table in front of her.
Joker shook his head from across the table. "I don't get it. Is it asking you to go to the planet?"
Liara shook her head as she continued to stare at the chrome surface of the object. "It's more likely that it's kind of a homing beacon, telling the user the origin of the object."
"That means that whatever planet it's on has an undiscovered prothean ruin on it, right?" asked Ash as she bit into a hash brown.
"That is probable. The only other circumstances on which I could fathom this thing would point humans to the planet is if they took early humans from Earth there for experimentation. We already know that they took other creatures from different worlds, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did this with humans as well," she said as she poked the small orb.
"So those reports of alien probing were true?" asked Joker as he cocked an eyebrow.
"No Joker," said Shepard as she shook her head with a smile. "The protheans were wiped out over fifty thousand years ago. Those alien probe stories came from the last couple hundred years. There weren't any protheans alive when those claims came up."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Those descriptions of aliens were startlingly similar to salarians though."
"And our relay was closed and covered in ice before the First Contact War. They wouldn't have been able to jump to our system," said Kaidan playfully. "Those people were just delusional. It was a pure coincidence that they managed to guess some of the features from salarians."
"Fine fine. But I've got my eye on them," said the pilot accusingly, getting a chuckle from everyone around.
Liara lifted the orb up and finally handed it back to Shepard. "I suppose we won't know until we've found the planet it belongs to," she said as her omni-tool pinged. She looked down at it curiously, knowing that very few people had her number. Reaching down, she opened the message, and her eyes widened as she read it. Getting up, she fled to her room with many curious looks following her.
Mess Hall - SSV Normandy SR1
After the gathering in the mess hall had died down, Shepard retreated to her quarters. She sighed as the terminal now sat on the stand next to her bed, which was little more than a cot. She'd have to get a new table eventually. Sighing, she sat down on the bed and reached over, putting the terminal in her lap.
Opening the Spectre Channel, she noticed she had several personal mails and a couple spectre notifications. She immediately checked the spectre notes, one of them pointing out an odd amount of unidentified traffic heading towards the Armstrong Nebula. Apparently when they were hailed by local watchdogs, they stayed silent. "Maybe smugglers, but they don't travel in packs. It draws too much attention…" she said as she scratched her head gently. "Raiders?"
She put the thoughts aside and checked the next mail, a warning from the UNE's Interpol. The Children of Eden had gone dark. Most of the commonly known churches that they attended were abandoned and the known 'people of interest' being watched by Interpol suddenly disappeared from the radar. Her brows furrowed at the idea that this religious cult now had no eyes on it. But she wouldn't be able to investigate just yet. Perhaps Interpol would ask for her assistance later due to her experience with them.
Finally, she opened her personal mail and saw that it was sent by another admiral from the Alliance. It was Hackett again, and she sighed heavily. "Does he think I'm some kind of errand girl?" she asked as she read the body of the mail. "An Alliance satellite recently went dark?" she asked with a sigh. "How many things is Earth going to lose while I'm not there to keep track of them?" Annoyed slightly, she read the last part of the mail where Hackett asked for her to call him to discuss the satellite in question. She went to activate her omni-tool when her door suddenly opened. Looking up, she noticed the silhouette of Liara standing there. "Liara?"
"Jane, I got it!" she said as she stepped inside, the light now illuminating her figure. But she seemed to realize what she had just done and backed against the door. "I… I'm sorry. I should have knocked."
"Yes, you should have," said Shepard as she closed down the Spectre Network on the terminal. It had been facing away from the asari, so no information was in danger of being seen, but she still stared at the asari sternly as she set it aside. "Now, what is it that you've got?"
Lowering her head in shame, Liara activated her omni-tool and brought up a data file that was little more than a list of lengthy numbers. "My mother's project, the one that she was funding!" she said, her voice still excited as she looked from the data to the commander. "M-May I enter?"
Nodding, Shepard eyed her curiously. "I thought C-Sec were still investigating those. How did you figure it out?" she asked, slightly surprised by the asari.
Liara walked over and sat down on the bed next to Shepard before bringing up the data again. "I… umm… pulled some strings, so to speak. As it turns out, when my mother pulled her presence out of Thessia, she had burned a lot of bridges. Thessian corporate partners saw their investments from her dry up, creating a lot of angry and resentful asari," she said as she focused on the file and brought up all the payments from the T'Soni estate that had been pulled as a result of her mother's exit. Shepard smirked at how animated the doctor was. She appeared to be glowing with excitement as she relayed the information. "When I went searching after them to see if they had any answers, they almost immediately threw their full cooperation into helping me."
Shepard cocked an eyebrow curiously. "Why's that? Even if they are for profit, I don't see many corporations offering free services for the sake of revenge."
Liara sighed and lowered the omni-tool as she looked at her hands. "I wondered the same for a long while after receiving their help. I thought that maybe they were doing it because they felt sorry for me. But…" she said as she looked up to Shepard with a sad expression. "I took a page from your book. I investigated them thoroughly. And it appears that a lot of these companies had grown too comfortable with the funds received from the T'Soni estate. They relied on them. Now, they're trying to stay afloat while slowly sinking."
"Oh, so…" started Shepard, but Liara finished for her.
"Due to the laws on Thessia, anyone seen as an enemy of the Council are declared soksoa. Basically, they are treated as if they had died. They lose all rights to property, all rights to titles, and so on. So, in the case of my mother's demise, her estate would have passed onto me," she said as she fidgeted gently.
"So, they want you to save them? They want you to rebuild the bridges that your mother burned?" asked Shepard, getting a nod.
"I am now, by Thessian law, the head of the T'Soni estate. And my mother couldn't just liquidate the assets on the estate. Any and all money she took with her was from her personal accounts. The estate is still very wealthy but is currently in a state of flux without the next yranessa there to guide them. So, yes. I fully expect them to request new contracts with the estate once I take full control," she said as she looked up at the commander sharply.
Shepard eyed the asari curiously. "When would that be?"
"It's a relatively short process, so I was hoping that after we chase this potential lead, we could visit asari space briefly in order to sort that out. It would be a short affair, I promise, and I wouldn't need to stay long to get everything taken care of. A few days at most," she said as she peeked over at the commander hopefully.
Shepard managed to chuckle slightly at the pleading woman before nodding. "As long as we don't have anything else on the ticket, I don't have any issues with you getting your affairs in order, Liara," said the woman as she smiled.
"Thank you, Jane. That means a lot to me," she said as she brought up the omni-tool again. "In any case, while I didn't expect them to find out much, I did get a surprising bit of information that may be valuable! When I contacted the info brokers about what we were looking for, I gave them a temporary top clearance status so that the security from the estate wouldn't try and halt them. And the only thing they managed to figure out was that the payments were being sent to the corporate owned colony world first discovered by the salarians known as Noveria."
Scratching her hair gently, Shepard ran the name through her head. "I've heard of it. Had a lot of white-collar criminals I was chasing head that way because it's out of Alliance jurisdiction. It's purely run by corporations.
"Specifically, the one that charters the colony itself is the Noveria Development Corporation. But, after some investigation, I found out that the NDC is comprised of a majority of the same board members that run Binary Helix," said the asari as she opened up the dossiers on the owners.
Shepard's eyes widened slightly at the revelation before she smirked and leaned forward. "You're really good at this information game, Liara."
The asari smiled weakly as she looked away in embarrassment. "It's not that difficult when you have someone as skilled as you to learn from, Jane. I know you've mostly only stuck to Alliance contacts prior to becoming a Spectre, but my family has a lot of connections that can be used when needed," she said as she looked back up to the spectre. "I hope you know that I will do whatever it takes to assist you."
"I know, Liara. And I thank you for your loyalty," said the commander as she reached up and gently stroked the side of the asari's crest. Liara let out an almost exhausting sigh as she felt the small amount of affection. "Come on. Let's get the navigation team to take us to Noveria so we can find out what's going on there."
Port Hanshan Air Space - Noveria
"Contacting Approach Control now," responded Lowe as she nodded to Joker. "Contact."
"Approach Control, this is the SSV Normandy SR-1, requesting vector and berth," said Joker over the comm.
"Normandy, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defense grid is tracking you. State your business," responded the port authority.
Joker raised an eyebrow and looked back at Shepard, who stood over his shoulder already fully armored. "Citadel business. We have a Council Spectre aboard," he said, making a mocking face at the comm.
There was a long moment of silence before the man responded, this time with his voice more annoyed than threatening. "Landing access granted, Normandy. Be advised: we will be confirming the Spectre's identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded," said the man before the comm finally unlinked.
"Wowee, not even there yet and you've already pissed someone off, Shepard. Is that a new record?" he asked as he looked back at her curiously. She snorted in amusement before he shook his head. "Sounds like a fun bunch you got here, Shepard. Want me to break out the good neighbor gift basket for them? Maybe it'll make them loosen their tighty whities."
"Ha!" laughed Wrex from behind them all.
Pushing down her laughter, but keeping her smile, she shook her head. "I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to get answers," she said as she crossed her arms.
"Wouldn't wanna be in their shoes," groaned Joker as he took the Normandy on the vector course and steered it into the dock.
Docking Bay CR12 - Port Hanshan - Noveria
Despite her excitement in giving the information, Shepard noticed that Liara was rather nervous as she stepped into the airlock, but she understood why. Her mother's pet project, whatever she was working on here, could answer a lot of questions as to why the matriarch had suddenly turned against the Council and began working for Saren. She knew that if her own mother was the one they were looking into, she wouldn't exactly be ecstatic about approaching potential proof of treason either.
As the decontamination process finished, she turned to them all, with Liara next to her and Wrex and Tali behind her. "As some of you may have seen when we entered their air space, they do not like us here. They don't want us here. And they will do anything they can to get rid of us or slow our progress until we finally leave. But we're not leaving. Not until we find out what Benezia was doing here and see if it has any connection with Saren. So, I'm asking you all to stick close to me so that you can't get cornered and let me do the talking."
"Fine with me. Talking is a waste of time anyway," said Wrex as he rolled his shoulders impatiently.
"Well, I find it unlikely that Port Authority would openly invite a firefight with a Spectre intentionally. Even a place as secluded as this is still under Spectre jurisdiction. So, it's likely we'll only be talking here. But be ready. I don't want to be caught off guard," she said as she turned back towards the door. Finally, the process finished, and the door opened.
The four of them walked down the walkway, as Shepard felt the cold already biting into the skin of her face. They had barriers and heat sources to keep the snow from building up on the port, but the cold itself couldn't be suppressed so easily. As they entered the first checkpoint, a woman of Asian descent in armor from the neck down stopped her in her tracks. "That's far enough," she responded firmly.
"I'm on important business. Can we make this quick?" asked Shepard as she stared back into the woman's soft brown eyes.
"I'm sorry, but this is an unscheduled arrival. I'll need your credentials," said the woman, her tone ringing of no-nonsense. Despite her firm demeanor, Shepard couldn't help but feel she was just doing her job. Normally, corporations didn't send their more cooperative units to meet with unscheduled investigations. Then Shepard's eyes moved over to the blonde woman next to her. Smirking slightly, she saw the hardened, icy stare appropriate for a cold corporate world like Noveria. Dealing with her was going to be fun. The woman turned to Liara and nodded. "I'm Branch Captain Maeko Matsuo. May I have your identification, Spectre?"
Liara stared at the bun-haired woman for a moment, her eyes widening before she turned to Shepard. Taking the cue, Shepard stepped forward and opened her omni-tool. "The Spectre you're looking for is right here."
Maeko turned to the redhead and stared at her in surprise. "You? But…" she said, slightly confused as she looked back to Liara.
"Bullshit. There are no human Spectres. Let's kick their ass off the port for lying," said the blonde woman as she took a step forward threateningly. Immediately, three guns were all aimed at her from everyone but Shepard herself. The woman stopped, her brow furrowing in anger as she found herself the target of many weapons.
"Nobody move!" snapped Matsuo as she turned and glared at her crony. "Sergeant Sterling stand down! You three…" she said as she looked at the spectre's crew. "Stand down."
Wrex snorted, but the three of them finally lowered their weapons. "Might wanna watch your mouth, Sterling was it?" asked Shepard as she stared into the woman's blue eyes. "My crew takes threats against me very seriously."
"That will not be necessary… Spectre. Please show me your identification," snapped the branch captain. Shepard nodded, then passed her Citadel ID along. Once she had it, she pressed the small earpiece in her ear. "Parasini-san, we need confirmation on the identity of Spectre Jane Shepard," said the woman, still looking up at Shepard.
The Spectre returned her stare, smirking slightly at the annoyance in Stirling's gaze about being dismissed. "So, Branch Captain, you are with ERCS, correct?"
"That's none of your damn business," snapped Stirling as she clenched her weapon.
"I don't recall asking you, Sergeant," said Shepard as she eyed the woman, never losing her smirk. "Do you make a habit of speaking for your captain?" she asked the woman.
Maeko turned and glared at Stirling before finally looking back at Shepard. "Yes, we are with Elanus Risk Control Services."
"So, if I find out that another corporation here is working against ERCS's best interest, what would you do if I were to eliminate it?" asked Shepard curiously.
"There will be no eliminating here, Spectre. Assuming you are who you say you are, I'd advise you to keep your nose clean. We are running things fine here without the Citadel Authority stepping in to take matters into their own hands," she said as she looked at the commander in annoyance. A moment later, she appeared to get a response as she placed her finger against her ear again. Shepard smiled as the woman nodded. "Alright. Turns out you're clear," she said with a sigh. "Your weapons are to be holstered at all times. And please keep your squad from wandering. Oh…" she said, giving Shepard a nod. "And congratulations, Spectre."
Jane's eyebrows rose in curiosity before she smiled at the woman. "Thank you, Captain. You're a good soldier. Don't let these corporate types corrupt you," she offered as her eyes briefly looked over to Stirling.
Simply bowing her head, Maeko pointed at the main entrance to the building. "Parasini-san will be waiting for you at the front desk. Please speak to her before you proceed."
Acknowledging the woman's words, Shepard nodded to the others, who tucked their weapons away before they all made their way inside. "Heh, good start. I think I'm gonna like it here."
"That makes one of us. Ugh…" groaned Tali as she looked around at all the people waiting in the lobby. Many of them wore fancy suits and stared at her as they all passed. "Can't wait to get out of here."
Liara stayed silent as Shepard approached the front desk. She was immediately met by a woman with a silken-looking red dress wearing her hair up in another business-like bun. "I'm Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis," she said in a pleasant tone. "We apologize for the incident in the docking bay."
Brushing the occurrence aside, Shepard shrugged. "Not a big deal. I've dealt with worse."
Nodding, the assistant picked up a datapad and gave Shepard a cute smile. "One of my duties here is the orientation of new arrivals. Obviously, you won't be put through the typical question and answer process. But if you need to ask any questions, I'd answer them to the best of my abilities."
Nodding, Shepard leaned onto the counter, trying to appear relaxed. "First, I want you to be aware that I'm not here to step on any toes. Whatever the corporate vampires are doing here with their money isn't my concern."
"Many of our board will be happy to hear that. But that does beg the question as to why you are here," said the woman, her tone no less pleasant than before.
"I'm investigating a financial transaction from a Thessian source to somewhere here on Noveria," stated the spectre plainly.
The woman smiled even brighter. "Oh, that should be easy! Though, to get any kind of information on what was being purchased, you will have to contact to project leads yourself. But I can tell you where to go!" she said eagerly.
Shepard eyed the woman, curious as to why she was being so cooperative. Pushing the thoughts aside, she simply stated, "Then what can you tell me about the transaction coming from the T'Soni Estate on Thessia?"
The woman nodded and typed on her datapad for a moment before her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Lady Benezia! What a coincidence! She happened to stop in a few days ago, so you can ask her directly!" said the woman excitedly.
Shepard and Liara's eyes both widened at the words. "She's here? Now?" asked Liara almost desperately.
But the woman shook her head. "Not here in Hanshan, I'm afraid. Upon arriving, she headed up to the Peak 15 laboratory and hasn't been back since. But if you're going up there, you should run into her," said the woman as she looked back up at them curiously. "Unfortunately, as you saw coming in here, the storm outside is pretty heavy, so any movement outside is limited to ground vehicles."
"Good to know," said Shepard as she tapped her finger on the desk. "How do I go about getting to Peak 15?"
"Oh, you'll have to speak with the Administrator first and get authorized for a garage pass. If you'll come with me, I can take you to his office," she said as she stepped out from around the desk and guided them towards the elevator.
"Shepard," started Liara, getting the spectre's attention as the others headed inside the open elevator. Jane stared at her curiously as the asari fidgeted madly. "You… you must want to talk to me. About my mother, I mean."
Shepard reached forward and gripped Liara's fidgeting hands, keeping her from the nervous habit. Liara looked up into Shepard's green eyes with her own. "Liara, we've been through a lot together. You've seen some of the worst things I've had to endure, and I've seen you working your rear end off trying to help me," she said with a gentle smile. "I trust you."
Liara grinned happily, trying not to break her gaze away as her skin flushed slightly. "Thank you, Shepard. That means a lot to me," she said as the spectre finally released her again.
"Let's get going. Something tells me it isn't going to be as easy as asking the administrator for authorization," she said as she headed for the elevator with the doctor in her wake.
After a short ride in the elevator, enhanced by the cheerful welcome message playing from the speaker, the group followed Gianna towards a large office on the bottom floor. As they entered the smaller office in front, the assistant sat behind an elaborately decorated desk. "Anoleis is in the office just behind here. I'll go ahead and log your visit," she said as she typed away at her terminal. Shepard stood and waited for a moment as the woman opened a line. "Administrator?"
"Yes yes, what is it?" asked a rather annoyed salarian from the viewer as his face popped up on the screen.
"You have a visit from Spectre Jane Shepard. Her identity has been confirmed with Citadel sources, and she says she'd like to speak with you," said the opulent woman.
"As if I don't have enough to deal with… ugh… fine. Send her in," responded the salarian as he ended the call abruptly.
Smiling up to Shepard, Gianna nodded. "He will see you now."
Shepard turned to the others. "Wait here. I'll see what I can do," she said as she swerved around the desk and entered the door in the back. As soon as she walked in, she spotted the salarian whose skin was almost a shade of navy blue. He wore a salarian tailored suit that buttoned up in the front and was currently typing furiously away at his terminal.
Without even looking up at her, he spoke. "You will excuse me if I don't stand up. I have no time to entertain spaceborne vagabonds," he said impertinently.
Shepard's brows furrowed as she stepped forward and reached out with a single hand. He sat back in surprise as she closed the terminal he was working on with a wave of her hand. "Well, would you look at that. Looks like your schedule just opened up," she said with a smirk on her face.
"You… you ignorant chodot! Do you know how long it took me to write that report!?" he snapped at her as his fists clenched.
But she didn't take a single step back. "Now you have time to entertain me. Do so, and I'll return your report to the way it was," she said with ice dripping from her voice.
Glaring at her angrily, the Anoleis pointed at her. "You do not have the sway here that you think you have, Spectre! Corporations come here to get away from the second-guessing of galactic law. I will not allow you to harass my clients. This world is private property."
"I'm aware of how you think things work here, Administrator. You don't have the galaxy breathing down your neck as you freely study and do corporate bullshit all you like. But…" she said as she glared into his voluminous eyes. "You are still under Citadel jurisdiction, and your cooperation is needed. So, you can make this difficult for me, and I can make your life a living hell, or you can cooperate with me, and I can be out of your hair… or rather out of your way as soon as possible. Do we have an understanding?"
Snorting out of his nostrils, the angry salarian folded his hands. "Fine. I will cooperate only as much as required by the Executive Board."
Waving her hands again, the terminal popped up once more exactly the way it had been previously. He looked at it in surprise before he turned back to her smiling face. "Good. I'm glad we're on the same wavelength," she said as she stood straight and crossed her arms. "I need information on Matriarch Benezia."
Nodding in annoyance, he sighed as he sat back in his seat. "She arrived a few days ago, accompanied by a personal escort of asari commandos and some cargo. Almost as soon as she arrived, she headed up to the Peak 15 laboratories."
Nodding back, Shepard continued with the questioning. "Do you know why she came here?"
"If I did, I wouldn't be at liberty to say. She came as an executor to a board member, the Spectre Saren. I am not privy to the details," he said as he waved her question off dismissively.
Sighing heavily, Shepard reached up and scratched her head. "I know you're isolated out here, but you have to know by now that Saren has been branded a traitor by the Council. Any and all business ties he had with corporations should have been severed as soon as the report went out."
"That is something you will have to take up with the board of Binary Helix. If you plan to do so, do it off of Noveria," he snapped impatiently. "I cannot give you any more information beyond that she was here to resolve an issue at the Peak 15 labs."
"If that's the case, then I need to go see her immediately. She's under investigation by the Council for potential treason," said the woman, her tone matching his impatience.
But the salarian shook his head. "I'm afraid you can't. Peak 15 is a private facility in the Skadi Mountains. There is currently a blizzard in the region, which means shuttles are grounded, and the ground access has been cut off. You will have to wait until the blizzard ends before you can go up there to do whatever it is your kind does."
Shepard nearly growled at the statement but kept her cool as she continued. "And what can you tell me about her cargo?"
"Large, heavy, and sealed. It passed our weapons screening, so beyond that it is not my concern," he said as his fingers tapped the desk.
"You're hell bound to not give me anything to work with, aren't you?" asked Shepard angrily.
But he waved her comment off in amusement. "We intentionally keep information compartmentalized in order to keep people like you from sticking their oversized noses where they don't belong. Whatever Benezia and Saren do in those labs is not my concern."
"And if I were to force you to give me a garage pass?" she asked with a glare.
"Then I would send your request to the board for consideration. But they're currently off for the day, so you may get a response tomorrow," he said, almost cheerfully this time.
Shepard stared at him for a long moment before finally smiling. "Thank you, Administrator. Your cooperation will be noted," she said as she turned around and left the office. As she did, she could feel the hair follicles on her head burning with anger. She wanted to spin around and ring his scrawny neck to get more answers out of him, but chances were that he was telling the truth. Scummy corporate practices like this required compartmentalization almost as a doctrine to keep out whistle-blowers and squealers, so much so that even Cerberus used the same tactic.
She entered the secretary's office again and shook her head at the others. Gianna stood up and smiled at her, which didn't make the situation feel any better. "From the look on your face, I'd say he didn't give you what you needed. I do apologize, Spectre."
Shepard turned to the woman and shrugged, wondering if Parasini was just as gleeful about her roadblock as Anoleis had been. But she simply nodded in response. "I'll just have to find another way through."
Stepping out from behind the desk, Gianna held out her hand with a gleaming smile, her white teeth almost shining in the light from the storm outside. "Well, I do hope the rest of your visit will be less confrontational."
The spectre eyed the woman curiously before gripping her hand and shaking it. "Thank you," she said, immediately noticing that the handshake was just a ruse. Releasing her hand, she turned to the others and nodded towards the door. "Come on, let's find someone else who can help us."
As soon as she was in the doorway to the main lobby, Shepard looked down at the device placed in her hand. It was small, about the size of a button. But she immediately recognized it for what it was. Reaching up, she placed it in her ear and tapped it. "Spectre?" came the assistant's voice.
"Mmhmm?" said the woman casually as she glared darkly at a man in a suit who was walking towards her. He apparently recognized her face and spun around, power walking the other direction and leaving his asari companion looking after him confused.
"I apologize, Spectre. I'd have warned you about Anoleis's intent not to cooperate sooner, but this place is bugged and watched from every angle," came her voice again through the dot.
"And how are you talking to me now without them listening in?" asked Shepard quietly as her squad eyed her curiously.
"We are currently experiencing power fluctuations due to the severity of the storm. It will be logged as a maintenance issue with engineering later. Besides, nothing suspicious could be going on in the office directly outside the Administrator's own, now could it?" she asked playfully over the comm. "Alright, I can only do this for short amounts of time, so listen close. I have a garage pass for you if you do me a favor."
"I don't like favors," said Shepard, her voice almost whispering as she headed up the stairs towards the emporium.
"Don't worry, Spectre. No wet work here. I just need your assistance in taking down a shockingly unhelpful administrator who has been pissing off a lot of board members," said the woman. Despite not seeing her face, Shepard knew she had a cheeky smile.
"I'm listening," she said silently as she looked over the selection of items in the small shop.
A hanar approached her, its tall translucent figure lit up in greeting. "This one is honored by your presence. Would you-"
"No," she said as she kept looking at the racks. Her squad simply took to look around the store curiously as she put on the facade of window shopping.
"Go to the hotel on the third floor. You'll find a turian there named Lorik Qui'in. Get him what he needs, and I'll contact you again. I'll be keeping an eye on you to watch your back," said Gianna as the small pop indicating the end of the communication sounded.
Turning to the others, she waved them over. "I feel like a tumor here, Shepard," said Wrex as he approached her.
She eyed him oddly. "A tumor?"
"Yeah, a useless bit of flesh that hangs onto someone even if it isn't wanted," he said, staring at her as if she was stupid.
"I'm guessing tumors are a lot more dangerous for other species than they are for krogan," she said as she waved the comment off. "Anyway, we're heading up to the hotel to talk to someone."
"And we're just gonna follow you around the entire time? You want us to look mean?" he asked in annoyance as Tali shook her head.
"Wrex, I know you enjoy the missions where we kick the doors and blast people into space dust, but sometimes we have to be diplomatic," said Shepard, her impatience for his trigger finger stomping out her usual amusement.
"Don't worry Wrex, if we run into anything that needs killing, you can have my share," said Tali as she patted his shoulder.
He snorted, but Shepard noticed the corner of his mouth curl into a small smirk. "Alright, fine."
"Good. Let's go. The sooner we get to Peak 15, the sooner we can find someone for Wrex to stomp into primordial slime," she said, causing them to chuckle as she headed for the nearby elevator.
CODEX ENTRIES
Soksoa | Culture | Asari
Very few occurrences in asari society can get someone labeled with this title. Its literal translation is 'unliving,' or undead. Many cultures have this type of word in its lexicon, each with a different description. In this case, when an asari has done something so heinous or horrific that they are no longer accepted by asari society, they are considered soksoa. This means that all but the most basic of rights are taken from them, leaving them with no property or material objects. Any titles and possessions that they owned are passed to their successor, and all future right for them to buy or own property is stripped, making them destitute. Oftentimes, asari declared soksoa will leave asari space and try to make a new life elsewhere or go to repent in one of the many Goddess Monasteries throughout Thessian colonies. Children born to soksoa parents are not held to this stigma and are accepted back into asari society when they become of age.
Chodot | Derogatory Linguistics | Lanesha
Salarians, by cultural law, do not have any insults for females, as their society revolves around a female dominated culture. To a salarian, insulting a female, even of another species, can seem egregious and damning, causing some colonies to have laws against the very idea. Chodot is a term aimed specifically at salarian males who were unable to get a mating contract, deeming them by society to be useless. It's an insult that doesn't translate well to other species but is used regardless to keep from putting themselves in an undeniably uncomfortable position with the salarian authorities.
Wet Work | Terminology | Military
Wet work is a colloquial term used for instances of paid murder or assassination. The term alludes to the spilling of blood during such an encounter and is often used as code when someone doesn't want to talk outright about assassination.