"Okay, so, today, we're going to investigate that ExoGeni facility that stopped communicating with the one on Feros. After that, barring any pressing need to do anything else, we'll be going to the Citadel."

"Weren't we just there, Shepard?" Kaidan asked. I genuinely liked being questioned- showed someone was able to think for themselves- when the person thought what I was doing was, well, questionable. "Don't we have to go to Noveria or Virmire?"

"Yeah, but not immediately. And I know we were just there, but there's someone I need to see."

I'd gotten a message from Rita, asking to talk to me, this morning, after my first vision of the day. Nothing on the two planets required urgency, at the moment. I'd been keeping an eye on things throughout the last two days, about the same times I was sneaking my meds.

"You seem to know everyone on the Citadel." He commented.

The others just quietly looked on. I'd already answered Garrus on this, and Liara was already used to me knowing people. Wrex was, well, Wrex. He didn't give a shit what I did, so long as it wasn't against him. Those three weren't watching with the same curiosity as the others.

"Working with Nihlus opened a lot of doors and introduced me to a lot of people. Plus, being a freelancer, I met a bunch of people and gained even more contacts through them. In my lines of work, half the job is who you know. Including getting the job."

He made a noise, nodding.

Joker called over comms that he'd be dropping us in five. We all piled into the mako, getting ready and double-checking everything one final time.

"Heads up, Shepard." Joker again, as we entered orbit. "There's a distress beacon down there."

"Got it. Thanks."

Strange. The colony was able to set off a distress beacon, yet the facility on Feros hadn't heard from them in a while. Communication tower down? A sudden at- More of those thralls? If they had been experimenting with those Thorian samples, it was likely.

Of course, I was right. Thralls out the ass assailed us upon entry to the building. All of them easy to deal with, since they resembled zombies- just running at us without being able to do any real damage.

"Rescuers? Thank God!" The scientist in front of the cowering group behind her shouted. "See? I told you somebody would come to investigate that signal."

I raised an eyebrow at the people crawling out of hiding.

It only went higher as she continued, voice sugar sweet. "My name is Doctor Ross. Chief ExoGeni researcher at this facility." The more she talked, the more I wanted to ask that she get to the point. "We've been trapped in this room for days. We're almost out of food and water. You got here just in time!"

"You're going to tell me why you made those people into thralls." I stated coldly.

Her eyes widened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know," I began, stalking toward her slowly. "I was on Feros. Not all the scientists made it out alive." I reached her and saw the effect of my words up close. "Now, tell me: why shouldn't you join them?"

She let out a squeak of fear, but said nothing. Probably too afraid to form words.

"I won't ask again." A warning. "Why thralls?"

"The- the creepers," I wasn't the only one calling them that, yay. "were created using altered samples from the species on Feros. We discovered a way to turn them into docile, obedient servants." Okay. Sure. "Everything was going fine until a few days ago. Then, all of the creepers suddenly went berserk. Only a handful of us made it back into the safety of this room."

I wondered what the timeline was. She'd said a few days, and the message about losing touch with the facility had been dated a week ago. Also, about the time they'd stopped hearing from the colonists daily. What had been the catalyst, though?

"Why didn't you send ExoGeni a message? Or use a message with the distress signal? Something." Kaidan asked, arms crossed.

She didn't immediately respond, so I reached down to my pistol. Rested my hand on the holster.

She swallowed hard.

"This is a closed communications base. ExoGeni was worried someone on the project was selling secrets to a rival firm, or reporting our work to the authorities." If they were, at least to the authorities, they would've been investigated. I shook my head. ExoGeni. "We have no direct communication with the outside. Only the emergency beacon. It sends a general distress signal to the ExoGeni site on Feros."

"That place is rubble, so it's unsurprising that they hadn't received it." I mused. "They only commented that they hadn't heard from your facility in a few days, a week ago."

She paled. "Explains why they never sent anyone. They're supposed to, within twenty-four hours."

"So, you said they suddenly went berserk. Did you cause it, somehow?" Ashley spoke up, hands on hips.

I had to hand it to my team- they were playing along with "bad cop" very well, especially considering I hadn't said that's what I'd be doing.

"Maybe... Maybe there was a link still between the samples and the Thorian." A shake of her head. "Maybe it gained control and wanted us dead."

Wasn't the only thing wanting her dead, that was for sure.

"I've heard all I needed to." I said, taking a single step forward.

"Look... I know what we did here is wrong. I'll admit that." She was backing up, hands raised defensively. Her people just watched with wide eyes. "But it's over now. There's no sense in reporting this to the authorities, right?"

"I'm sure we can reach an agreement." I mused, lifting my hand off my gun and tapping my chin.

"Shepard!" Ashley.

"You can't be serious!" Kaidan.

"That's 'ma'am' to you." I threatened. "Now, get back to the mako. That's an order."

Without any more protest, they walked out, albeit slowly.

"Now, what's your offer?" I asked, all business. Waiting for Wrex to message me.

"Half a million credits." Instant response. "It's what's left of our research funds."

His voice sounded in my ear. "Done."

Without a second of hesitation, I pulled out my pistol and shot the people with her once each. For her, I waited until she'd grabbed her own gun from the holster at her back that I'd noticed when I was close to her. Waited until she'd raised it to aim at me, then I ducked out of the way, darted toward her. Got behind her and shot her in the base of her neck, aiming upward so it went right through her skull.

As she collapsed on the floor, blood pooling at my feet from multiple bodies, I typed out a quick message to Gavin- to tell the others working there- that there were no survivors at this facility.

After taking a brief pause to rub the bottoms of my boots on a clean section of flooring, to get the blood off, I went to join my team.

"You're calling the Alliance on them, right?" Ashley demanded as soon as I'd opened the door.

I shook my head, climbing behind the wheel. "It would be a waste of time."

"But they experimented on people, Shepard!" I pictured her bottom lip jutting out. "And what was that 'ma'am' thing about?"

"Remember? She said not to call her that unless people were dying." Garrus broke in, pausing a heartbeat. "She killed them."

"She..." It sounded like she deflated against the seat, a soft thump as she hit it. "Oh. Did you have to?"

"They get slaps on the wrist for things much worse than what happened here, all because of people they know. You know enough people, people high up in the chain of command, and you can get away with just about anything." I shrugged, driving us to a flat enough area for the Normandy to pick us up. "I did what they won't. Took care of the problem."

"Told ya. Don't get on Shepard's bad side." Wrex added, and I pictured him nodding sagely.

"Anyway, it's done."

"How can you be so calm about killing people in cold blood? They were defenseless?" She just would not drop it.

"Williams, if you recall, I'd mentioned being trained, at a young age, to be an assassin. It's come in handy more than once, being able to see someone as just a target and not a person. Especially people like her, like the whole lot of them in there. They tortured and experimented on innocent people- they themselves were far from innocent. Unless your definition of innocence differs from mine, in which case, I suggest you get a new dictionary."

Once back on the ship, I broke off from them, wanting- needing- to be away from Ashley's judgmental way of seeing things. It was part of who she was, and I understood and respected that, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

"An assassin, hmm?" Garrus leaned against the counter while I dug through the fridge in the kitchen.

I remembered he was in the first conversation I'd dropped that tidbit in and wondered if he'd just been holding it inside, his curiosity.

I let out a noncommittal noise.

"From a young age? What, like fourteen? Fifteen?"

Grabbing the turkey and cheese, I kicked the door shut and moved toward the counterspace next to him. "Try six." His eyes widened, and I heard his sharp intake of breath. "From the time I could throw a knife with real aim, I underwent training." A shrug, breaking two rolls in half. "My mom is the head of an assassin's guild, back home. I begged for two years- yes, since I was four- to learn. I wanted to be just as good as her, because she's amazing."

"She was okay with that? Her daughter learning how to kill people at six?" No judgment, just curiosity.

"My aunt's the head of the Thieves Guild, so I was already learning how to sneak and steal little trinkets. Anything I could get my little goblin hands on." I chuckled, feeling more than a little nostalgic. "The older I got, the more I was allowed to do."

"How old were you with your first kill?"

"Twelve." My eyes closed, remembering it. "He was a serial killer, and one of the victims' relatives had made the contract, took a hit out on him. I'd been quiet, keeping myself focused on my exercises, when I was nominated to be the one to carry it out. I was over the moon, not an ounce of anxiety in me. I posed as a potential victim, let him take me to his home. Down to his basement. Then, I slit his throat."

"Twelve." He echoed, his mandibles moving in surprise as he tried to wrap his head around it. "That's young. Well, if you wanted it... Is that normal, for a child to be doing that unsupervised, where you're from?"

"For me, yeah. I had my dad and uncle to teach me how to shoot." Archery, but same difference. "And I learned how to steal because I idolized my aunt. With my mom, I practiced cloaking, getting good at sneaking up on people. I knew what I wanted, even at so young an age, and I spent the energy, took the time, to achieve it. In the long run, it benefited me a lot. I wouldn't have been able to work with Nihlus, if not for my background." And the visions.

"Makes sense. It's part of who you are. It's just strange... that you're open about it. Proud, too. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't be." It was cute, listening to him backpedaling. "Sorry."

I laughed, going back to making my sandwiches. "You're good. I don't usually get to talk about this kind of stuff. It's nice. Reminiscing."

"What are you making?"

"Turkey and cheese sandwiches. I have a stash of chips I keep in my room," I gestured to the cylinder of chips next to the bag of rolls. "and I put them on the bottom of the sandwiches, after I heat them up. Adds a nice crunch to them. Shame you can't try one." A genuine addition, giving him an apologetic smile.

He waved away my words. "I'm sure I can find something to eat. I mean, I'm with the Spectre and commanding officer of the ship. I think that allows me to raid the fridge, too."

Another laugh as I put the plate in the microwave and waited for it to cook, saying. "Not wrong." When it was done, I walked over to one of the tables.

He rejoined me, sitting across the way, with his own food a few minutes later. "So, can I ask who you're meeting when we get to the Citadel?"

"I'm sure you had your fair share of work over at Flux. Lots of drunks. Well, one of the waitresses, Rita-"

"I've seen her around. Talked to her for witness statements after bar fights."

"Well, she wants to talk about something. She said she has a favor to ask, in person, and she never asks for things. So, I figure, go see what it is and see if I can help in some way. She's a good person. I like talking to her, when I have the chance."

"Yeah, she seemed nice. Hope she's not in any trouble."

"Honestly," I paused to take a few bites. "I think it could be her sister. The last I heard, from a contact in C-Sec, she was working undercover down in Chora's Den."

"You really have contacts everywhere, don't you?" A shake of his head. "Anyone I know?"

I listed a few of the names, and he nodded to about half of them.

"And Chellick"

At the last one, he let out a hum. "I'm surprised, with the ones I know, but especially him. Never would've guessed. What kinds of things do they tell you?"

"We exchange information about cases, under the table. I often do my own investigations, because I'm allowed a lot since I spent time with Nihlus. So, I'd gather the information, get it to them, and they'd owe me a favor. I always do it that way with them, so that it can't be said that money ever changed hands. Sometimes, they'll buy me a meal. Other times, they'll give me information I ask for. Never anything compromising on their part. Just something small."

"Huh."

"Shepard, we're docking." Joker called over comms.

I shoved the last couple bites into my mouth, then chugged my water. With a bright smile, I jumped up out of my chair. "Duty calls. Feel free to take your time."