We were met with armed guards, all of which I recognized, of course. And they all had their pistols out, training them on my companions.

"Awh, you guys remember me, dontcha?" I walked forward, spreading my arms out.

They stiffened, exchanging glances. My action was two-fold- to show I would protect my people, while reminding them who I was.

"Guess who was made Spectre..."

"You're kidding." One of the guards groaned, glaring at me.

"Afraid so. And we're here on official business. Don't worry," I grinned. "I know we have to see Anoleis first."

"Oh, he's going to-" Another started.

"Be so excited to see me, I know." I motioned for my team to follow me. "Welp, it was fun standing around talking, but we've got things to do, people to see. Buh-bye!"

"They seemed less than enthused to see you, Shepard."

I laughed at Ashley's carefully worded observation. "Yeah. The guards hate me." A shrug. "What can you do?"

We walked up the stairs leading into the main facility, stopping when a woman flagged me down.

"Shepard. I am Gianna Parasini, assistant to Administrator Anoleis. We apologize for the incident in the docking bay."

"Ah, it's okay." I waved it off. "No harm, no foul. They're just doing their jobs." I looked off to the side. "Hating me, but still. It's part of the job."

I didn't miss the quirk of her lips and how she had to fight a smile before speaking. "Is there anything I can help you with while you're here?"

"There's a few things I'd like to ask. One, I've heard there's geth here. Do you know anything about that? Two, I've heard a Matriarch named Benezia is here. Do you know anything about that? And three, I'd love nothing more than to play more pranks on Anoleis. Is he in his office?"

A secretive expression crossed her face, and I grinned. She motioned for me to walk with her.

"Benezia did pass through here, on her way to Peak 15. To the best of my knowledge, she's still there." One box ticked. "I'm not sure about geth. I haven't heard anything about them being on Noveria." Two down, one to go. "As for Administrator Anoleis, he is indeed in his office."

"Music to my ears. Thank you, Gianna."

With that, she nodded and broke off from us.

"I cannot believe she's really here." Liara looked dazed.

"Are you okay?" I touched her shoulder.

She covered my hand with her own and took a deep breath. "Yes. I am okay. Perhaps... Do you think there's a chance I can talk her into peacefully giving herself up?"

"There's always a chance." A squeeze. "Do you want me to see?"

"No. No, that's alright." She steeled herself, giving me a sharp nod. "Let's go."

We didn't make it very far, when a hanar waved to get my attention.

I recognized it. Hard not to, since it had always been the only hanar on in the building whenever I'd been here. "Opold? What can I do for you?"

"This one offers greetings." There was a moment of pause, thinking. "This one has a burden that you could ease. If an arrangement could be made, it would compensate you." I gestured for it to continue. "This one has procured a special item for a customer. The item is not permitted within the station."

"But, me being a Spectre, I could get it through customs." I finished for it.

"They want you to smuggle for them?" Ashley sounded like she was frowning.

I was going to say I'd smuggled before, no big deal, but Opold beat me to it, speaking before I could.

"That is not inaccurate." Another pause. "The customer is the krogan called Inamorda. That one is a bounty hunter of some repute."

"And quick to anger." I muttered.

"You understand this one's urgency? That other grows restless from the delay."

"Don't worry. Just tell me where it is, and I'll get it to you."

"This one humbly thanks Viridian. The package will be delivered to your vessel. All you need do is bring it to this one."

"You guys can wait here. I'll be back in a minute." Without waiting for any responses, I jogged off.

Picked up the package and brought it back.

"Here you go!"

"You have done a great service for this one. From the deepness of light, it thanks you." A pause. "It humbly suggests that a sum of two hundred and fifty credits would be most appropriate."

"Deal."

A ping from my omni-tool let me know the transfer had been completed.

"Anything else I can do for you, while I'm here?"

"This one does not have anything else to request of you."

"It was good seeing you, Opold. Have a good day."

I walked my team a little ways off. "We're gonna go see Anoleis. Just stay in the secretary's office and don't say anything, and everything will go smoothly. You'll understand when we get there."

His office, or rather his secretary's office, wasn't far from the docking bay, so it didn't take long to get there.

"I will tell him you want to see him." Gianna started, hand going to the button to speak to him.

"I'll let myself in. I know the way. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see me." I winked.

She appraised me before nodding and gesturing me to go ahead.

"Anoleeeeeeis..." I sang as I walked through the door.

He froze, stiffening at my voice. Narrowed eyes met mine.

"I'd heard you were here. What can I do for you, Shepard?"

"I'm a Spectre now, in case you hadn't heard, and I'm here on official business. I was hoping you could spare a moment of your time."

"Yes, so I'd heard." He rolled his eyes. "What the Council sees in you, I have no idea, but you won't find many who will cooperate with you on Noveria about whatever you're after. And that includes me. You can see yourself out."

"Can I?" I walked over and sat on the edge of his desk. "I'm not sure I know the way."

"Then I will have Parasini come in and show you."

I grabbed his wrist, stopping him mid-reach. "I don't think you heard me. I am requesting a moment of your time, Rannadril Ghan Swa Fulsoom Karaten Narr Eadi Bel Anoleis."

I knew for a fact that the office wasn't soundproofed. For some reason, he'd never gotten around to doing that. So everyone on the other side of that door could hear us.

He studied me for a few seconds before letting out a resigned sigh. "What do you want? Make it quick, I have a meeting in five minutes."

"I only need one. Matriarch Benezia. What is she doing here? And what can I expect to find at Peak 15?"

"You won't be allowed to go to Peak 15, so it doesn't matter. Matriarch Benezia is here for classified reasons." He shook me loose. "Now, get out."

I jumped up, shrugging. "Okay. Have a nice day, Annie."

He shuddered, slamming his hands on his desk and standing up. "Get. Out."

Blowing him a kiss, I fled. No use pushing his buttons further. I didn't need to get kicked out of the station, after all.

I'd have to find another way to get that pass.

Gianna nodded as I walked past her, my team following me out.

Once we were about halfway to the other side of the station, where the hotel was, Garrus spoke up.

"She told us to let you know you should talk to Lorik Qui'in."

"I know him. He's a good guy."

"She mentioned we could find him in the hotel bar. Something about his office closing."

My expression dropped, basically showing a resting bitch face now, and I took a deep breath. Wondering what had happened.

"Let's go pay him a little visit, then."

"Excuse me."

I'd barely stepped through the door, when an asari called out to me. I gave her a kind smile, swallowing my annoyance at being stopped.

"How can I help you?"

"I recognized you. You used to hang around that Spectre, and now you're the first human Spectre. I could use a moment of your time, if you wouldn't mind." I motioned for her to continue. "The male human at the hotel bar. He is a sales rep for Binary Helix." Big corporation around here. "His name is Rafael Vargas." Oh, why did that sound familiar? "I need you to speak with him."

"And who are you? Why should I talk to him?"

"I am Mallene Calis. I represent the Aramali City Council on Thessia. Our town is known for its biotic amp crafters."

Liara spoke up, tilting her head. "What is your city's interest in Binary Helix? They do not manufacture amps."

"Much of BH's work relates to biotics. There are rumors that the Noveria branch has flown in asari biotics. Powerful ones. Commandos, to be specific. We want to assess any potential risk to asari copyrights." She looked down at the data pad she was holding. "You will present yourself as a buyer. On behalf of the Spectres or the Alliance." Why did everyone just assume I was in the Alliance? "Discuss their military enhancement programs. Your real objective will be to distract him. I will give you a device that will crack into his personal wireless network. It will upload a variety of monitoring viruses. They will infiltrate Binary Helix when he logs onto their intranet."

I held out my hand. "I'll do it."

"Excellent." She reached into a pocket and gave me a small bug. "Here is the cracking device. You will know it is done when it beeps." The data pad was offered now. "I have assembled a dossier on Vargas. If you would like, you can read up on his behavior patterns."

Simple enough. Gets annoyed when you try to get him off-topic. Rubs his neck when he's nervous or uncomfortable.

"Sounds simple enough. I'll get back to you."

She nodded. "I will be waiting."

"You guys go... mill about or something. Have some drinks. Not enough to get sauced or anything, of course. But I may be a while."

I looked over to the man she wanted me to talk to. Oh. I did know him. Wait. Did I really know just about everyone we had to talk to? What a small universe.

"Can I help you?" He turned to me, frowning, an eyebrow raised. "A picture-" He blinked. "Viridian Shepard, is that really you?"

"Long time, no see, Raf."

"Yeah, no kidding. I haven't seen you in, what, three years?"

"Something like that, yeah. You just happened to be gone every time I came here with Nihlus the last few years."

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm here to talk to someone in Binary Helix. I don't have an appointment, but I was hoping I could talk to someone about enhancement programs for the Spectres."

"I'm here, and I'm listening."

I clapped my hands together, interlacing my fingers. "That would be great!"

"But it was my understanding that the Citadel contracted to a salarian corporation for its enhancement programs."

"That's right, but, as you know, budgets are looked at every fiscal year, and if there's a corporation out there that's doing the same or better programs, for a cheaper price... Well." A shrug, leaning my side against his table.

He gave his spiel about the disclaimers and how DNA is unique. The numbers for adrenal response, clotting, muscle degeneracy.

"Hmm. MarsGene's clotting enhancement improves speed by sixteen percent."

A wry smile. "That is their official claim. However, we believe they cherry-picked their sample to show optimum results. The numbers we provide are strict mathematical averages." He reached up to rub his neck. "I can get you those improvements for thirty thousand credits per head. For a bulk order, I can work in a sensory enhancement package. Guaranteed twenty/fifteen vision, and hearing from twelve to twenty-two thousand hertz."

"That sounds a bit high, but we can let the higherups work that out." I flashed a smile. "I was also wondering about the side effects of the enhancements. MarsGene's has a few, some more noticeable than others, when they show up. And I was wondering at what Binary Helix's are."

He gave me the rundown on all of it, the ping on my omni-tool interrupting him.

An apologetic smile, now, as I pretended to read a message. "I'm sorry, my crew just said they were done stocking up on ammo. I have to go, but have Binary Helix contact the Citadel about considering a contract."

"I will."

"Oh! And it was good to see you again, Raf." I waved at him over my shoulder as I walked away.

A nod toward Liara, who then walked up to the other asari and let her know it was done. I couldn't help but notice he didn't stay after our conversation. Having finished his drink, he left the bar.

After that, I spotted him, going over to his table, the rest of my team not far behind. They stayed a few paces away, enough to give breathing room, but close enough incase anything happened.

"Lorik." I pulled out a chair and sat.

"Afternoon. What can I do for you?"

"Have a few questions. Have you seen an asari Matriarch around lately?"

"Yes, she caused quite a stir. It is not every day a Matriarch arrives with a guard detail of commandos."

"Do you know why she was here?"

"She claimed to be Saren's assistant, here to get a certain project 'back on track'. I suspect she mean Peak 15."

"I need to get up there."

"That might be difficult. A terrible storm has been unleashed up there."

"Annie won't give me a pass." I finally looked across the table at him.

"Not surprising. Of course, all the managers have access as well. I do, for that matter."

I let out a soft hum. "Is that so?"

"You know, Mr. Anoleis closed my office. He claims to be investigating reports of my corruption."

I snorted, shaking my head. "And yet, he's quite rich, all things considered."

And I knew why. It was getting close to the time to use that information.

"I acquired evidence of Anoleis' actions. His hired goons are ransacking my office to find it." He fished something out of his pocket. "The evidence is on my office computer. This OSD contains an encryption key to access it. Slide it into the drive and it will auto-execute."

"I am on the case." I stood and bowed with a flourish. "We'll be back."