Thessia
"Matron," an asari dressed in the security uniform of Thessia Medical addressed Liara, "I am going to have to ask you to move. You are blocking our path."
"I am well aware of that." Liara replied with a smile that conveyed absolute charm. "Do me the favor of not reading directly from the professional handbook."
"You don't seem to understand, matron." the asari that had first spoken to her cleared her throat. "Former employed physician Sen T'Aryn is in that room, and she has been barred from the premises by Ela T'Vari, Chief of Medicine."
"Oh has she?" Liara asked, lowering her eyes to examine her nails, refusing to move a centimeter. "I didn't know."
"Matron." a note of ire entered the security guard's tone. "You are obstructing us from performing in our duties and following orders."
"Goddess." Liara sighed, looking to Treya Valen, who watched the proceedings with interest, "Are all of these security guards so absolutely pedantic?"
Treya raised her hands and backed away, wanting nothing to do with whatever game Liara was playing. The introduction to a living asari hero had been enough shock and awe for one morning, and there were things to do, lives to save...and the always pressing need to retain her employment.
"Matron..."
"Please." Liara interrupted. "I cannot abide needless formality." Once again she extended her hand in the common human greeting. "Dr. Liara T'Soni, most definitely not at your service."
She watched with grim satisfaction as the two asari paled and retreated several steps. They may have been maidens, barely a century old, but one did not simply live on Thessia without hearing her name, understanding her status, and fearing her legend. The one who had spoken so brusquely before now attempted in vain to find words, but Liara made the search unnecessary.
"I do understand that you are simply following orders." she said. "And I am being obstinate to make your lives difficult. However, if you attempt to distract Dr. T'Aryn in any way, shape, or form, you'll no longer be wearing that uniform, or even permitted to work on this particular planet. However, do not think me entirely cruel. I know that Chief Ela T'Vari has ordered you to escort the troublesome rule-breaker to her offices. Do escort me in Dr. T'Aryn's place, will you? I'm certain I could bring myself to forget the unpleasantness of our previous discussion."
The two maidens exchanged glances, deciding that they would take the known threat of disobeying the Chief of Medicine rather than risk the anger of a wealthy, powerful unknown. They nodded to each other in full agreement.
"Please come with us, Dr. T'Soni."
Liara followed them into the elevators, smiling to herself as they ascended to the top level of the hospital. She could not help the pleased expression stamped across her features. She had learned the wise use of power, and at times she loathed her renown and reputation. But there were those who, for no reason, abused the power they possessed, and tore lives apart simply because they had the capability to do so. Ela T'Vari, by Sen's account and the research Liara herself had done, was one such person. It was this sort of person that Liara took pride in impairing, because it bettered the world in which they lived. And no willful destroyer of livelihoods deserved to be in the profession of healing.
The security guards led Liara to the chief's office suite, informing T'Vari's secretary that her visitor had arrived. The secretary buzzed the chief over the intercom and, after a moment, looked up at Liara.
"You may go in." she said.
Liara smiled as she entered the door. She examined the opulence of the room, the plush carpeting, the ornately framed paintings by one of Thessia's premier artists. The chief's desk was finely crafted, from an imported wood. Mahogany, Liara remembered. She had seen it before, while on Earth. The material was costly on its own planet. Importing it to Thessia would have required a small fortune. Liara frowned at the needless luxury in Ela T'Vari's office. In spite of her profession and the fact that she was Liara's senior by four centuries, Liara lost the last shred of respect she might have had for the matriarch.
Chief T'Vari stood in front of the wide window that overlooked the urban sprawl of the city below from a height that vied with the other towers. Her back was to Liara, and her arms were laced together at the small of her back, much like the military position "parade rest". Liara leaned against the door and waited. Ela T'Vari was an asari who would want the first word, to set the tone, to establish dominance. Liara wanted to take the words said, force the matriarch to eat them, and ensure that the taste was unpleasant.
"I did fear that this moment would come to pass, Dr. T'Aryn." Ela spoke, firm authority in her voice. "You have violated the conditions of your suspension and trespassed on hospital grounds while still under investigation. I am addressing you as a physician for the moment, but rest assured that this is the last day you will hold that title. I have meticulously reviewed your history at this establishment, and found you lacking in multiple areas. I, and the hospital's board of directors, have come to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of those who might be your patients to have your medical license stripped. The hacking of a patient's medical equipment to cover your incompetence was simply the final failure we could countenance."
Oh, stow it you trumped up piss-pot, Liara remembered Karin Chakwas speaking to Ambassador Udina, and she laughed.
"This is most assuredly not a laughing matter, Maiden T'Aryn." Ela hissed, turning to face the asari she thought was Sen. "We are discussing your future!"
Liara raised her head, savoring the horrified shock stamped on Ela T'Vari's elegant features.
"No, Chief T'Vari." Liara said. "I believe it is your future we are discussing."
"Doctor T'Soni!" Ela gasped. "I do apologize! I was expecting…"
"Doctor Sen T'Aryn." Liara smiled. "I know. In fact, Sen is the reason I am here."
Ela's eyes narrowed as she scrabbled for the composure that had fled. "Dr. T'Soni, I assure you that the situation is well under control. It is unforgivable that Dr. T'Aryn failed in her care of you, and that she somehow managed to hack the equipment that monitored your condition. We are still looking into how it was done but…"
Liara lifted a hand and the stream of stupidity ceased.
"Chief T'Vari, you misunderstand me." Liara adopted a condescending tone, simply to dig beneath Ela's skin. "What is unforgivable is your framing the young doctor for something she did not do, simply because she does not fit your personal paradigm of a competent physician. And bringing me into your petty grievance is the height of impudence that I simply cannot countenance."
Ela drew herself up. In spite of Liara's fame, in spite of what she had done for the galaxy, she was still but a matron. And matrons ceded the arena of wisdom to the matriarchs. It had always been done thus on Thessia, and now would be no different.
"My concern for the welfare of our patients and the competence of our physicians is far from petty, Dr. T'Soni."
"Do spare me the inanities of your rhetoric." Liara smiled, seating herself in one of the chairs before Ela's desk, and propping her feet up on the rich wood, taking pleasure from Ela's appalled expression. "I have no doubt that you are concerned for your patients and your physicians. The sparseness of your office indicates that you have ordered the charitable financing that this hospital receives to be appropriately dispensed to those patients and physicians. I cannot describe to you the satisfaction I feel knowing that the donations I send to this institution are so selflessly dispensed."
"Now you are simply being insulting, Doctor." Ela hissed, sinking into her rich leather chair, setting her arms on the armrests studded with precious metals.
"Am I?" Liara's eyes widened in feigned ignorance. "At least my insults are thinly veiled with sarcasm, which lends them an air of civility that yours lack. Or did I not enter this room to your unfounded decrying of one of the best cardiologists in her field, and this hospital?"
"You were under her care, Dr. T'Soni." Ela pursed her lips, knowing that the information she possessed gave her the upper hand in what was quickly becoming a battle. "Your monitoring devices were hacked, and the information inaccurate. Your life could have been in danger."
Liara shrugged and Ela tensed. She had expected outrage, fright, and a demand that justice be meted immediately. Instead, Liara laced her hands behind her neck and looked up at the ceiling.
"And you are certain that Sen hacked those records?" Liara asked.
"We are awaiting a verification of the digital signature from the hacker's system." Ela smiled, knowing her victory was at hand. "I am fully confident that it will have come from Sen T'Aryn."
"Oh, it surely must." Liara rolled her eyes and saw the matriarch before her stiffen. "Otherwise all the time you have spent editing her records and building false allegations will have been for nothing."
"Doctor T'Soni," Ela's tones were heavy with indignation, "what are you insinuating!?"
"Only the truth." Liara removed her legs from the desk and sat up straight, pulling an OSD from her pocket and tossing it on the desk. "There you will find the original records of Sen's qualifications, her glowing reviews, and the malpractice suits she has spared this institution by her competence. You simply find her frustrating because she has made physicians personally vetted and endorsed by you look like blithering fools."
A smug smile crossed Liara's face. The instant she had heard of Sen's suspension, she had gone into the Broker network and torn through all of Thessia Medical's records. She had pored over the life story of every physician and administrator, seen the reports of every case Sen had worked, and built the defense of her friend. Liara had learned long ago that information ran the world, and that those who held it set the course.
"Sen is perhaps the best cardiologist that this institution has to offer." Liara continued. "Indeed, I would hazard that she is also the most qualified physician. She has multiple degrees in inter-species anatomy, physiology, and treatment. She worked for twelve years as a trauma surgeon while continuing her education pursuant to cardiology. She has multiple papers published which contain research that has altered surgical procedures the galaxy over. It is your archaic prejudice concerning 'how things should be' which has hampered her advancement at every turn, Chief T'Vari, and I simply will not stand for it."
Ela flung the OSD back across the desk; her eyes became flaming coals of wrath. "I do not care who you are." she growled, placing her hands on her desk and rising to her feet, towering over Liara. "It is not your place to interfere in this investigation and I could have you arrested for making the threats you have, veiled though they may be."
Liara bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I know who hacked the monitors, Chief T'Vari, and it was not Sen T'Aryn." a beautiful flower of shock once more bloomed on Ela's face. "When your investigators at last locate that oh, so elusive digital signature, they will discover that it came from the systems inside your home." Once more, Liara examined her nails, an action that she had learned from Shepard projected deliberate insouciance.
"I did no such thing." Ela gasped.
Liara shrugged once more. "By your horrified response, I assume you are aware that tampering with a patient's medical records is a felony?" she inquired. "Of course, it is understandable. Your prejudice against the physician I requested and your fear that something would go wrong inspired you to fix the readouts so that anything that might have befallen me would look like either equipment malfunction or malpractice. You were safeguarding the institution you spent your entire life nurturing and building to be the center of healing, learning, and excellence that it is today. An institution whose reputation, and yours, I placed in jeopardy simply by seeking treatment."
"This is preposterous!" Ela roared, flushing a deep shade of violet.
"Is it?" Liara looked up, innocence stamped in her eyes. "Thessia Medical has a closed information network, almost impossible to hack from the outside. You did well when you procured that. But…you did make one mistake, Chief T'Vari."
"Oh?" Ela asked, her fists clenched, her shoulders shaking, her entire body poised on the edge of losing her composture and control.
"Yes." Liara nodded. "You see, aside from what she must utilize in her profession, Sen is absolutely technologically incompetent, an incompetence she could prove while being questioned in a court of law. You, on the other hand, Chief T'Vari, have been fully briefed on your institution's systems, and you have multiple degrees in computer science, network building…I need not go on. Suffice to say, you possess all the skills you would need to link your home system to the closed system of this institution and alter unfavorable situations in your favor."
"You conniving, scheming, insouciant…"
"Are you serious, matriarch?" Liara rose, pressing a hand to her chest. "Are you insulting one of the two living heroes of the Reaper War? Are you accusing me of lacking integrity? I…" Liara coughed and swayed, wincing purposefully as she pitched forward and leaned heavily on Ela's desk, "…I have a weak heart, Chief T'Vari. But you…you released me with a," Liara gasped again, carefully metering her breaths, "clean bill of health."
"Doctor T'Soni, do sit down." Ela urged, moving around her desk and grabbing Liara's elbow, assisting her as she almost fell into the chair. "Are you feeling any pain? Any tightness in your chest?" Ela brought up her omnitool and prepared to run a scan.
Liara placed a hand on the chief's wrist. "A simple…dizzy spell." she said, pleased that her charade had worked. "I will be fine, and I thank you for your help. However, it would be wise to call off your investigation, should the state of my health worsen and cause inquiry. Stop your ridiculous crusade against Sen, and accept what she can do for your hospital. Let her do what she loves, and save lives. That is the true purpose of this place is it not? At the end of the day, does tradition matter in the face of potential lost life? Do see reason, Chief T'Vari."
Ela rose, closed her eyes, and sighed. "Your actions are underhanded and borderline malicious." she spoke. "However, I cannot deny that you have persuaded me. Sen T'Aryn's suspension will be lifted and she will be allowed to return to work as soon as she chooses."
"And you will also…" Liara pressed.
"Drop the investigation." Ela grunted. "I do hate to be rude, Dr. T'Soni, but I do have a hospital to run."
"Indeed you do." Liara rose. "Thank you for your time, matriarch. I will show myself out."