Chapter Nine: Lily

Music continued to blare into the club of Flux as nightly life continued to flourish like wildfire. An Asari named Lily Di'Rombi sat quietly as she fumbled with a news panel that she bought from a passing vendor. Her silver eyes peered down and scanned the contents of today's universe news hoping to find someone worth fighting for. Her last mission took her so close to uncharted regions of the Traverse she thought she might have to start writing a will.

"Loom?" squeaked a voice.

Lily looked over her shoulder to find a small robotic orb hovering close to head as if quizzically asking for attention.

"Sorry, Lumie. I can't right now. Unless you have a better plan to get food for ourselves I suggest you help me find another contract." she said blindly selecting advertisements. Over the corner of her eye she spotted several C-Sec guards walking into the club. Out of instinct she turned herself to conceal her face and took her small pet between her fingers to silence it.

"Loom? Loom?" it squeaked.

"Quiet, they know I'm the only Asari who has you so if they see you, I'm screwed." she whispered averting her eyes from the grouping of officers. She closed her eyes hoping for them to pass and head into the corridor but no such luck existed for a bounty hunter whose on the run for illegal authorization of hired mercenaries.

She felt the nudge of a gun press against the back of her head.

"Get up." said the officer.

Lily cursed herself, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life locked up for trying to make ends meet with herself. She clutched Lumie between her palms and held it to her chest.

"Get the hell up." the officer spat, "I'll kill you right here and I won't hesitate to traumatize the whole damn place with your corpse."

A low hiss escaped Lily's lips as she pressed the small robot into her chest causing it to liquefy and enter her pores. She waited a moment before standing up to face the officer revealing an ability of hers she was afraid of using.

"I'm up." she hissed.

With her biotics she dove her fist through the officer piercing him though his abdomen, a brilliant colored sharp instrument protruded his back. Several of the other officers who were unaware of her presence at first immediately drew their weapons and fired. The mass effected projectiles soared through the air and despite their movement being over a hundred times faster than a conventional gun, they stopped dead inches from her body.

"What the hell is going on?!" yelled one of the guards as he continued to fire.

"Her biotics! They're blocking our fire! Get the team down here, we're dealing with a rouge superior Asari!" said another guard.

Lily pulled out her hand from the now dead officer exposing the biotic lancer that encased it. She overflowed with biotic energy causing most of it to escape her pores and seep down to her feet like an aura of blue flames. The guards abandoned their attempts to subdue her as they turned to run but Lily unable to control herself decided otherwise.

Shepard sat in the dark of his quarters staring blankly through his fingers over at a darkened corner.

"Commander, incoming transmission from the Citadel. It seems urgent, patch you through?"

"Yeah... go ahead."

The system emitted static for a moment.

"Commander Shepard, we have a crisis here. There's a rouge Asari whose extremely gifted with biotics and she killed nearly half the C-Sec force including our special-ops squad. She's friggin' out of control and I advise you come down here with your crew. Now."

Shepard sighed.

Twenty minutes later the Normandy docked into the bay.

"Is there something wrong with the Commander? Chief Williams?" asked Tali. The two of them peered over at him, his face expressionless.

"Nothing, he's always like that." Ashley responded.

Shepard, Williams, Tali and Garrus entered through the C-Sec academy weapons drawn except Shepard who only brought a lone pistol. All of them entered the presidium where it became obvious that it had been evacuated.

"Everyone take different sectors and radio in when you find the Asari." said Shepard as he headed towards the tower. He pressed on, getting into the lift and awaiting his arrival at the high point of the citadel. The doors opened and to his surprise, he spotted an Asari sitting playfully on a nearby bench apparently having a conversation with a small orb that hovered about her head.
"Honestly, Lumie. I hate it when I have to let you use my body, it's so straining on me and I don't know what else you can do. I don't want to regain myself and realize I'm floating in space." she said humorously, "I'm glad for the help but you don't have to overdo it."

"Ma'am?"

Lily turned to him in a child like curiosity.

"Huh?"

Shepard couldn't help feel like he met her somewhere before.

"Um, we've gotten reports about a renegade Asari roaming around here. Where were you about half an hour ago?" he asked.

"Loom?"

Lumie soared to Shepard and hovered around his head, it continued to coo and dance around him.

"I think she likes you." said Lily.

"She?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, you're really the only human that has seen Lumie. I usually hide her because she's a rare oddity and almost everyone around here is a scientist now or days and they always want to examine her. Lumie is my only friend so I can't lose her." she said smiling playfully.

"That's all well and all but have you seen a rouge Asari?"

"Oh, about that. I'm sorry if I caused trouble."

"Are you telling me it's you that killed those C-Sec officers?"

"Oh shit, did I really kill them?"

Shepard pointed his pistol at her.

"You're coming with me." he said.

She smiled very sinisterly as she grabbed her pet from the air.

"Is that so? Show me what you got."