The Clone has her omni-tool scan for the biometric database, but with an archive serving entire Council Space is too huge to scan in a few hours, let alone minutes. So she goes on foot, heading to the deepest levels, with Shepard and her team on her heels. She lets Cat6 handle them. It doesn't matter how many of her mercs fall as long as she doesn't have to kill anyone today.
Sometimes the Clone stops at a terminal to see if the Council computers will find the information faster than she can. Liara's drone finds her just as she's started the hacking protocol.
"The other Shepard-Commander Shepard-asked me to come find you."
Of all the things that happened today, this is the least absurd, so the Clone humors it. "Let me guess. So she and her "friends" can come and kill me." She doesn't bother looking up from the terminal screen.
"She did not specify."
"Well, drone. I wish to be left alone. So leave me alone."
"As you wish." And it slinks away, just like that.
If only all her battles were so easy.
Of course, the drone returns later, and the Clone gives it a threat to deliver to Shepard. Anything to get it off her back. She needs more time. The Clone always needs more time. It's only when she hears Brooks yelling about being shot on the com that she changes direction.
To her credit, Brooks is still lying prone on the floor when the Clone finds her. She's holding her side as if covering a wound, but when the Clone kneels beside her, Maya's hand pulls away to reveal untouched armor. Maybe a few scratches from falling on the floor.
"You should have been an actress." The Clone grins down at her, offering her a hand.
Maya takes it, squeezing her hand as she stands up. "So should you." She leans closer, almost as if to give her a kiss. "You've convinced everyone you're a cold-blooded killer, a real threat, and yet you haven't fired a single shot since you got here."
The Clone gives her a pointed look. "I have more important things to do right now."
"Of course." Maya does not look convinced.
"Shepard dies today. I won't let you down."
"Oh? Do you have a different plan? Because so far none of yours have worked."
The Clone glares at her. "They were also your ideas."
"Doesn't matter. As long as she's alive, our plan fails."
Ah. There it is. "I do happen to have a different plan." The Clone bumps Maya's arm with her elbow. "Follow me."
"We're being cut off!" Brooks calls out, stepping just past the vault.
Shepard doesn't walk into the trap-she practically charges, Kaidan and Wrex following right behind. The Clone seals them in, breathing a soft sigh of relief. She looks at Brooks pointedly. See? Not a single shot fired and they're dead anyway. Brooks, still in character, says nothing.
"This can't be good." The way Kaidan backs into Shepard is almost comical.
Shepard can't see her standing in the shadows, so she calls out to Maya. "Brooks! The vault sealed us in."
"Is there an override?" Wrex barely fits inside the vault at his height.
Kaidan looks, seeing them surrounded on all sides by the stasis field. "Not seeing one."
Shepard's voice rises, through the Clone can tell she's trying to remain calm. "Cortez! Brooks! Do you read me? Is anyone on this frequency?" It's strange to see her so...human? The Clone isn't sure how she feels about this. Here goes nothing.
The Clone steps back into the light. "The short answer is no. They're not." Shepard's coms haven't been blocked, per say, but they have been rerouted to a new channel. Easy to hide when she's not actively using them. Shepard shoots the barrier, and her shots are vaporized by the field. "The longer answer involves your friends trapped in iridium vaults and forgotten for, well, forever."
Shepard reels on her, and would probably punch her sky-high given the chance. "Others know about this. About you. The Alliance will stop you." The Cone's blood flashes hot, then cold.
"What do you think, Staff Analyst Brooks?" The Clone looks behind her, winking where Shepard and the others can't see. "Will the Alliance stop us?"
"I wouldn't know. I don't actually work for them." Brooks steps up beside her, and she's a sight to behold. That blue armor suits her, especially when she's not pretending. At least, the Clone thinks she's not pretending.
"Who the hell are you!?" Shepard shouts at Brooks, practically pulling out her hair. All their efforts to rattle her are finally working. The Clone should be pleased, and yet…. "And do you really think I won't track you down?"
"My name doesn't matter. I never keep the same one for more than a few days. And if the Illusive Man hasn't found me yet, you never will."
"You're Cerberus!?" Shepard's eyes widen, and her mouth drops open. Oh, right. She always did hate Cerberus, didn't she?
"Was. Mr. Illusive and I didn't see eye to eye. He's indoctrinated. Whereas I prefer the whispers in my head to be my own."
"Why not come to me?" She looks...hurt? Why? "We could have worked together." The Clone can't ever imagine that happening. Not in this lifetime.
"In a way we did. I'm the one who put together all the dossiers on your suicide mission."
"The Collector base!?"
"There was the Salarian doctor. The Asari justicar. The Drell. They were all mistakes. We were a pro-human group who started looking to aliens for help. So I bided my time, and when I found another you who agreed, I woke her up." The Clone doesn't argue, and does her best to shove Dreya, Tandros, and her classmates to the dark corners of her brain.
"What was the point of it all?"
"All we wanted was your Spectre code. But then you survived the hit." Maya retells their story from their point of view. Shepard and her friends listen, shock and disgust on their faces. "And here we are, forced to contain the situation."
Shepard hardens, finally. "Fair warning. No one who's betrayed us has ever survived."
"And yet they keep trying." Wrex sighs.
"You two may think you're clever. And you were, just a bit. But clever doesn't beat a bullet. And yeah, maybe I am trapped in here, but don't get comfortable. Because that bullseye on your back is getting bigger by the second." Cute. Words won't free her.
"That sounds very dramatic. And if someone, like, say Commander Shepard made the threat, I'd be worried." Maya eyes the Clone, and she shivers under her gaze. "But you're not Shepard, not anymore."
"You had Miranda, I have her. Mine has more bite." In more ways than one.
"It was fun while it lasted." Maya sighs, and the Clone walks over to the nearest terminal. It's the one she'd been searching for this entire time. Perfect that an empty vault stands next to it. Perfect that she doesn't have kill Shepard directly. No blood. No guilt, right?
"What are you doing?"
"Setting things right." The Clone pulls up the recording. "Remember this?" She hits play.
"You're the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."
"Except somewhere along the way, You forgot about your entire species. You saved more alien lives than you have human." The words sound strange coming out of her mouth, but she can feel Maya watching her. She has to convince Maya. She has to convince herself. The way Shepard's crew looks at their commander-
"I don't care what species they are. Every life counts. But maybe a clone wouldn't understand that."
Aww, she's trying to push my buttons. The Clone chuckles "You know the one thing they can't duplicate? Our handprint. Life gives it its shape, not DNA-which is a problem." She looks down, raising her voice. "Computer: Update Council records. Subject, Jane Shepard. Human Spectre."
"Accessing record….Please input new data." The interface presents her a circle, and the Clone holds her breath as she presses her hand against it. "Biometric identifier updated. Good day, Commander Shepard." The room spins as she turns back to Shepard-the former Shepard.
"Now if you'll excuse me, the Normandy needs its captain." She smirks, making eye contact with the woman who used to have her name. "So uh...I should go."
Her victim reels as if she's just been slapped in the face. Maybe she has.
Maya turns after her. "Farewell, Commander. I guess this is where legends go to die." The vault seals itself behind them, and Maya pulls the Clone into a kiss. "Good work." She bites her lip, and the way her gaze travels up and down her body makes something hot coil in her belly. "Now, let's go get you settled into your cabin, Commander Shepard."