The Honeypot

Author's note: This is the first chapter. I have already made the plot synopsis, but feel free to PM me with advice, as I am open to suggestions. Also, feel free to leave reviews as I like those, regardless of their contents.

The air was hot, humid and oppressive as it perpetually was inside the sleazy nightclub Eternia. The lighting was constantly shifting and changing colours. The lamps were flashing with strobe-effects that could make anyone, regardless of toughness, nauseous. The music was pulsating through the room, making it resonate with the throbbing sounds of the speakers, transforming its walls into giant over-sized membranes shivering with vibration. At deafening amplitudes the sounds of 'Dyxyr Beats' quavered its raw, electronic sound throughout the night-club, drowning out all other unwelcome sound. Their savage tribal rhythms compelled the mindless patrons to dance like ecstatic husks, devoid of any thoughts, in what looked like complicated mating rituals, flailing their arms and legs around agressively. They were like maniacs afflicted with some kind of mentally degrading virus; a virus of salvation that along with the drugs and booze helped them forget all about their daily troubles. Vespus was all too familiar with this kind of salvational rapture. He knew how it could reel you in, grab you and never let you go. He knew how strong the influence of the thumping noise could be. How it could chew you up, spit you out and grant you joyful bliss all in the same evening.

He recalled hanging out in places like these all the time when he was but a young, inexperienced pup. Back then, of course, the music had been much different, the bitches much prettier, the drinks much better and the hounds more beastly; now, Eternia seemed strange, perverse and almost alien to him, like a pussified parody of its former self, its existence in of itself being an abomination, a blight upon the good name of what it had used to be. These were new times and everything had degraded since the golden days of Vespus' youth, the days of wild hounds, raw strength and youthful vigour. Vespus smirked, realising the hypocrisy in what he was thinking. He recalled his own father having babbled on about something similar back in the day, boastful of his own accomplishments and conquests, only to be told that he was an 'old jerk' by a young hot-headed Vespus. Maybe Vespus himself was just becoming an old idiot like his father had been, he thought to himself. It wasn't all bad these days. The drinks were good and the hircine smell of sweat coming off the backs of lustful partygoers lingered on from the days of Vespus, which he found comforting somehow. At least the repulsiveness of organic beings hadn't changed. Strange, that something so disgusting could be so nostalgic. "Here's to my old man – the miserable prick" Vespus thought to himself and sipped on his drink, enjoying the bitter-sweet taste of cheap alcohol mixed with cheap sugar and cheap fruits. He emptied his glass and signalled the barkeeper that he wanted another. The salarian poured him another in the matter of seconds, using his congenital hair-trigger reflexes. Vespus had a certain respect for those weird frog-people. They might not have been able to live past 50, but they could think on their feet and react faster than any other race. He would give his right arm to know how they did it. His left too, if he could have reflexes like that. Maybe they had two extra brains in those horn-like pieces of flesh and cartilage that protruded from their heads, he pondered. He could feel the salarian's large, wide slit, horizontally oriented eyes watch him intensely as he paid the salarian without making eye-contact. Vespus took his drink and leaned against the counter.

"Damn. It must be getting late" he thought to himself.
He could only hope that the contact would show up while Vespus was still able to leave the nightclub on his own. He had a tendency to get a little too drunk if left unchecked. The dancebeat intensified, building up towards the climax.

He calmly looked around, checking if anyone of interest should have entered while he hadn't been looking. Vigilantly, his eyes scanned the room for new people only to come across the faces of the same Asari he had seen before, moving their slender, sweaty bodies seductively to the pounding dance-beat like devilish sirens. The only thing that had changed was that a human had thrown up in a corner and now lied unconsciously on the floor in a puddle of his own sick. He sighed, looking down on his hands, studying the almost artfully cut scars, as they were highlighted by the ultraviolet lighting that now filled the room, fleetingly bathing the club in an eerie atmosphere before going away. He remembered how he had acquired each one of them. They were like his beautiful souvenirs, reminding him of all his deeds of violence and passion.

It had to have been a couple of hours since the agreed-upon meeting time and Vespus was getting a little drunk. Maybe the contact wouldn't show up. If he didn't, others might. And as he sat there thinking, it finally came. The climax. The music stopped for a brief while and all the dancers froze where they stood. It sent shivers down his spine. 'Damn, the DJ's pretty skilled' Vespus thought to himself with a grim grin on his lips. The music resumed, thawing the frozen dancers who began moving again, carrying on in their euphoria. There was still no sign of the contact. Maybe it was better just to go home, have a cold shower, find a nice buxom asari harlot, lie with her and find something else to waste his time on.

He could not, however. There was no other way this time and he knew it. He had disappointed the council with his methods before, but they always let him walk because he had gotten the job done. If this went south, so did his entire investigation and all the things he had done would have been for naught. He would just have to be patient and wait it out like a man.

Another 15 minutes went by. He could feel impatience creep up upon him like a dark shadow, stalking him, watching him from a distance. He knew that he wouldn't be able to wait much longer unless he found something to distract himself with. He discreetly scanned the room with his eyes again to find something interesting to do while waiting. He spotted a young purple asari dancing at the middle of the dancefloor, teasing his eyes with her slow, flirtatious movents and luring him in with her exquisitly curvacious body. She wore a red dress that left very little to the imagination and a provocative smile that invited anyone to approach her, if they thought they could handle her. Hot like napalm, untamable like a lioness. There was a time when Vespus would roll himself in ladies like these but he was getting old and way too scarred. He needed to keep on looking, if he wanted to stand a chance.

His eyes fell upon something perfect not too far away from him. Three seats over, another Asari sat solitarily, staring vacantly into her empty glass, looking like she desperately needed some company. Her thoughts were distant and she was untouched by the music. She wasn't the most attractive knock-out in the bar, but then again, neither was he. He observed her as she sat there, playing around with her bracelet out of boredom, having nothing better to do, while silently wishing for someone to entertain her. The sad look in her eyes spoke volumes of her loneliness and unfulfilled desires. He could certainly do something about the former, and with a little luck, the latter shouldn't have been a problem either. Like a predator planning on how to take down its delicate prey, he sat on his rather uncomfortable barstool and pondered on how to proceed. His career had taught him all the tricks one needed in situations like these. That was one of two good perks of his job, the other one being the good payroll. After some time the Asari seemed to notice his starring and returned his gaze. He sent her a discreet wink and her blue eyes lit up. It was as if two dormant suns were set ablaze after millennia of inaction, finally ready to outshine all the other stars in the sky. Her soft, moist lips formed a warm, welcoming, yet shy smile, revealing her beautiful white teeth, creating a fine contrast to her skin, like beautiful white clouds on a blue sky.

Bingo.

She was his for the taking, teeming with the grace and pulchritude that Vespus valued ever so dearly. She shyly looked down into the counter with a coy smile, breaking eye-contact before looking back up, returning his eyes with a flirtatious glance. She was opening herself, making herself receptive. Now was the time to move in. He smirked, took a sip of his drink and prepared to make his move.

Before he could utter as much as a word to the Asari, whose name Vespus had yet to learn, a being sat itself down right next to him, catching Vespus completely off-guard. Vespus turned his focus to the human male right next to him. He looked like a friendly person and had a kind face, especially for a human. He was dressed like a businessman, wearing a black coat, a white shirt with a green tie and black gloves. His brilliant blue eyes complimented his black hair, welcoming you with a certain friendly radiance that only the eyes of few humans possessed. Still, he had that serious look about him that people have when they are on important business. It was hard to make out due to the throbbing beat of the loudspeakers that drowned out all other sound, but it seemed that the human asked Vespus his name. He hesitated before giving the stranger one of his many pseudonyms.

"Linitherax" Vespus replied with a distrusting look in his eyes. "I assume you must be Ivan" he said. The person nodded, confirming his identity as the contact.

"Indeed" he said loudly, in his thick accent, trying to speak over the music. "You want few drinks before we go to business?" he asked in a friendly voice. Vespus felt relieved; this was the real deal. Finally, his efforts would have paid off and he could get his break-through.

He looked upon the lonely asari one last time and sighed before turning his attention to Ivan. He was too close to the truth to waste another second. "Nah, let's just go. I don't want to waste any more time in this club than necessary. The only reason I wanted to meet you here anyway, is because it's discreet" Vespus replied.

"You no like it here?" the contact asked.

"You are quick to perceive, my friend" Vespus replied, laughing slightly. "Nah… After having spent a goodly part of my life in The Spintop, I have grown tired of its dark underbelly" he continued. Vespus kept his game-face on, but couldn't help but sound a little unconvincing when telling such a lie. Vespus lived and breathed for the night-life of Omega, but he had to play the part. "Seeing the stuff people can do to each other around these parts will do that to you, you know".

Vespus finished his drink and rose from his seat. "But that is a story for another time. Let's make like the wind and get out of here" he said, wincing slightly from the bitter taste of his drink.

"Okay. I know place where we can talk safe" Ivan replied in what Vespus now had noted to be rather broken English. He thought it was weird for a race to have multiple languages. That could only complicate matters, he could imagine.

As the dark leather coat-clad couple exited from the doors of Eternia, they were greeted by the neon-lit skyline of Omega-by-night, in all its sleazy reddish glory. It was easy to see why Omega was known to many as "the most beautiful cesspool in the universe". The great space-suspended city had an exquisite display of neon signs on its buildings, each luring in people with more and more alluring temptations, whether be it whores, alcohol or financial advice. It was a nasty, crime-filled hell hole, yet it was beautiful in its own perverse way like no other place in the universe. It might have been noisy and filled with the sound of flying cars speeding over one's head, but it was the good kind of noisy; the sexy kind of noisy. It was as if the city was a big, savage beast, roaring at you, bursting with raw, primitive energy, ready to pounce on you at any moment. Vespus had to admit that the city was like a personal femme-fatal to him. It drained him of all his money and energy, yet he missed it when he was away, when he had obligations elsewhere. Even though this was an anarchist haven controlled by warring gangs and rich crime lords, it seemed much better than the bureaucratic Citadel, where everything was calm, consummate and clean. At least Omega could offer you some excitement. Also, in Omega, the strong ruled the weak, unlike Council space where everything was up for vote, people wasted their time discussing unimportant thrash and rich, bureaucratic pen-pushers ruled. "Wow… I sound like one of those batarian assholes" Vespus thought to himself.

As the recently united couple began strolling down the great main-street of Omega, making their way through the crowd of people making their way in other directions, Vespus noted the time. It was three hours past the time they had been supposed to meet, which meant it was a good thing that he had always been so patient. It was, however, to be expected. People in Omega were more liberal when it came to meeting on time. After wandering a bit, passing by the many inviting brothels and colourful bars of the streets, they made their way to an old, sleazy tower block in the lousy part of town, far away from the parts of town that saw any activity..

Seven minutes and a shaky elevator-ride later, they were at the door flat 38, one of the flats on the top floor. Ivan took out a key and opened the door, allowing him and vespus entrance to the apartment. The flat was odorous and the maroon wallpaper was coming off, but Vespus could tell that it had used to be a nice place once. It was relatively large and it had at nice panorama window with a good view of the blushing city skyline. One could even see Afterlife from here, towering at the top of the horizon, emitting its sinister influence. The interior decorating in the apartment was also quite nice, if not a little run-down and mouldy. It could certainly use at little dusting off but besides that, it looked like a place Vespus could live, if he didn't have obligations to the Citadel. Vespus sat himself down in a nice but dusty chair near a painting of a bowl teeming with exotic fruits from distant planets while Ivan helped himself to the mini-bar. Vespus could not help but think that one of the fruits looked more than a little phallic, but maybe that was the idea. Ivan took two glasses from the closet and a bottle of fine scotch. He looked at Vespus while pouring into his own glass, nodding his head at the other as to ask Vespus if he wanted a glass. Vespus shook his head.

"No thank you. I had enough at the bar. Besides, anything with levo-amino acids will kill me" he said with a smirk on his face.

"Oh yes. I forget. You must excuse me. I am not used to work with aliens." Ivan replied with a slight laugh, turning his back to Vespus to gaze at the gawkily fetching horizon while imbibing his drink.

Vespus scanned the room with his eyes. Next to him stood a small table with a little audioplayer, but besides that, there weren't much one could have hid a bug in, besides maybe an oddly shaped lamp that stood in the corner, also looking disturbingly phallic. He was getting the sense that either an asari or a human with tacky tastes had decorated the flat. He could tell that this was the kitchen and dining room as it had an oven and other cooking apparatuses. It also had a quite annoying clock, ticking away on the wall, without any regard for anything else than just fulfilling the sole purpose of its existence. The other room, where Ivan was sipping at his drink and the minibar was found, had a huge couch whose colour was a little hard to make out due to the dim light.

"No problem, mate" Vespus answered.

"Now, not to be too straight-to-point but did you have those documents for me?" Vespus asked, breaking character a little.

Ivan took a sip of his glass. The clock made several ticks before Ivan answered. Impatiently, Vespus was at the brink of asking again only to be interrupted by Ivan answering his question.

"Yes. Look in wall, behind picture" he said before sipping on his drink once again.

Vespus, stood up from his chair and removed the painting carefully, revealing a safe behind it.

"The code is 2157" Ivan said, instructing Vespus from the other room.

Vespus punched in the code and the door swung aside, revealing the contents of the safe. Finally, right before his eyes was that which Vespus had been searching for all these weeks: a paper trail leading straight to the bad apple. He took the fresh paper file and opened it, reading the numbers and words intensely, scanning it for what he was looking for. While he was reading, Ivan came into the room having finished his drink and sat himself opposite Vespus. After some reading Vespus was puzzled if not bewildered. Something was wrong. All wrong.

"This checks out…" he said hesitantly, gobsmacked at his failure to find what he was looking for.

"Yes…" Ivan replied coldly.

"But… You told me that this would have proof confirming my suspicions about the Triangle and the Penthouse! This proves nothing!" Vespus exclaimed, slamming the file shut, frustrated with his new discovery.

Ivan, staying as calm as ever looked Vespus in the eye.

"Relax, Vespus. Turns out we were wrong. I made a mistake. That is not a problem. Is good thing" he said and shrugged.

"What do you mean 'it is a good thing'? Now I'll never be able to prove my suspicions to the council! If I go to them without evidence, they'll never take me serious again!" Vespus rebuked, totally breaking character.

Ivan sighed.

"Look. I only promised I had documents on the whereabouts of vessels and money and that is what you're looking at right now. I didn't promise there would be anything good in it. Besides, is good thing when you think about it; it proves we were wrong. That is good thing… right?"

Vespus paused. Thinking about it, it might actually be preferable to be proven wrong rather than right in this case. He calmed down. That didn't mean that his suspicions were wrong though. The only thing it really meant was he had run into a dead-end.

"Yes… Yes, I suppose you are right" he said having found his calm. He kept a calm exterior and got back into character while his thoughts were running loose inside his head.

"Of course, friend! I always am!" Ivan said with a smiling laugh, his friendly warmth having returned to his eyes. The shift came shockingly swiftly but it was welcome.

"Now I'm going to the mini-bar. I am going to fix myself a drink. I have something for turians too… You want some?" Ivan asked with a smile.

Vespus paused before answering. "Yes. To celebrate that I was wrong" Vespus replied. He was trying to solve the puzzle inside his head.

"To you being wrong" Ivan said and headed into the other room with a broad smile on his lips.

While Ivan was fixing the drinks, Vespus was left pondering. Something was amiss. Something was rotten. Something in what Ivan had said to him. He had an eerie feeling that something was wrong; he just couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was. He went through the files again. They were clean. Too clean. His contact at ASIS had told him to compare them to the other transactions, but there was no discernible patter to be found. Something was wrong. Document after document showing perfectly inconspicous numbers, almost as if they were designed to look as mundane and irrelevant as possible. There were a few holes in the other two, that fitted incredibly well together, but this seemed to be water- if not air- tight. What was wrong? Ivan came in from the other room having a drink in each hand. Meanwhile a maelström of thoughts spun in Vespus' head. Ivan sat down on the chair opposite him and placed the dextro-friendly drink in front of him. Could it have been that the Penthouse just wanted to distract him? Why him? And what was it that the man sitting in front of him had said, that was out-of-place.

"So is that the conclusion then; that we had it all wrong?" Vespus muttered.

"Well..." Ivan said. "You have the papers right there in front of you. To be honest, I had hoped that it would have a little more meat on it, too. I mean, I'm risking my own hide here. I will be a fugitive from now on" Ivan said in a curiously calm voice.

"Shouldn't be a problem. I can have the SPECTRE's give you a new life somewhere far from where anybody can get you" Vespus said.

"That's nice of you" Ivan said and took a rather large sip of his drink. "But I have other plans"

"Like what? Where do you go from here?" Vespus asked.

"I'll make a deal with some private company for a lot of money and settle down here on Omega. These files might not be of much value to you and I, but the information provided within them could prove useful for certain private businesses" he answered.

"Well, this place beats the citadel" Vespus said.

"Sure does, Vespus" Ivan said.

Then it hit him like a shredder-round fired from point-blank range hitting his skull, smearing his brains all over the place. Now he regretted not bringing a gun. He should just have trusted Monarch and gone directly to him. Fuck it, if this was the end, one might as well go out with a bang.

"Well, this all looks fine and dandy" he said looking through the papers. He begun sweating a little. He prepared himself for what was likely to come.

"but I would like to ask you one last question if I may. You know, just to clarify things" Vespus said in a cold voice.

"Okay. Shoot" Ivan said while raising an eyebrow.

"How the fuck did you know my fucking name?!" Vespus asked with a confrontational tone.

"What?" Ivan asked, the warmth in his eyes leaving again.

"I said; how the fuck did you know my real name, when all I gave you was my cover?"

Ivan stared at Vespus like a deer caught in the headlights of a car for a few seconds while the clock ticked away.

"Oh, fuck it" Ivan exclaimed, his dialect changing suddenly into an American one. He reached into his inner pocket for a handgun. He drew his gun incredibly fast, but no faster than it took Vespus to throw his glass of alcohol in his face, blinding him.

"Jesus, fuck!" The hitman cried out in agonizing pain as the glass shattered against his face, drawing blood from his kind features. Before he could react, the Turian was upon him and planted its huge fist right in his glass and blood-riddled face, right between his eyes. It made an audible thud as he fell backwards on his chair. He was quick to get back on his feet. Too quick. Luckily for Vespus, he didn't get his gun back up with him. Before the otherwise well-trained turian could manage to react, the human responded with a low blow straight to the liver. Vespus could feel all the air leaving his lounges. The puch was followed with a head-butt, which sent the Turian plummeting to the floor. This human was not normal. Somebody had augmented the fuck out of him. The dark-haired man rushed up and kicked Vespus while he was on the ground, sending him straight into the wall. As fast as Vespus could, he regained his footing. The assassin rushed him, throwing a punch straight for his face. Vespus, however, dodged and responded with a mean cross, which made the hitman lose his balance. Vespus followed up with a powerful round-house kick to the jaw, which sent him nose-diving. The Turian grabbed the man by his collar and slapped him hard.

"What's your name? Who sent you, you little shit? Where's the real Ivan? Where's the file?!" he inquired.

The hitman spat a thick mix of blood and saliva right into Vespus' face.

"Fuck you, lizard. You have no idea how deep this goes. You're just fumbling around in darkness having no fucking idea about what you're fucking doing" the hitman said stubbornly.

Vespus hit him again. Thrice.

"Listen; we can do this the easy way or the hard way, smooth-skin. Which do you prefer?"
The hitman looked Vespus defiantly in the eye.

"My way!" he exclaimed before head-butting the turian, loosening its grip on him. He got himself free and ran for his gun. He picked it up. Just as he had turned around, aiming his gun at Vespus, the latter spat acid right in his face. He fell to the floor once more but not before blindly shooting off three rounds, two of them penetrating Vespus stomach ripping a huge gory hole through him.

Vespus let out a blood-filled gurgle before his body hit the floor.

"Fuck! My legs…" Vespas cried, looking down his blood-soaked body. What he saw horrified him. He was cut in half. The gunshots had separated his legs from his torso, smearing his entrails halfways across the room. He could feel his blood pouring out of him, painting the floor blue.

"Fuck!" he cried in panic and pain. "Shit… what the… motherfucking fuck?!". Vespus could feel his guts slowly running out of him in a thick, gooey mass. He tried to hold it in with his hands, but it escaped through the spaces in between his clawed fingers. Defiantly, he held himself from passing out, even though he was getting tunnel-vision.

The hitman rose from the floor wiping his face of the blood, acid and glass that blinded him.

Vespus coughed blood and cried something incoherent as the hitman finally regained his sight. He knew this would be it. He could feel death creeping up upon him.

"Jesus!" the hitman said, sporting a severe nosebleed. "You shoudda' just have bought the fucking story, you damn turian shitstain!". He cocked his gun and pointed it right at Vespus' head.

"Any last word, asshole?" the hitman asked him.

The Turian spat blood, that ran down his chin and down on the floor.
"yeah… face up or face down?" the wounded turian asked, clinging on to life by a few fragile straws.

"What?" the dark hitman asked in confusion.

And so the last words of Vespus Surlax were "Well, I just wanted to know how you like your ass-rapings for when I see you in hell, cocksucker…"