Chapter Two
People were always asking Kevin why at such a young age he chose to go around taking contracts to kill people, especially since such a job is usually done by highly trained professionals. Usually right before he kills them, ironically. His response is as repeated as the Omega news reports about local deaths. "I have a knack for it," he would always say. As it turns out, that's more or less the truth. Due in no small part to the fact that when things get tense or he actively focuses hard enough, his brain fires neural synapses at more than twice and a half the speed of normal humans. That's what gives him his... Competitive edge. He's never had any training specifically in the way of outright assassination, but he did go through several training regimens during his time in the Alliance military where he learned to kill humans, turians, krogans and others to fit any necessary mission. He had no extended network of contacts, but rather a few. He would be considered 'unprofessional' or 'a rookie' by other assassins, but he was still rather young by professional standards and he still managed to take out the marked individual either way.
For someone who had a dodgy past of missing spots in memory and hints of heavy experimentation, Kevin certainly didn't come out looking like he did. He bore no scars before he went into military training, nor was he being constantly chased by some shady organization. Considering some of the horror stories he's heard about some of the research projects out in the galaxy, you'd think that there'd be a lot more conflict or something, but there was no such thing.
The hyperconcentration, which Kevin amusingly and joking called 'bullet time' in reference to ancient vid-games kids used to play at the turn of the terran millennium, was just one of many side effects. There were many other neural conditions which were the result of experiments when he was not just young, but still in the womb. He vaguely remembers being part of some crazy experiment designed to create humans who could use powerful biotics without the needs for implants. "N1" biotics, they would call them. First generation natural biotics.
Kevin couldn't remember a lot of the details thanks to gratuitous doses of amnesiac meds, but he could remember being told at one point what other effects were generated from that one goal. Some changes were benefits, like brief moments of hyperconcentration when things seem to slow down around him and clear up due to the stronger and faster neural timing required for natural biotics to have any bit of control over their element zero nodules. Others more negative, like debilitating headaches and random spots of memory loss of varying degrees. Fortunately the memory loss could be countered with simple supplements, but the crushing headaches, not so much. Stims, meds, chems... He's tried it all to get the headaches to stop. They were bad enough to stop him in his tracks, no matter how determined he was to move on. Sure they were temporary, but those few pounding minutes were the epitome of painful misery. He considered himself lucky that he hadn't experienced one while on a mission.
As Kevin trudged through the leftover crowds outside of the pulsing Afterlife, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a dirtied window. He had been here in the pit of Omega for just over a week by now, waiting for Mr. Linus to show his unwittingly promised face. His short brown hair was greasy, if not wretched, and his clothes over his old alliance uniform were filthy and starting to become ragged. Not to mention the various stains from having to 'deal' the the locals. He really did start to look like he belonged here.
Omega does that to people who linger. For him, however, the change was not subtle. He could feel every layer of recirculated dust and airborne grime that fell upon his form. Every cloud of filth kicked up by a group of passers by in the alleyways, he could taste. Each unkempt human, pissed off krogan, slithering batarian, sultry asari, wily salarian, and especially those vorcha – all had unique ways to assault the senses here. Heck, even the few random quarians smelled as though they'd rolled around somewhere between corpses and trash piles rather than what one would think with those sterile envirosuits. Probably from all those rags they tend to don. Kevin was no exception to this any longer, either. He was beginning to assault his own senses. He needed to get off of this rock.
Luckily, Linus had parked his vessel at one of the more expensive, closer docking bays. There were guards, but it was obvious by their general disinterest that they were only there to keep Omega's general population from trying to steal any ships or cause trouble on Aria's docking bays. People who parked their ships here paid Aria a good sum, and she wasn't about to betray a fat wallet in that sense. Kevin merely had to flash the newly obtained ship registration and the guards simply nodded before going back to playing some form of game on a small table at the entrance to the docking bays.
It wasn't long at all before he was moving along the docks, staring out a window at his new ship. The vessel was a small frigate, judging by the size. The exterior design was sleek, to say the least. Very modern, and not the usual blocky design most civilian ships tended to lean towards. It classically blended smooth, rounded surfaces with sharp points at the edges. The front was pointed, and as it moved towards the back of the ship, it increased in width, height and depth in a subtle manner. The front tip housed a series of viewports which gave the illusion of menacing and sleek eyes among other things.
The top of the ship arched ever so slightly from the front tip to the tail end, with the highest point of the arch closer towards the front, perhaps one third the way from the front tip. Halfway towards the rear of the ship, the 'neck' ended and the size of the ship tripled in width and depth, while only doubling in height. The transition from neck to body wasn't as extreme as one might think, the overall design resembling something of a very fat and clearly oversized fighter. At the rear, two 'tail wings' split off in a widened V shape off of the top side and extended a tad past the rest of the tail end. There were two long, flat thrusters that ran alongside the rear half or the 'fat' part of the body on the bottom corners of the ship and continued to run off the rear for perhaps one fifth the total length. They weren't exactly horizontal bars jutting off the sides, they were horizontally angled down and away to follow the slight downward curvature of the broadsides, which helped to solidify the sleek look. Near the back end of the thrusters were what appeared to be pivots to allow the thrust direction to be altered slightly during flight. Such designs were top dollar, and it was clear Linus spared no expense.
Kevin had to stop drooling and come to before he made himself impatient. Within the minute, he had moved himself off of the alien, thug infested rock and into the airlock and decontamination aboard the clean, shining frigate.
After a rather quick and painless d-con session, he took his first steps onto the civilian frigate. The inside was a spectacle in and of itself. The level of technology aboard the ship was fresh – it must have been recently refitted or built. Judging by the lack of wear and tear, it was more likely the latter. To his immediate left was the bridge, but Kevin always called it a cockpit out of familiarity with much smaller vessels. The systems were in standby mode, but that didn't prevent the myriad of consoles from staying lit and ready for input and observation. The entire bridge, small and cramped with three seats in a forward pointed triangle, was completely aglow with consoles, monitors, systems checks and other lights with purposes unidentifiable due to his limited knowledge of frigates. To his right was the neck of the ship, the left and right sides of the walkway lined with more lights of multiple natures and two juxtaposed consoles on each side for crew to use when maintaining critical systems and other internally associated things. Beyond that was what looked like some sort of briefing room, given away by the large oval table surrounded by pivoting chairs that were bolted to the floor in the middle of the room. The walkway made a Y split after the ship's neck and traced the outer wall of the ship around the table and chairs, each ending at a door on the same wall in the back of the room, but on opposite sides.
Kevin turned right first and headed into the briefing area, wanting a bit more space before he would take care of the first order of business. According to the registration he had acquired from Linus, the ship's name was the Kellius. Its external design seemed familiar to him, to the point of placing a quiet nagging in the back of his head, begging for someone to ask that one question. Why was it familiar? Something he read or saw in the past... Kevin tapped his head repeatedly in a vain attempt to knock some of those memories loose, but to no avail. Maybe it'll come to me later, he resolved. Regardless, the Kellius was in his possession now, all that was left was to get the internal systems to recognize his authority. Normally, this would be a problem, as the ship's systems wouldn't recognize a stranger's voice print for access.
But Kevin had people. Just not a lot of people.
He learned an interesting trick when it came to ship registrations maintained by a VI system, which the Kellius no doubt had. It allowed him to change the ownership of the registration over to himself internally, while outside the ship, everyone else would still recognize the vessel as Linus Werner's petty flagship. He would get full administrative access to all systems, and no one would have an ounce of suspicion unless they boarded the ship themselves. Digitally, whenever the owner of the ship contacted an external system for whatever reason, a name is never used. Instead, the one making the contact is the 'Owner of insert ship name here', so when making deliveries to the Kellius, or requesting a dock, the digital sendout is 'The Owner of the Kellius', and the other end automatically checks the closest iteration of the Galactic Registrations Database server, or GRDserv for who the actual owner is according to the last 'real' registration. The GRDserv systems would then automatically return the registered owner, Linus Werner.
Kevin didn't learn this himself, of course. He knew a decent amount about current technology, but certainly wasn't an engineer. An old salarian friend of his on the Citadel, Tarsil Dolannus, had a lot of contacts. One of these said contacts revealed this method of cracking the VI registration to Tarsil after they had worked together on some clandestine project. Kevin didn't care for the details of the project, but Tarsil was more than happy to give such a useful and rare technique to a close friend of his.
There was only a couple pieces of crucial information one would need to complete this task. Knowledge of the process, knowledge of what systems to hack, and most importantly, the registered owner's failsafe passcode. A series of spoken alphanumeric and numeric characters that should technically only be known by the owner. In the event that a normal voice print or other form of interactive login failed, the passcode would ensure the VI that the person requesting access is truly the owner, immediately granting the speaker temporary owner rights. Temporary in that the moment he or she steps off the ship, the process resets and the next time they step aboard, they would have to do it all once more if the usual login failed. Fortunately, Kevin had a hard copy of Mr. Werner's passcode, chicken scratched onto the back of his registration. Apparently, in all the years since computers were first invented back on earth and cyber security was on the rise, some habits never die.
"This is Linus Werner, execute the registration transfer prorgram." The onboard system responded in a harsh and very practiced female tone.
"TERRA AND VI ONLINE. ALERT: VOICE PRINT UNRECOGNIZED. PLEASE TRY AGAIN OR INITIATE USING THE SECURITY PASSPHRASE."
"This is Linus Werner," he said once again, clearing his throat, "Passphrase twenty-two alpha zeta thirty-four... credit-symbol credit-symbol?" Can that really even be part of a passcode? Good lord.
"PASSPHRASE ACCEPTED – REGISTRATION PROTOCOLS INITIATED. PLEASE ENTER A NAME AND PARAMETER FOR TRANSFERENCE."
"Kevin Folner. Transference parameter is... Business exchange?" Yah, that'll do fine, he mused to himself.
"ACCEPTED – REGISTRATION OF THIS VESSEL HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TRANSFERRED FROM LINUS WERNER TO KEVIN FOLNER UNDER BUSINESS EXCHANGE NEGOTIATION. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEND THIS CHANGE NOW?"
This is where part two of the registration hack process came. Since the passcode was used, the VI had given full administrative access to Kevin, which gave him the choice of sending the change of registration to the servers now or later – a matter of two Galactic Standard days.
"Uh, no. Don't. In fact, store this data in the encrypted database."
"UNABLE TO GRANT REQUEST – THIS INFORMATION IS REQUIRED TO BE SENT TO THE GALACTIC REGISTRATIONW DATABASE EITHER NOW OR-"
"Ahh, shut up. I'll send it later."
"ACCEPTED. WELCOME ABOARD, KEVIN FOLNER."
"Man, I hate VI's."
Suddenly, the VI's voice changed. It wasn't as obvious as a VI anymore. The female tone was now relaxed and alluring. In all reality, that didn't surprise him much, given Linus' apparent nature. "Greetings, Kevin Folner. Do you have any questions about this ship or its systems?"
Kevin raised a brow at this change, finding communication with the disembodied voice a bit more tolerable. "Yes. Why did you say 'Terra and VI online' when I first requested program execution? Are there two different systems handling requests?"
The response, though relaxed, was still obviously a VI by choice of words and formality of the spoken language. "You are partly correct. There are indeed two systems in place – a standard VI program engine and additionally, the 'Terra' software."
Kevin folded his arms, staring at the ceiling for lack of a better direction to gaze. "What's this Terra software, and why is it installed?" The first of many basic questions to learn the limits of the obviously customized VI.
"The T. E. R. A., or 'Technologically Enhanced and Revised Assistant" software is installed to assist an undersized crew successfully pilot the Kellius in addition to data fetching requests and maintaining the Kellius' critical systems. For simplicity's sake, the assistant software as well as the virtual interface has since been dubbed 'Terra' by the previous owner and has been virtualized as a single software entity."
"So wait, are you rudimentary AI with control of the ship?" It was more a reassurance question than an actual query.
"That is incorrect. The TERA system in place is only allowed basic functionality to advanced systems such as navigation and kinetic barrier functions to assist undersized crews. Specifically, it has been programmed without heuristics and auto-optimization for security reasons."
"Explain basic functionality." 'Basic' was accompanied by the applicable curling of index and middle fingers on both hands.
"Example: Faster than light travel has been super-simplified when under the guidance of Terra. In such a situation as when a pilot is absent, Terra can be set to navigate to any charted world. Terra would then map the navigation routes according to existing trade route data. Counter to this, Terra cannot be used to fly emergency evasive maneuvers or explore uncharted systems."
"But what happens if you get a virus? How well is the Terra system secured?"
"Terra has numerous cyber security suites included and always running, such as programs allowing for the creation and deletion of additional firewalls as needed, perpetually active scanning services, monitoring of communication traffic for potentially hazardous bit additions, and a mainstream anti-virus algorithm set. In the event that a detected virus cannot be isolated or purged, an automatic run-time physically separates the Terra program from the ship's own internal systems. In such an event as this, a full crew will be required in order to fly the ship and maintain all systems. In addition, Terra will not be able to automatically fetch any data not currently residing on the local database."
"That'll be all for now." A short chime sounded, acknowledging his request. As acceptable as the VIs new voice was, the amount of information it spewed upon request was nothing short of typical.
Kevin wasted no time in getting his new shiny ship away from that cesspool of a city. From the briefing room, he made his way to the slightly elevated walkway at the neck of the ship and into the bridge. The Kellius looked as though it was meant to be handled by a full compliment of nine or ten crew members, but could be piloted entirely by one person thanks to Terra. Interesting. And definitely convenient, seeing as how he was the only crew member aboard. He should at least be able to hit up the mass relay and get away from here. In fact, he decided to plot a course for Illium and get compensation for his most recent contract. In the meantime, a quick overview of the Kellius' systems and features was in order. Kevin slipped on a Haptic Adaptive Interface (HAP) glove and within a few taps on the HAP, a detailed list of the systems and features appeared before him.
The first thing Kevin noticed was the stark lack of weapons. The only one was a the token 'Main Cannon', the mass effect-accelerated gun that ran under the entire nose of the ship. It had decent punch, but was very difficult to get a firing solution for, since you had to aim the ship itself rather than just the cannon. That's insane, he thought to himself, Why would anyone build a new ship with this much tech in it, even a civvie ship, without additional weapons? It was then that he noticed that despite the fact that no other weapons existed, the systems and hardpoints to integrate more weapons onto the Kellius did in fact exist. I smell a budget cut. Most, if not all the systems you'd expect on a civilian vessel were present and active. From life support and a VI core, to navigational mapping, thrust control, and a curiously robust suite of communication protocols. Kinetic barrier systems were de facto on all vessels by now, at least as far as he knew. There was also a vague mention of heat sinks and hull refrigeration systems, but Kevin didn't have any particular interest in that due to not knowing what they were for.
The one thing about this entire ship that stood out the most, even more than the lack of weapons, was the mass effect drive core. It wasn't just some simple civilian-grade drive core. No. It was, from what he could tell, a scaled down version of the Tantalus drive core which was so successfully tested aboard some alliance prototype vessel within the last couple years. He could almost remember the name. Almost. The specifications of the drive denoted the fact that while it was slightly scaled down – sizing in at only two thirds the size of the prototype – the mass effect field generated had not been reduced and was no longer oriented to be perpendicular to the ship's spine. Instead, the entire drive core was turned so that the fore-most part was angled upward about forty-five degrees. It seems even that glorious technological wonder still was subject to improvements. This solidified a growing confusion in Kevin. The ship was clearly civilian, but had things not available to civilian vessel manufacturers. This required some research, which he figured he would conduct later.
The next thing he brought up was a transparent, three dimensional map of the Kellius. He needed to see the layout of the ship if he wanted to utilize it at all.
There were three decks on this ship. The first deck housed, from bow to aft, the bridge, briefing room, deck two access (which looked like a stairwell), medical bay, unusually large mess hall for a frigate sized ship, another stairwell to deck two, a room labeled as 'entertainment', and the master quarters, not commanding officer's quarters. Apparently it wasn't built for military use, which made sense. This 'master quarters' room, located at the aft-most part of the first deck, was easily the largest open spaced room in the entire ship, next to the cargo hold and loading dock.
On deck two there was, again from bow to aft, deck three access (which was starboard as opposed to the port-side deck one to two stairwell), crew quarters, Life support and VI core room, port and starboard observation decks, deck one access stairwell, and the large engineering room. It was large enough that it took up space on both deck two and deck three with entrances on both decks.
The lowest deck on the Kellius appeared to be reserved completely for cargo and waste processing. A large door at the front of the cargo room was also the loading ramp, as it would turn down to allow loading of cargo if it landed. With that, Kevin's brief survey of the Kellius was finished. He closed the map and system queries before bringing up the navigational map. He needed a destination, only now remembering that he left two overpaid bodyguards alive. He didn't want them showing up for a surprise exit.
"Alright, Kellius. Let's go get us some creds. Terra, undock and fire up the thrusters," he confidently stated while setting a course for Illium through the local mass relay.
Only moments later, he was en route to the asari Terminus border planet of Illium. In the meantime, Kevin got up from his chair and began making his way to the back of the ship. He wanted to investigate why the master quarters were so large, and take that industrial strength shower while he was at it. As he passed through the briefing room, he noticed a small holo projector in the center of the table, probably for presentations and communications. Fancy. The doors between this room and the next appeared automatic, not having any visible access panels on them. It seemed like they also came with emergency seals in case they needed to block the bridge and this room off from the back. Interesting.
Behind those doors, the hallways merged back together in the center of the ship and continued aft. On his right just as he began down the hallway, he spotted the stairwell to deck two with a luminescent sign above it labeling this floor as deck one. Next to the stairwell door, there was a small list engraved in a metal plate on the wall. VI Core/life support systems, Crew quarters, engineering, and cargo.
From there, the hallway angled right and straightened out alongside the port side of the ship, and a window on the left on the angled portion of the wall revealed the inside of the medical bay. It was decently sized and seemed well equipped. At least well enough to sustain someone until they got to a real medical facility. Further down the hallway revealed the door into said med bay, and next to that was a door into the mess hall. Kevin decided to take a peek into the mess and activated that door. Not even a second later, the door split up into four parts and separated into the walls. He jutted his head inside to see a rather luxurious table and chair setup, and a sectioned off kitchen towards the back. The lights were dim, as no one was using the room, but he could also plainly see a small bar on the backside against the wall. Awesome.
A small ways after the mess hall, the hallway turned left at a ninety degree angle and ran all the way to the starboard side. There were two doors on the right side of this portion of the hall. The one closest to me was the 'Entertainment' room. He'd check that out some other time. Further down was a door for the master quarters. Down at the very end was the other stairwell heading down to the lower deck. At this point, Kevin was already impatiently speed walking to the master quarters door, hardly even waiting for it to split open before stepping into a short hallway which ran outside the entertainment room before coming to a second door at the far end. Perhaps this double door setup was a security check? Not bothering with the recurring thought of such details, he quickly moved beyond the second door.
Now this was nice. It was a semi-circle shaped room, flat on his side and rounded along the aft. As the map suggested, it was easily the second largest open spaced room on the ship. The room was split level, albeit only a few steps difference. There were two sets of four stairs on the port and starboard sides of the room and between them was a massive couch that sat on the lower half. On the starboard wall of the lower section was a bathroom and on the port wall was a large sliding door – presumably for the wardrobe. The back half of the quarters were raised about waist high, and up there was a king-size bed, several modern-styled chairs, a decent sized desk with a computer linked to the ship's systems, and a small table with a set of controls to various things in the room. Additionally, there was a transparent-walled stand-in shower on the port side partially built into the wall. There were multiple observation windows in here, one on the ceiling, and one on the left and right sides that matched the gentle curvature of the room. They appeared to be reinforced, but also looked as though there were armored shutters that could close over them in case the Kellius ever came under attack.
And without further ado, shower time. Placing the sealed box on the desk near the bed, Kevin rid himself of the foul rags and his old alliance uniform before stepping into the spacious and visually exposed shower.
He let out an exasperated sigh as the hot beads of water fall over him. He needed this a lot. At the very least he could relax for a bit before reaching Illium, and he most certainly planned to. Illium wasn't always a friendly place – asari controlled or not. He had to have a clear head so that he could get his money and move on. There was no hurry in his shower, but he finished quickly nonetheless. He was never good at taking a long time to do things. Recent life had taught him otherwise.
He dried himself off with the softest towel he had ever felt, and moved to the closet to figure out what these rich types kept around for clothes. At first, all he noticed where business suits and other expected formal wear, but there were also a couple officer's uniforms in there for some reason. At the far end were a pair of combat undersuits, which struck Kevin as just as strange as the officer uniforms. Maybe for the bodyguards, but why where they in here? An unpleasant thought about the rich man and the male bodyguard in the same room crossed his mind and he silently gagged, quickly removing it from his thoughts.
The colors did appeal to him though and there were no emblems or insignias. Black, white and gray mixed with some light-gold colored lines and details. The pants were cargo-type, having large pockets on the legs for carrying thermal clips and other things. There were also a pair of space-ready hardsuits on the opposite end from the undersuits. One was well armored, but looked like it weighed as much as an elcor. The other was less armored, but seemed more flexible and mobile. Above the heavier one hung a breather helmet that looked as though it could be used interchangeably on either hardsuit. He grabbed a combat undersuit and put it on, surprised at how well it fit. The pants needed a belt, but nothing major.
After dressing himself, Kevin climbed onto the bed and laid down diagonally across it, just staring out the ceiling observation window at the stars, sometimes obscured by waves of visible blueshifted energy rushing by. Suddenly he had remembered just how long it had been since he got some real sleep, and his eyes shut by themselves. The ship was unbelievably quiet. Omega was never quiet. He always enjoyed silence...