Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect. I also do not own Assassin's Creed, or Dishonored, which will be referenced in this chapter.
A/N: Welcome back all! Good to see you. To answer the guest who duplicated his review like a weirdo, I have no idea. Nothing is written in stone. Shepard will probably have somebody, cos it's Shepard, but my character... No clue. Wait! He will have a harem of female Batarians! No, no... That's ridiculous. Wait and see. And Cf96, glad you you like the story. Now, enjoy.
You would think, that security would improve in two century's time. And you would be right, usually. But the building I enter is conspicuously quiet. No alarms, no cameras active, no guards. It's my lucky night it would seem.
Nevertheless, I move quietly, my dark clothing indistinguishable from the shadow. The fancy night vision glasses SB got me make everything crystal clear as I approach the particular painting. While nondescript, it's apparently one of the most expensive items here. After scanning for the security devices that weren't there, I get my hands around it just as a voice speaks behind me.
"Stealing is wrong you know." I smile at that voice, and my hand moves away from my pistol.
"That's rather amusing, coming from you..." I say, turning around. "Kasumi." Sure enough, the hooded, though not in her trademark outfit, woman flinches.
"How do you.." She looks fully at my face as I tilt my hood back. "Cory?" Suddenly, I'm assaulted by a half-hug, half-strangle by a teary-eyed Asian girl. "What.. What happened? Where did you go? I tried to ask the port security and they said you didn't exist!"
I smile at her concern, but motion towards her."First things first. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, this?" She says, a grin on her face. "Just a little moonlighting. You?"
"A shadowy friend wants this painting." I point to the one I was about to take.
"Ah." She says, looking it over. "Appropriately expensive. I'm here for a strange little piece from Earth. Care to tag along?" She asks, eyes full of mischief now.
"Sure." I smile, already rolling up the small painting before carefully placing it in my bag.
As we walk, I try to fill her in on all that has happened over the last year. She stands nearly agape at the end, and hardly believes a word of it.
"It's true," I tell her. "You can ask my roommate once we're done here."
"Oh, you guys are roommates, huh? I should've figured."
"Hey!" I protest, and I see the humor in her eyes. "You're not as funny as you'd like to believe, miss Goto."
"No, I'm funnier." She responds. "Here we are." We've reached a lot of older-looking items, perhaps from the 1800's, and Kasumi looks like a kid in a candy store as she stares at the items.
"What were you here for?" I ask.
"Just some fancy blade that was made a few hundred years ago," She says, still looking around." A large switchblade, in a way."
"What, that thing?" I point to the weapon mounted over some other items along the far wall?"
"Looks like it." She says, moving towards it. "The Turian who hired me said the Turian who owns all this bought it along with some other items from a Human he was planning on buying it from, and now he's getting it for a far better price. He only wanted the blade apparently."
I nod, not really paying attention. The things here.. I realize after a moment the irony of our coming here. "Kasumi." I say, and she looks at me. "These are not hundreds of years old."
"What?" She asks.
I nod towards the blade. "That is from a video game from only about 160 years ago. It's not something from actual history." I examine the other things here. "These aren't authentic items." My inner geek is smiling at the gear though, nearly drooling.
"Hmm, so what is this stuff?" She inquires.
"Well, that blade and outfit is from a game called Dishonored," I point towards the blade she was sent to get. "And these are from a game called Assassin's Creed." I motion towards the white and red outfit, along with the dual Hidden Blades under it." It would appear your Turian friend wanted to buy something that is merely a prop."
"Not a prop," She says, pulling it off of the wall and examining it. "It's genuinely sharp, but not exactly historical." She says, shrugging." But, what he doesn't know won't hurt him."
"Fair enough." I nod, smirking. " I think I'll take these." I motion towards the remaining items, stuffing the outfits in my now full bag and attaching the blades to my wrists for lack of a better place to carry them. I flex experimentally, and the blades shoot out, extending three inches past my fingertips and slicing my right ring finger open in the process. "Dammit!"
Kasumi just laughs at my misfortune, but freezes up when lights start to come back on in the gallery-esque room. I only have time to clean up my bloodstain before she's tugging me back towards the exit. "What's wrong?" I ask.
"I had rigged the power systems to stay off." She explains, starting to run. "But not for long."
I pale slightly. "So we've overstayed our welcome?" An alarm starts to ring.
"That answer your question?" She says.
The best way to see Bachjret Ward is while sprinting through it. Being chased by a half-naked Turian only made it more fun. We manage to outrun him, but continue to run. I'm following Kasumi, and we end up on the Presidium, though we must've run for at least a half hour. I'm sweating bullets, Kasumi the same, as we slow down by the lake. Our respective hoods are down and I'm starting to walk towards her when she suddenly spins around and presses her lips to mine.
Shock doesn't begin to describe my emotion right now, but the adrenaline of the moment causes me to wrap my arms around her, bringing her close. Nobody looks twice at the curious couple kissing by what is considered to be a romantic spot on the Presidium.
I wake up the next morning, remembering the crazy night. After our shared moment, or hour perhaps, we break away, flushed and embarrassed. After an exchange of Omni-tool information, she was off, though perhaps with a slight spring in her step. Could've been my imagination, though.
I deliver the painting to the drop-off, and receive probably a fraction of what the painting is actually worth, but still a hefty sum. I keep the gear as curios, though I'm determined to learn the Blades I've wanted to own since the beginning of the series. They're a mixed pair, one the infamous leather bracer of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, The other the right bracer of Ezio Auditore. Extremely well-made reproductions, they're made of stronger stuff than iron or steel. 'My nerdgasm must be a sight to behold.'
The outfits themselves are Corvo's outfit, complete with mask and hood, and the outfit that Ezio wore in the events of the second game. I'm looking over them in more detail when Delta comes in.
"A good night then?" He questions, looking at my smiling face. I nod, showing him my acquisitions. "Looks expensive. All together more expensive than what you were actually hired to get."
"Probably. But, I'm going to have a lot of fun with it." I say, the smile on my face telling all.
End file.
November 30th, 2177. Put operatives Echo and Delta in contact with a Krogan weaponsmith on Kiothi Ward. Though surprised at the state of his shop, they learned that Ravanor Granith is an extremely capable and amicable smith. Future weapon's contracts will go through him. Small finder's fee taken for business.
January 19th, 2178. Echo states off-handedly that it is his birthday. Later that day, Kasumi Goto arrived with a package from 'a friend'. Package contained items dating to before Echo's capture. Echo thanked her awkwardly, distracted by something on his mind. Previous interaction between the two likely caused awkwardness. Note: still have not been able to investigate this Salarian or his mysterious 'employers' to my liking.
February 15th, 2178. Echo releases a song onto the Galactic Music Network. The song, titled 'Stereo', hits over 15,000,000 hits in a little over a day. The music is something reminiscent of music on Earth pre-suppression, and many are amazed at the song's lyrics. Echo shows shock at the popularity, and receives many messages on his network account with questions, as well as offers for the production of more music. Note: investigate source of music.
March 1st, 2178. Operatives Echo and Delta have assisted on several small operations, and are more than ready for more. Echo in particular shows a skill for low-profile missions, while Delta has a more high-profile skill. Will assign Echo to more assassination work, and Delta to enforcer/power play work.
March 15th, 2178. Echo goes to Granith with a design for an armored outfit fusing together the hood of the outfit he referred to as Corvo's, and a less-flashy version of the outfit he referred to as Ezio's, with the ability to be less noticable. Granith delivers, providing an outfit made of ballistic cloth with hardpoints along the chest, legs, arms, and shoulder, as well as creating an optical illusion that makes people's eyes instinctively move away from the outfit, forcing someone to focus on something other than it. Will ask Granith for design specs.
Echo also questions the make-up of the blades he found, and Granith reveals they are a titanium alloy, with tungsten-carbide cores, creating very durable blades.
April 17th, 2178. Operatives Delta and Echo have been completing their jobs with relative ease, gaining a reputation among certain circles for their skill. Echo, in particular, gained notice of fellow assassins for killing a Hanar surrounded by Drell bodyguards on Kahje. The ensuing chase left all six guards with various cuts and stab wounds from his Hidden Blades when they had surrounded him and believed him unarmed. each guard was disabled but not killed.
In the last month,Echo has also released three more songs from an archaic music player that somehow survived the suppression. With the surprisingly-massive profit he received from the releases, he buys a small-time music production business based on the Citadel and renames it New World Industries. Invested heavily in this N.W.I. on the prediction it will continue to produce massive revenue. Also masked all signs of any of this new music having already existed.
July 22nd, 2178. Many aspiring musicians are contracted to sing and perform under the flag of N.W.I. Most accept, and quickly learn the songs written. N.W.I. is one of the fastest-growing producers in Citadel Space, with a rapidly-growing fanbase.
October 20th, 2178. A group calling themselves "Followers of the Echo" has been causing a huge stir in Council space, dressing up as the now-infamous hooded assassin, and officials make several false-arrests on these individuals on Earth and the Citadel. Nobody is certain what the actual outfit is now of Echo. Most assume when they see him that it is merely another pretender.
January 21st, 2179. Echo refuses a lucrative assassination contract, saying "This is one day no more blood will be on my hands."
April 14th, 2179. Alliance believes operative Echo responsible for death of several senators. They send an N7 assassination team after him and Delta, who evade the four N7s for 2 days on Omega, where they were completing a contract. The two are cornered in the mines, only to disable them and force them into an abandoned apartment, locking the door. Two days later, Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett receives a message saying the true assassin was found by Echo and Delta. All charges are dropped, and a working relationship forms between Echo and Hackett in secret.
November 30th, 2179. In a chance encounter, operatives Echo and Delta are in Asari space when Councilor Tevo's ship is assaulted by Asari extremists. Echo and Delta board the ship, taking down the extremists, and earning the gratitude of the Asari Councilor, as well as a vacation on Thessia, all expenses paid.
"Man, are we lucky or what?" I look to Delta.
"Hell yes we are." I reply. "This is just what I needed."
"Well then," He says. "Let's have a night on the town." We move towards what qualifies as downtown Serrice.
"Ow, what did I do last night?" are the first words out of my mouth as I open my eyes. "Okay, Delta and I went out to some Asari club, we got drunk, danced," I shiver slightly at this. "And we... Where am I?"
"My apartment, silly." My jaw drops at the stunning Asari in the doorway, and her utter lack of clothing makes me realize my own.
"Uhh.." I say, ever the charmer. She just giggles a little, and climbs in the bed behind me.
"You can't tell me you don't remember last night?" She says in my ear, her arms around my shoulders.
"It's coming back to me.. Bit by bit." I answer, trying to relax a bit. "I was just a bit.. Surprised."
"Well, I'm just going to have to make you remember."
I've never been more scared, in the best way possible.
January 30th, 2180. Echo goes to Granith with a project; armor classifiable as super-heavy, but powered to offer the mobility of medium armor. Calling it 'Spartan' armor, Echo fills out a full list of design specifications (See attached file). The armor will take anywhere from 4-10 months for development, the materials to design some of the more unique features will take time to gather and be prohibitively expensive for normal people, but N.W.I. is now making enough to design it.
There are now over 40 songs to the label, all of them popular with many different groups. From rock to hip-hop, they are re-igniting a passion for music as a means of relaxation and escape.
A/N: I'd add more, but I got shtuff to do. So, review! I'll see you all tomorrow.
Edit: here is the specs for my new armor (Halo Reach because.)
helmet Commando Cbrn Cnm silver visor.
shoulders: left Recon right Odst
chest: Tactical/Recon
Wrist: UA Bracer
Utility: tactical trauma kit-
knee guard: Grenadier
Disclaimer again: I do not own Halo.