Heisting 101
Chapter 6 - Alone Time
Kasumi stands silently in the shuttle's passenger bay, holding the greybox tightly. Sophie opens up the on board terminal's display and the thief plugs the device into a socket, her eyes become covered with a thin holographic visor and her head bows.
The thief raises her head after a short while to find herself in a dark room, the only light coming from two glowing blue circles on the floor, one inside the other. A figure appears in front of her, and before she can even voice her recognition, the recording of Keiji relays its message. "Kasumi, if you're seeing this, it's because I'm dead." The hologram raises its arm and causes several images to appear stacked one behind the other. Kasumi recognises some of them. Memories of a happier time. Keiji continues. "The information we found is all here. It's big, Kasumi. If the Council ever got wind of this…the Alliance could be implicated." Kasumi begins to walk alongside the row of memories, sifting through them with her omni-tool. "Kasumi. I…I encrypted the data to keep it safe. And I uploaded the encryption key to your greybox, so no one could get the whole package." The thief parts the seemingly endless row of images and enlarges one of them. A picture of the two of them holding one another. The hologram continues "But if I'm dead, and if anyone knows about this…then I've made you a target, my love. I'm so, so sorry."
"Keiji…" whispers the thief as she browses to another memory. As it plays she can't help but smile. She watches herself approaching Keiji who appears distracted by the datapad in his hand, she taps him on the shoulder and they embrace before parting with a short kiss.
"I know you Kasumi. You'll want to keep these memories forever. But you don't need some neural implant to know I'll always be with you. Please Kasumi, destroy these files. There's nothing more I can do to protect you."
Kasumi sprints back to the hologram of her lover, her eyes welling up. "I…I can't do that! This is all I have left!"
"Goodbye, Kasumi. I love you." is the reply, Kasumi hugs the lifelike hologram, clinging desperately to the last connection of her lover. The hologram disappears and Kasumi's visor along with it. She looks up to see Sophie close down the terminal, the commander gives a nod of understanding and sits down, the thief sitting opposite.
"Is there any way we can just destroy the information?" asks Shepard hopefully.
"No. Keiji's a master at encrypting files. He laced the information into his memories." says Kasumi, clearly upset. "You can't get one without experiencing the other."
"If it's that important to you, then keep it. Just be ready to live with the consequences." replies Sophie.
"Yeah, I am. I'll stay off the grid. No one will know I exist." the thief's confidence coming back slightly as she leans forward in her seat. "I think I want this. Thanks, Shepard." the petite woman activates her holographic visor again, bowing her head once more.
A/N: And we're done. Thanks for reading!
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