Morinth spent very little time getting settled in. By necessity she was forced to pack extremely light. She might be able to do something about that at some point, but for now she had to make due with little more then her mother's ugly uniform. So instead she spent most of the time searching for and removing every monitoring device in her room, ensuring that nosey AI wouldn't be able to discover her secret. It was quite ridiculous the number of hidden bugs spread through out the entire room. It was almost as if Cerberus didn't trust anyone.
Once she was satisfied with her privacy Morinth took a moment to take in her new living arrangements. She could just imagine the way her mother must have stayed hours meditating in front of the massive observation window. To her credit, the view was quite beautiful. Unfortunately it was also boring. Given the vastness of space one could only look at the same unchanging sprawl of stars before it became mind numbing. Morinth herself preferred to sit in one of the room's dark corners. Not only was it more comfortable then squatting on the cold floor, but it also meant she would be able to see anyone coming into the room before they could see her.
It didn't take long for her to start getting bored of simply sitting around, however. Unlike her mother, Morinth was a social creature. The Justicar might have been perfectly happy denying herself all personal interactions, but her daughter wasn't nearly so frigid. Morinth knew she would go crazy without someone to talk to. Even if she had no intention of hunting anyone in the crew - she would keep her promise to Shepard after all - there was nothing wrong with getting to know the rest of the crew.
Of course, interacting too closely too soon would surely give her away. Morinth realized with some frustration that she was stuck for now.
Then again, she also realized she was getting hungry. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch for the Justicar to want to feed herself, right? It would make a good excuse for engaging in a bit of crew interaction after all.
Fortunately no one else on the ship had any experience with Justicars before now. She would have to use that advantage carefully.
She took a moment to make sure every piece of her mother's uniform was worn perfectly. A true Justicar would not allow anything to be out of place. Satisfied with her outfit's precision, she turned her focus towards the real disguise. Morinth took a deep breath then forced all emotion deep inside, locked away from all prying eyes, until all that remained was a fabricated aura of sanctimonious rightousness. Already she could feel a tightness in her neck that made her uncomfortable. Good, that frustration would make her act more believable. She took a moment extra just to make sure her mother's facade was perfectly placed before stepping out of her room and heading to the mess.
The area was filled primarily with off duty humans enjoying their lunch, as one would expect on a Cerberus vessel. What Morinth found more interesting was several non-human crew members who were eating along with them. There was a massive Krogan sitting alone devouring equally massive portions of food. Everyone seemed intent on avoiding him, clearly uncomfortable with the behemoth in their midst.
By contrast there was a Turian and a Quarian sitting together. Both of them were slowly eating obviously dextro food while talking with each other with the sort of banter that marked them as old friends. This would have normally separated them further from the rest of the human crew. Strangely, however, Morinth noticed they were still engaging many of the crew members around them, talking and laughing about all matter of subjects. There were more then a few humans intent on avoiding those two, certainly. However unlike the Krogan they seemed motivated more by personal prejudices then primal fears. The rest of the humans near them seemed fairly happy conversing with their fellow non-human crew members.
That much was not something Morinth would have expected from Cerberus personel. She wondered if this was Shepard's influence. Clearly this was more the Commander's ship then it was Cerberus'.
Morinth followed the scent of food towards the kitchen area and was quickly met with her first challenge of this little excursion in the form of the middle-aged human standing before her. She had no idea what sort of food was typically served here; the sort of meals that everyone on the same ship for an extended period of time would have come to expect by now. Nor did she have any idea if Samara had developed any favorites from that menu.
It proved to be a minor challenge as Morinth quickly figured out the solution to that obstacle. It didn't matter what the typical menu on the ship was, the response would be the same every time. Even if Samara had any favorites, the Justicar certainly would never have made them known to anyone.
Morinth simply walked up to Gardner, and stared expectantly. She maintained her perfect impassive Samara mask without so much of a hint of emotion even as her body language gave the subtle impression of frustration that her mother would certainly give off at having to interact with any of the crew that no doubt had long ago been deemed unworthy for one stupid reason or another.
"Uh ... can I help you ... ma'am?" Gardner said eventually.
"I've come for sustenance." Morinth said in Samara's emotionless voice, after a beat she added, "Clearly."
"Err, right." Gardner said eventually. He quickly got over his awkwardness, grabbing a plate and filling it with the contents of the large stew pot next to him before offering it to 'Samara', "Here you go ma'am."
Morinth made sure to remain as frigid as possible as she took the plate without so much as a word. The response to her actions, and lack of it, assuring her that her disguise remained perfectly obscure. She managed to resist the urge to curl the edge of her lips in a secret smile. Then again Mother did make it too easy.
She set her plate down on a nearby table, not far from the other non-humans where she would rattle the fewest Cerberus personel. She began sampling the strange food before her and was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. Certainly not the best stew she's ever had, but still far better then what she expected. Of course she wouldn't allow even this small pleasure to show on her face.
"Well, well, look who decided to grace us with her presence." The smooth metallic voice was not only clearly non-human, but also clearly sarcastic. Morinth looked up to see the Turian looking back at her, his forehead plates were pulled back slightly in the Turian equivalent of a smirk. Morinth knew this was not something a Justicar would simply ignore.
"What do you mean." Samara's voice demanded as Morinth stared back with the same impassive face of disapproval she had seen so many times before.
"I mean this is the first time that I can remember seeing you eating among us common folk." Garrus Vakarian was his name, Morinth recalled from the ship's roster that Shepard had given her.
"I'm honestly surprised!" The Quarian piped up suddenly. Tali-something, Quarians had a rather atypical naming convention. Morinth decided she would have to review the girl's information again. "I was starting to think you didn't actually eat. I figured you probably just absorb the energy of the universe or something." Whatever her name was, Morinth already liked her.
It was an simple yet obvious mistake in hindsight. An amateur would certainly panic the moment anyone noticed any flaw in their disguise. An expert however would simply devote more to selling their cover.
"Given recent circumstances, I simply had no desire to be alone right now." Despite her words, there wasn't a hint of sorrow or pain on Morinth's expression or tone. Just like they would expect of the Justicar. From the subtle shift spreading on the Turian's face, Morinth was confident the feint had been successful.
"Fair enough." Garrus told her, "I suppose we're just grateful you haven't threatened to kill any of us yet."
Morinth had to fight back the sudden desire to chuckle at the joke made at her mother's expense. She found it almost charming the way Garrus was trying to make her feel better with humor, or rather how he was trying to console her Mother despite the fact she had clearly done nothing to deserve his kindness.
Part of her wanted to keep speaking with the two of them, but she knew she was pushing her luck already. This small gesture would be enough to lay the groundwork for future interactions. For now she needed to shut down the situation quickly.
"You should be grateful that my Oath to Shepard prevents me from silencing you as the Code demands." Morinth told the Turian calmly. She was giving them exactly what they expected and she knew it.
"And there's the death threat we were waiting for." Garrus said. "You almost had me worried, Samara."
"Don't worry for me." Morinth replied coldly as she stood to leave. As much as she wanted to stay, her cover demanded that the Justicar leave the presence of the unworthy in this situation.
"Samara? What the hell are you doing here?" Shepards voice stopped her before she could step away. Looking up she saw Shepard walking up to the communal area while staring at her.
"Apparently she had no desire to be alone." Garrus told the Commander, "I know, we were all just as shocked as you are."
"Rest assured, Shepard." Morinth spoke up before things got out of hand. "The desire is now gone." Without another word she grabbed her plate and walked towards her cabin.
Once she moved past the edge of the wall separating the mess from the crew quarters in the rear, Morinth moved herself out of view and listened carefully to ensure she hadn't left behind any lingering doubts.
"And people say I had a stick up my ass." She overheard Garrus commenting, "Really Shepard, I'm genuinely surprised you haven't tried to kill her yet."
"You have no idea Garrus." Shepard said with a sigh.
"Well forget about that insufferable bitch." Tali said, "Why don't you join us for lunch?"
"Thanks but I'm good." Shepard responded after a pause, "Actually I just came to tell you guys we'll be heading to Tuchanka soon."
"Ha! Finally! I'm eager to speak with more of my kind!" Grunt bellowed from his seat.
"Me too, Grunt. But we're also going to there to look into a matter for Mordin." Shepard explained.
"What does a salarian care about the Krogan homeworld." Grunt said with a distrustful tone.
"It's nothing you need to worry about Grunt, trust me." Shepard said. And he did, Morinth realized, the young Krogan probably trusted no one other then Shepard in fact.
"But actually I figured you two in particular would be interested in coming down to visit." Shepard continued. Morinth assumed she was referring to the other two non-humans.
"Shepard, what makes you think that I would want to risk life and limb by being the only Turian in the middle of all those Krogran?" Garrus asked her.
"Because it just so happens that an old friend of ours is currently sitting on the throne of the Urdnot camp where we'll be landing." Morinth could tell Shepard was smiling now.
"Urdnot? You mean Wrex!" Tali squealed with glee, "This is wonderful Garrus! We'll get to see Wrex again!"
"I can hardly wait." Garrus said. Despite the sarcastic tone Morinth could tell the Turian was happier about the prospect then he had been moments ago.
She found it quite interesting that Shepard had friends even among the Krogan. Grunt was no fluke. Neither was the Turian or Quarian, for that matter. That human had an uncanny ability to make friends with the most unusual people. Morinth had to wonder if she would end up on that list. She quickly dismissed that idea however. There wasn't much point in worrying about friendship when you kill everything you love.
For now she was satisfied that her secret was still intact. Morinth allowed herself a small smile as she went into her room, securing the door behind her.