It was a few weeks later when Morinth had the opportunity to interact with more of the crew. Perhaps Samara had made a habit of always eating alone in her room, but Morinth wasn't going to be satisfied with that. So she began spending more of her time in the common area of the mess hall. It was purposefully minor changes at first. A quick meal when she knew there would be fewer people around. Always sitting far away from everyone, and refusing to speak with anyone when she did. Just enough to get the crew used to her presence without finding it odd.
They had arrived on Tuchanka a few days ago. Garrus, Tali, Grunt, and Morin had joined Commander Shepard down on the surface. Krogans didn't really like too many visitors on their homeworld - and just having a Turian and a Salarian in their midst was dangerous enough already - so Shepard had informed the crew not to travel down there unless they had a damn good reason. Not surprisingly, no one else had any desire to head down to that irradiated wasteland.
Today Morinth was once again sitting in the communal area. She had already finished her meal but she decided to stick around as she listened to the grizzled mercenary, Zaeed, talking about recent missions. Though she made sure not to show it, Morinth was enjoying the way Zaeed could spin a tale.
"So there we was," The mercenary continued in his gravel voice, "the entire bloody refinery is burning like a fuckin roman candle. Vido's getting away, and Shepard forces us to stop to have a chat. Let me tell you, I've seen sights that would send a Krogan running to their mother. But nothing quite like the sight of that woman when she's genuinely pissed at you. If I hadn't been so focused on killin' Vido I might 'ave pissed me-self right then."
"Shepard's just railing at me about the innocent bystanders in the refinery." Zaeed continued, crossing his large armored hands across his thick muscled chest. "And I just don't give a damn, you know. I'm there to kill the man who took 20 years of my life, I couldn't care less about anything else. That's when she punches me, right across the jaw. Never been hit quite like that in ma' life, and I know she's still pullin' back so as not to kill me outright. That sure as fuck got my attention. But I make my case, this is my mission and the mission is killin' Vido, not saving civies."
"'Fine' she says 'but we'll do it my way'." Zaeed threw his hands up as he talked about Shepard. "Want to know what her way was? She sends Jacob here to open all the gates seal all the valves and let the hostages out so they can all be saved. At the same time she and I go straight after Vido." He nods over to another table where Jacob is sitting. The Cerberus soldier simply shakes his head without adding anything.
Zaeed just smiled as he recalled what happened next, "So there we are, a man down and with the entire Blue Suns army between me and Vido. You'd think we was at a disadvantage. Not ashamed to admit the thought crossed my mind. But as it turns out that's not the case. Don' get me wrong, I'm doing a bloody decent job of taking my share of mercs down, but Shepard is just mowing them down at a distance like a fucking machine. She's not even wasting a single goddamn bullet. Every shot another Blue Sun dies. Hell after a while it's obvious I'm just playing bait. I run up, make a lot of noise, get them to pop their heads out of cover. Even if it's just for a second they might as well stand out in the open for days with the way Shepard can dial in her shots."
Zaeed leaned forward with a satisfied smile as he told the next part, "Even when that Heavy Mech came out it was still like a walk in the park. Hell I damn near shit my pants when I saw that massive robot walking up to me. But Shepard, she just puts two shots right to that thing's head at a hundred paces. And I'm talkin' the same bloody hole one after the other. Barely had time to find cover before the bloody thing went nuke on us. Took out the rest of the mercs with it. After that there wasn't much point sticking around so I run straight out to the landing pad. Vido never expected we'd go through his men so fast. Found him crawling like baby trying to get away from me. He was right scared of me by that point let me tell you, begging for his life like the cowardly cunt that he is. Guess he never realized I had Shepard behind me the whole time and figured I did all the killin'; didn't bother correcting him. By the time Shepard caught up to me that man was already nothing more then a screaming burning pile of sweet vengeance."
"Wow." One of the shocked crew members said finally. Morinth was equally entertained watching the crew reactions as she was listening to the story itself.
"So what happened to Jacob?" Another crew member spoke up.
"Well I'm here ain't I?" Jacob spoke up.
"I mean what happened? Did you run into any Blue Sun mercs?" The crewman clarified.
"Are you bloody kiddin me?" Zaeed cut in loudly, "By the time me and Shepard ran through the bloody place there wasn't a single fuckin Blue Sun soul left to get in his way."
"It was pretty toasty in there trying to avoid getting well done." Jacob added, "No thanks to you, I might add."
"If you say so Boy Scout." Zaeed laughed, "No question you had the cushy detail this time."
Morinth was no longer focused on the conversation by that point as something else had piqued her attention. She had caught Miranda Lawson walking into her room moments ago. Miranda always forced herself to show an icy exterior that rivaled her own mother when she wanted to. But unlike the late Justicar, Miranda wasn't nearly so emotionless. Morinth figured out from the first moment she met the Cerberus Operative that Miranda always felt like she had something to prove. Overall, though, Morinth found Miranda to be well below her interest level.
But when Miranda walked out of her office that wasn't the case. This time Morinth saw something different. Miranda was still trying to wear that emotional shell around her that made it impossible for most of the crew to tell what she was feeling. But Morinth knew a lost little lamb when she saw one. Miranda was worried about something. Not just worried, the stoic controlling XO was actually scared. The slight tremble of her eyes, the unnatural tension in her shoulders; this woman was as desperate for help as she was desperate not to show it. Whatever the problem was, it was something deeply personal to her.
Under a different situation Morinth might have taken advantage of that. As it was, she found it hard to resist her curiosity on this rare occasion.
"Miss Lawson," Morith called out to her in her mother's stoic tone, "Is something wrong?"
"It's none of your concern." Miranda shot back in that fascinating human accent of hers, making her distress even more obvious to Morinth.
If she was playing a different angle Morinth would could have used any one of a hundred calming phrases to disarm even the uptight Miranda and eventually convince her to tell her everything. But playing the strict passionless Justicar limited her options significantly.
Not that this bothered Morinth any. On the contrary, she enjoyed the challenge it provided.
"You are correct." Morith replied bluntly, "I am not asking out of concern. But I find your constant nervous pacing to be quite aggravating. I would prefer to resolve whatever troubles you rather than suffer your continued distress." Her harsh words spoken without a trace of emotion in her voice only further intensified the effect. Miranda could not stand the thought that her perfect exterior might be showing any flaw, exactly as Morinth had predicted.
"This issue is personal." Miranda hissed crossing her arms, "And not something you can help me with. I will handle the matter and ensure I don't disturb your precious peace." Forcing herself to remain in control only made it easier for Morinth to play her.
"If I believed you could manage this matter without assistance I would not have inquired about it." Morith responded without so much as a pause, "The fact you are so very distressed about it proves this is something you cannot handle on your own."
"Even if we were to pretend that what you are saying is true," Miranda said defiantly, effectively confirming that everything Morinth had said was true, "I certainly would not trust you with this problem."
"In that case the solution is simple." Morith told her calmly, "Find someone you can trust with this issue." After a beat she added, "I would recommend Commander Shepard as the natural choice."
"You really think I can trust Shepard?" Miranda said dismissively.
"Of course you can." 'Samara' said with complete conviction, "Whether or not you chose to is your decision."
"I doubt it's so simple." Miranda said in disbelief, "Shepard doesn't even like me."
"It is that simple. Shepard doesn't much care for me either." More specifically she really didn't like Mother, Morinth thought to herself before adding, "And yet the Commander was still willing to assist me. Shepard might be a lot of things." Morinth added just a hint of disapproval, because Samara would no doubt disapprove, "But she is honorable in her own way. On this matter you can trust the word of a Justicar." It was almost surprising that she managed to keep a straight face with that last one.
"Then I will take your suggestion under advisement." Miranda said in a determined tone. Morinth found it cute how she was still trying to regain control of this conversation. "However I would prefer if you would simply mind your own business."
"I assure you I would prefer that as well." Morinth said, she immediately stood and walked away dismissively. As much fun as that was, staying any longer was just asking for trouble.
Morinth didn't get far before her comm chirped with an incoming message. She tapped on the comm device in her ear before Samara's voice demanded, "Speak."
"Oh, uh, hello Justicar Samara." Kelly's voice answered back.
"What do you need, Miss Chambers." Morinth said.
"Right sorry." Kelly said only slightly flustered, "A transport delivering supplies just arrived in system. They had several items for us which we've received. One of them belonged to you. A package from Thessia."
Ah, it finally arrived, Morinth thought to herself, "Very well, I shall make arrangements for pickup."
"Oh, that's ok." Kelly piped up, "You don't need to bother I already took care of that. I was just wondering, if you don't mind, I can take the package to your room." Morinth knew Kelly was trying to get into position to talk to her personally as the ship's therapist. The smart play would be to brush her off, but pushing Kelly away too much would only motivate her to try harder.
"Very well, just be quick about it." Morinth said finally as she headed to her room.
Not long after Kelly was ringing the door chime to her room. Morinth opened the door glaring at the Yeoman with a steely look. Kelly was standing there with a medium sized box under one arm.
"Hello there!" Kelly said cheerfully. Morinth didn't answer, just continued to stare back expectantly.
"Oh sorry, here's your package." Kelly added as she offered the box in her grasp.
"Thank you." Morinth said in a voice containing no gratitude as she grabbed her package from Kelly's arms.
"If you don't mind I had a question." Kelly said politely. Morinth had been expecting this, so she simply glared back at Kelly until she spoke up again. "I couldn't help notice in the shipping manifest; it says this is a Justicar uniform, a black one."
Morinth knew what Kelly was getting at, but in order to play her role properly she simply let Kelly sweat it out in discomfort until she finally spoke up, "What is your question Chambers?"
"Uh... I just wanted to ask you why you needed a new uniform?" Kelly asked finally, "I mean your current one is fine and, well, I guess you didn't strike me as the type to buy something unless you really need it." She really was a perceptive one, Morinth realized.
"I completed my mission and my daughter lies dead." Morinth told her the story she had already developed ahead of time, "A new uniform is customary to mark this transition. The color is more befitting this time of mourning." It was all bullshit of course. Asari don't even wear black to represent mourning. But without any other Asari on board, the crew would simply have to take her word for it. The word of a Justicar as far as they were concerned. All the excuse Morinth needed to explain away her new wardrobe.
"Well I think it's a good thing for you to grieve for your daughter." Kelly said with her psychological expertise. Unfortunate that it was completely misplaced in this case. But at least it showed Morinth that she believed her fiction. "It just seemed strange to me, you know, given the circumstances."
"The Goddess requires a period of mourning, regardless of the nature of the death." Morinth told her, "The Justicar Code demands that I follow the tenets of my faith. As such a new uniform was necessary."
"Right, of course!" Kelly stammered out, clearly a bit embarrassed that she might have said something insensitive. Morinth enjoyed seeing her squirm a little. "I have the utmost respect for your faith and your code. But I know these sorts of events can be traumatizing. And I just wanted say, if you ever want to talk about it..."
"There is nothing to talk about." Morinth interrupted her before she could offer any other therapeutic words, "It was my duty to kill Morinth then, just as it is my duty to mourn her now. I shall continue to do my duty by serving Shepard until this mission is over. The Code leaves no room for discussion." To punctuate her words Morinth cycled the door closed between them, ending the conversation.