Garrus was humming an old Turian classic tune quietly as he continued to work at the main weapon battery of the Normandy. Shepard had made good on her promise to procure the latest in Turian ship-to-ship weaponry, the Thanix Cannon. The irony was not lost on Garrus; this cannon had been the product of reverse engineering Sovereign's guns from its attack on the Citadel three years ago. In their hands it would certainly be put to better use.
The newly installed weaponry would provide some much needed firepower against the Collectors. They had witnessed the massive Collector cruiser back at Horizon. And both he and Shepard knew they would need to destroy that thing sooner or later. But before that happened the Thanix Cannon would need to go through several rounds of calibrations and logistical testing. Minor tweaks and balances which would ensure it wouldn't tear the ship apart once it fired. After all, just one of these cannons has enough firepower to take out a dreadnought with a single shot, and they just installed two of them as a paired set.
In truth Garrus also enjoyed spending time on these calibrations. He hated just sitting around when he had nothing else do to. Perhaps an old Turian habit but he always wanted to make sure he was being useful. It was the same reason why he would always work on the Mako back on the old Normandy. Though to be fair, given Shepard's driving habits, the thing constantly needed to be repaired anyway. Besides, unlike the old Normandy, this one was still a Cerberus vessel. He had managed to play nice, if only for Shepard's sake, but there were still no shortage of speciest humans on board. More than once he had pretended not to hear some reference to Shanxi and the First Contact War, as they like to call it.
In the end it was simply easier to remain out of sight when he had nothing better to do. And spending his time trying to see just how efficient he could get these cannons firing would be a wonderful challenge to keep his mind entertained while he was there. His quiet humming was all the more proof that he was enjoying the challenge quite a bit.
Sadly calibrations could do little to stem his own biological functions, and the rumbling of his stomach quickly made it clear to him that he should stock up on whatever horrible dextro paste Gardner might have for him. With a rough sigh he shut down his terminal and walked out of his makeshift cabin.
"Oh Garrus, wonderful, I was just headed your way." a smooth feminine voice drew the Turian's attention. There she was walking towards her, the Asari Demon. Morinth had taken full advantage of her new open status among the ship to really let her personality shine, for better or worse. Rather than the traditional black Justicar outfit she had been using, she was instead dressed - if you can call it that - in a skin tight off-black leather piece that she somehow managed to make seem even more inappropriate than her previous outfits.
"Well, I feel so special now." Garrus quipped, "So long as you weren't trying to corner me for some mind blowing sex, and I mean that quite literally of course, I suppose I could make some time for you."
Morinth simply smirked back at him as she stepped closer, she had clearly heard all those jokes before. There was little one could say to her that would get a rise out of her. If anything, despite Garrus's efforts, his jokes and sarcastic insults only served to amuse Morinth. He was beginning to think she was starting to become friendlier with her. In fact she had become a lot more friendly with everyone on board now that she didn't have to play the part of her stoically frigid mother. She laughed more and smiled more and really seemed to enjoy talking to everyone on the crew when the opportunity arose. Even the most racist alien hating Cerberus loyalists were no match for the power of her personality.
And that was what worried Garrus the most. No matter her intentions Morinth was still a psychotic serial murderer. No matter how nice she might be, every now and then she would give certain crew members that look. It was a look Garrus had seen many times working in C-Sec. It was the look of a killer gleefully eyeing potential prey. No matter how much she might be willing to play along, there was no hiding what she was.
"Why Garrus, you look like you want to put a bullet in my head." Mornith teased the Turian, her words snapping him out of his train of thought, "Have I ever told you how sexy that makes you look? I'm surprised our dear Commander hasn't tried to jump you yet."
Garrus felt his mandibles twitch unconsciously and silently cursed the spirits knowing the Asari would probably pick up on that. He tried to avoid the subject entirely by deflecting the conversation, "So what did you want to talk about?"
Mercifully Morinth either didn't notice - and Garrus was far too paranoid to believe that - or simply decided not to pursue that line of questioning any further. Instead she handed over a datapad in response.
"What's this?" Garrus asked as he took the pad in his talons, he quickly recognized the list of name and contact information for various people on the Citadel.
"The intel that you wanted." Morinth smiled at him, "If the man you're looking for is really heading to the Citadel, these are the people he'll make contact with to help him disappear."
Garrus was a little surprised that Morinth proved to be good on her word. He had recently tracked Sidonis movements and discovered he had made his way to the Citadel. There was nothing to suggest he may have ended up anywhere else, but Garrus had nothing more to go on, at least nothing solid. On a lark he had decided to ask Morinth for people and places Sidonis might contact on the Citadel. He figured she had far more experience traveling as a fugitive, and likely knew exactly who to contact on the Citadel in case she ever needed to disappear there, if she hadn't done so already once before.
It was quite an interesting experience when Garrus first mentioned the idea to her. Rather than be insulted by Garrus claims she was in fact quite agreeable to them. Morinth had even commended him on his deduction and not only confirmed his assumptions but promised to get him the information he had requested. There was something about being so eagerly helped by a villain like Morinth that really bugged the hell out of Garrus. He couldn't shake the feeling he was being played.
He had made a promise to Shepard that he would learn to work with the psycho sex killer, and he was honest about being able to get along with Morinth far better than he ever got along with her mother. But that didn't mean he trusted her one bit. As much as he might pretend otherwise, his old C-Sec habits clicked furiously every time he was around her. Then again she was just one more person on this ship he had to keep a close eye on for now. At the moment, however, his eyes caught something else entirely which he found interesting.
"Huh, I think I've heard of some of these guys from my old C-Sec days." Garruss commented still looking over the list Morinth had provided, "Others I recognize from the underground rumor mill back on Omega. Seems odd the way you organized the list, clearly not by alphabetical order, … experience perhaps?"
"You have a good eye, Archangel." Morinth looked quite impressed by the catch, and quite amused by the way Garrus looked at her when she used his Omega moniker, "I organize things by the personality their tailored to. In this case the list is set by priority based on who I thought your traitor was most likely to contact."
"Is that right?" Garrus arched a ridge plate which many humans might consider an eyebrow, "So you're basing this list on some sort of psych profile you've created for a man you've never met?"
"I've met you." Morinth smirked confidently, clearly she was sure of her own assumptions, "And I've heard you talk about this man. I don't pretend to know him, but I know enough that I could easily wrap him around my finger if I ever met the man. So if I were you I would start at the top of the list I gave you and work my way down."
"Wrap him around your finger huh?" Garrus shot back, "You mean that in the figurative sense, or the literal?"
"Both, really." Morinth simply smiled.
Garrus merely stared at her for a moment before he turned to the datapad in his hand, looking at the information for the first name on the list.
"So you really think this 'Fade' character is his most likely contact?" Garrus asked, "Is he really that good?"
"No, he's really that easy." Morinth explained, "Your little friend might be talented but he's also clearly the weak willed sort. Probably running scared, he'd be too impatient to go after a better identity broker. Fade will no doubt be the first person he'll find who can help him."
"And just a guess, he'd be the last person you would use if you were in a similar situation." Garrus smiled back at Morinth.
"Very clever detective." Morinth returned a patronizing look, "It's true, if I wanted to disappear this guy would be the last on my list. After all, I'm used to running away from my dearly departed mother. Give credit where it's due, this Fade wouldn't last one minute against her. I mean even his name 'Fade', it's just far too obvious."
Garrus found himself equal parts annoyed and impressed with Morinth, no matter what he tried absolutely nothing seemed to phase her. Really only Shepard herself ever seemed more sure of herself. As much he might not want to admit it, Morinth was correct. This Fade guy was probably his best shot at finding Sidonis. His own investigations hinted that this might be the case, and now Morinth had effectively confirmed his own suspicions. He'd still verify this against his own intel first, of course, but he was pretty certain he and Shepard would be confronting this Fade character the next time they made their way to the Citadel.
"Thanks, Morinth. This actually helps a lot." Garrus said with a polite nod.
"Don't sound too surprised, Garrus," She was clearly just teasing him at this point, "I know you don't trust me but I assure you it's at the very least in my best interest to help you all. Especially now that you know who I really am."
Garrus blinked, quiet for a moment. Morinth's statement was not one meant to ease his suspicions. She no doubt realize any attempt to do so would only make Garrus even more suspicious. Instead she merely assured him of her intentions and nothing more.
"In that case you won't mind that I'll be watching you carefully." Garrus leveled a stern look her way, making sure Morinth understood clearly his intentions if she tried anything.
"Oh on the contrary, I welcome it!" Morinth grinned cheerfully in response rather than show any sort of concern or discomfort. "I am a killer after all. I'm the last person you want to trust so easily. Besides, if you were all so easy to manipulate into liking me I would be extremely disappointed in your collective stupidity."
"It's words like this that make me feel so comfortable when I sleep at night." Garrus replied sarcastically. "Why I might even stop twitching every time you reach for a knife." After a beat he added, "And if you add some lame line about not needing a knife to kill me I swear I will lose all my non-existent respect for you."
"It's not that I can't be trusted." Morinth shot back as she tilted her head slightly in an amused gesture, "But that trust will be completely meaningless unless you learn to trust the real me. Not the mask that I wear to put others at ease. I won't shy away from who or what I am, nor will I blame you from reacting to me in what is actually a smart and rational manner. If it means you can learn to trust my true self then I welcome whatever path you need to take to get there."
"So in other words, not unlike building up a tolerance to any other lethal poison." Garrus was the one smirking this time.
"It's not as if I need poison to kill you." Morinth quipped with a playful smile.
"Ugh, I walked right into that one didn't I?" Garrus groaned.
"You did pretty much leave yourself wide open." Morinth confirmed.
"Right, speaking of poison," Garrus shrugged, "I still need to grab some of the crap that passes for sustenance for us poor dextros aboard this ship and get back to work."
"I figured you'd be hungry so I grabbed you a tube." Morinth said as she pulled out a familiar tube of Turian rations and handed it over. "And you're right, this is absolute crap. Honestly, I think if I had added poison to this it would only enhance the flavor, and probably make it less lethal."
To his surprise Garrus found himself laughing, "You're probably right. I guess I should be grateful that they have any Dextro friendly rations at all on this ship."
"Still we should definitely stock up on some decent Dextro options the next time we stop by the Citadel." Morinth said in a friendly tone, "I mean I fry people's entire nervous systems for fun and pleasure and even I think that's just wrong."
"You know that's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Garrus chuckled, "I may not trust you, but spirits curse me if I'm not starting to like you."
Morinth laughed with the Turian before she turned back towards the main mess hall, "Looks like you're starting to tolerate me already!"