Tela Vasir was the new Shadow Broker. It really took me a while to let the implications sink in, I had just been part of what amounted to a massive coup, and despite my attempts at nonchalance, I knew he was right when he mentioned the shift of power. The asari matriarchs would react to this, should it leak in any way.
We had taken the Spectre's ship, Shiala and I, and we were on our way out of the system to rendezvous with a medical frigate. Tela had stayed behind, not wanting to leave her office just as she had gotten control. So, Shiala and I had left, leaving the shuttle behind and taking the frigate instead.
I had thought we had made it out okay, despite the bullets we still had lodged inside the different parts of our bodies, but I was wrong. She had tried to hide it, but Shiala was not well. She was running on stims, the bullet that had run her through had made a lot more damage than I had realized.
Even then, she put the mission first. We got to the ship only when the Broker's base was secure – which involved shooting the few remaining troops aboard – and she plotted a complicated multi-relay path for us to move before calling for help. We were on a stable orbit around one of the moons of Melile, an ice giant in the Elysta System. Close enough to civilized space, and somewhere that wouldn't rise suspicions. We had already sent the signal, so we were just waiting.
"You shouldn't be here," I said.
Shiala made a grimace of pain, and looked at me. "I have to be here for docking. You cannot pilot the ship."
"It can't be that complicated," I said.
"Aw," she said, smiling. "I did not know you cared."
"Fine, I don't," I grunted, and turned back to the instruments.
We were killing time by scanning the planet below, which is as boring an enterprise as it was in the games. Looking for deposits of useful minerals and firing probes at them. Why? Because Spectres were self-funded, and looking for potential deposits in far-flung places was a great source of income. Once the probes landed they'd scan the area, and send detailed reports to the mining companies. Open contracts. The Spectres would get a cut, and so would the miners. Boring, but reliable, and easy.
"Why is it that everything I say upsets you?" Shiala said.
"What?"
"It's so difficult," she said, her voice fading far away. "Humans rely almost exclusively on language. Context is important, but language is all." She sounded like she was quoting something. "And it's so hard without melding."
I looked at her in confusion. Wait, blue. Her waist looked wet, with a blue patch on the seat.
"Shit, you're bleeding."
"Am I?" she said, and followed my gaze to look down at herself. "Well, look at that."
"I'm getting you out," I said, getting out of my seat and coming to her. I didn't even give her a chance to complain, I put one arm around her back under her arms, another one under her legs, and pulled her up. She wasn't too heavy.
"Oh wow," she said, a wide smile on her face.
"Not now," I grated. "We're going to the medbay."
So here I was again, trying to fix another mess, one that I was so very much not qualified to. I had no medical training other than what little they had taught us during basic. What the hell was I even doing here anyway? The whole damn point of having told Benezia everything was to put it in the hands of someone who knew what they were doing in the first place.
I dropped her on the stretcher of the small medbay of the ship, and fired up the VI. At the very least, the automated systems may tell me more.
"Why do you say those things to yourself?" Shiala suddenly said.
"What?" I looked at her, but her eyes looked unfocused. Was she trying to read my thoughts again? Yeah, she was.
"I was... The matriarch told me humans had to talk, but you won't talk to me..."
"What about you stop that shit and let me try to help you?"
"Helping others is a good thing," Shiala muttered. "You should be happy when you do that. You do that a lot."
I decided to ignore her for now. The equipment was easy enough to use, and the interface could be set to English as well, so it wasn't complicated. Full scan, follow the instructions... Huh. The bleed was not too bad, actually. I set it aside, and started working the medi-gel dispenser. I had to cut open her dress and clean the area, apply local anaesthesia, wait...
"I'll be fine," she said. "It's just-"
"A flesh wound, I know."
"Why is that funny?"
"I'll tell you some other time."
It didn't take long for the anesthesia to set, and I started working the medi-gel. It wasn't pretty, but it stopped the bleeding, and it would stabilize her.
"Better?"
"I can't feel anything."
"I'll call that a win." She tried to stand up, and I held her down. "Let it do its work."
"But I have to pilot," she said.
"We'll burn that bridge when we cross it, stay down."
It still took a few hours until we got the signal. A lone medical frigate sent a shuttle to meet with us, and it didn't take long for them to walk me through the docking procedures. As expected, it wasn't too complicated, and soon we were docked. An asari doctor came onboard, I pointed her at the medbay, and waited patiently for her to work on Shiala. I wasn't comfortable myself, specially with the splinter lodged in my back, but I wasn't leaking or anything. I could wait.
And the sofa in the lounge was actually really comfortable. I had music blaring on the overhead, and I was trying to work my way through some weird pre-packed asari food. Asari really like sweet food, and salty as well, the combination of both feeling like a punch to the palate with very little subtlety. It was some kelp-wrapped meat and vegetable roll... thing.
When the doctor finally came out, I had finished my meal and was trying to get a cup of tea together. Freaking hell, but Tela had a lot of teas in her ship. I wasn't sure whether some of them would be poisonous.
"Well, she is in need of rest, but she will be fine. The wounds should be fully closed in a couple of days, and I gave her a transfusion."
"Good."
"Now it's your turn. Come on."
"Wait, what? I've-"
"Got a splinter in my back, and several other wounds? I know, she told me."
I guess I wasn't getting out of that one. With a resigned sigh I followed the doc, and she led me to the medbay. Huh.
"Where's Shiala?"
"In bed, resting. I would advise against any vigorous activities for the time being."
"Okay?" I said, completely missing the point.
"Lay down please, face down."
I was familiar enough with the procedure by now, having been at the business end of all sorts of guns on a regular basis for the last couple of years. This asari doctor was quite good. Quick, efficient, and very methodical. She pulled a couple of bits out, then continued with the shots that had run clean through.
"You don't need to bother with those," I said. "Already medi-gelled them."
"They would leave an unsightly scar otherwise."
"Pfft," I huffed. "Like anyone would care."
"Oh, you too?"
"Me too what?"
"Stop squirming," the doctor replied, giving me a jab to stop the conversation.
Well, whatever. She was done in less than no time, and with a final admonition not to upset Shiala in the near future, she left, the shuttle detaching with a noticeable clunk. I stayed put on the sofa for a couple of hours, letting the medigel do its work, with my right arm in a sling. The sling had to stay for eight more hours.
After that, I went to check on Shiala. I heard her moaning in there before I could see her, in a way that made me think twice before opening that door.
"Um..."
I peeked through the open door, and saw her laying on bed. She had her eyes closed, and was breathing fast. She was wearing a flimsy short sleeved blouse, closed at the front, and was looking bluer than usual. Flushed. The very thin sheet was only up to her waist.
"Shiala? You okay?"
"I'm fine," she huffed, speaking between deep breaths. "Just not so hot. Heh. Hot. Human expressions."
"Look, I can go get the doctor, they haven't left the system yet. They had to discharge the core of their ship."
"It's nothing," she said. "Just the stims. A few too many. It will pass."
Ew, battle stim fatigue. That explained why she had started to go so loopy back in the cockpit, it had nothing to do with her wounds. I was familiar with the symptoms, having been in the receiving end more than once. I was surprised she wasn't covered in sweat, but then again, I didn't even know whether asari could sweat or not. They didn't have hair, so...
"That's not good, you must be burning up," I said, and made for the climate controls. "Want me to cool this down?"
"Thanks."
I did so, and disappeared into the bathroom. I came back with a small towel and a bowl of icy cold water, and sat down by the bed. She didn't really look at me, which didn't surprise me much. The initial jitters were bad enough, but later on, she'd probably be throwing up and losing control of her legs. Kicking the stims out, so to speak. It wasn't pretty.
With a sigh, I dunked the towel in the water, wrung it, and placed it carefully over her forehead. She hissed and arched her back, almost like it had burned her.
"Ah! Sorry, sorry. Too much?" I said, immediately pulling it away.
"Our crests are very sensitive," she hissed.
Right. Instead of that, I rubbed around her neck, which she sighed to contentedly. "How long does it usually take to kick the stims out?"
"About six hours," Shiala said.
"Well, that's a lot better than us," I said, refreshing the towel. "Humans I mean. Twelve to twenty-four. It's not fun, is it?"
"When I feel this way, it is usually because I already had my fun. And I'm waking up in a strange place with a stranger girl in my bed," she said, making me chuckle.
I refreshed the towel once more, and she shivered when I applied it.
"Is it too cold?"
"No, no, it's... it's perfect..."
She looked like she was going to say something, but she didn't. So, I didn't ask or say anything either. I just kept doing the same, until she looked like she was finally starting to cool down. I wrung the towel one last time, and put it aside.
"You want something? A cup of tea maybe, I'm guessing food's out of the question for now."
Shiala chuckled. "You are not going to ask me, are you?"
"Ask you what?" I replied, my brow furrowed.
"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "A cup of tea would be lovely."
Whatever.
I went to the kitchen and started rooting through Tela's stash of teas. There were way too many, and the pots had scripts in alien language. I ended up choosing by smell, taking a flowery looking one with a sweet, pungent aroma.
"Ah-hah!"
Shiala's voice was loud enough to be heard from the kitchen. I finished the tea and went into the room, walking right through a holographic screen.
"What the..."
"Hah. Vasir has the entire collection of The Waters of the Goddess. I knew it."
I looked at her, at the screen, back at her, and shrugged. I just gave her the cup of tea.
"I have no idea what this is," I said. "Smells nice enough. How many freaking teas can there be anyway?"
"Asari love tea," Shiala said, reaching for the cup. "I thought humans did, too."
"To a point," I said. "Better than coffee at least. I don't see why people are so hung up on it."
"Caffeine," Shiala replied. She lifted her cup, and gave it a good sniff. "White Mala. Nice."
She took a sip, then her hands started to tremble, almost spilling the hot liquid. I reacted in time to take it from her, and managed to avoid a nasty burn.
"Oh," she said.
"Yeah... I think you're about to get a lot worse. Should I get a bucket?"
"A... bucket?" she said, her entire body shivering.
"To throw up."
"Oh. We... do not get... upset stomach. Just warm..."
"Lucky. It's messy with us humans," I said, and she chuckled. "I'm serious, we're talking the Exorcist, projectile vomit splashing all over the walls, messy."
"Oh stop that," she laughed. "You'll make me... actually sick..."
"Yeah, right," I said. "So, need anything else?"
"No... just need to... wait..."
"Okay," I said, and made for the door. "Let me know if-"
"Roy," she interrupted me. "Will you... stay?"
She gestured at the bed besides her. Really? That's what she was thinking about at a time like this? Well, that's what I thought, but apparently she wasn't thinking of that. She laughed softly, her voice trembling with her body.
"I just want some company..." she said. "Hands stay off... Promise."
I sighed, and decided to stay. Mostly because I'm an idiot or something. Seriously, it's not like we're best pals or anything, what the hell was I trying to do?
One thing I got out of that was figuring out what The Waters of the Goddess was. A cartoon. Made on Earth, the adventures of five girls with magical powers. Apparently, two hundred years into the future they were still telling the same stories. An asari, a human, a turian, a quarian, and a krogan. Seriously.
Rania was the "second" of the group. The human. And yeah, she used a spear. She was also the "dark, broody, and mysterious" one.
"How old are you again?" I said in a break between chapters.
"Old enough not to worry about liking childish things," Shiala replied.
Heh, nicely played.
I wondered why we had been wasting time like that, but I got my answer when, after three days, Shiala finally told me where we were going. The Citadel. There was a meeting between Benezia and Tevos planned, and Benezia wanted to talk with me first. Shiala wanted us to be up a hundred percent for that. Medical treatment out in empty space was easy enough to sweep under the rug. Aboard the Citadel, that was another matter altogether.
Three days aboard the ship, that had not been particularly great. Shiala was up and about on the second, and it had been a little awkward. Quite frankly, I would have preferred peace and quiet, but she was clearly bored, and she was a chatterbox. So, yeah. We finally settled down for talking about late 20th and early 21st rock music, and recent crazy ops we had been a part of. She was quite interested in N-school too, though I had to be tight-lipped about that.
Anyway, after three days, we were finally here.
"You should wear the full Spectre gear," Shiala said. "You wouldn't want to be recognized now.
"Yeah, I guess," I replied.
"And leave the Mamba here. Don't worry, I won't steal it," Shiala said, giving me a mischievous smile. "It's very distinctive."
"It did earn me fifty credits," I said, chuckling.
With a sigh, I got into my full dark armour and got out of the ship. C-Sec was waiting for me, and they escorted me to the aircar that would take me to the Presidium. It was my first time there, so I had to fight pretty hard not to gape like an idiot out the window. The helmet was covering my full face, and the glass was darkened too, so it's not like they could see my face. But still, bending down to look out the window would be unsightly.
Nobody had any questions about a human in full Spectre gear. Guess it wasn't the first time. Spectres could hire and gear up whoever they damn well pleased, so eh, didn't surprise me or them. After a few minutes, the aircar came to a stop, and I got out to see an asari already waiting for me. I recognized her immediately. Fieney, Benezia's assistant.
"Welcome sir," she greeted me. "Please, this way. The matriarch is waiting for you."
I nodded and followed, and she led me to an office not far from the embassies. The view from the Presidium was absolutely awesome, so much so that the games were not even close to doing it justice. Ye gods but it was hard not to look around like a moron. I was probably close to twisting my eyes permanently backwards with how much I was straining them to look around. Still, face forward, even steps, calm and collected.
"Hello Roy," Benezia greeted me as soon as we were alone. "You can take that off now, if you want," she added, gesturing at my helmet.
"Thanks," I replied, taking the offer. "It's nice to meet you again, matriarch."
"Please, don't be so formal," she replied, and pointed at the chair. "Have a seat. Want some tea this time?"
"Yeah, thank you," I replied. "Where is Tevos? Shiala said-"
"She was detained by urgent matters," Benezia replied.
She poured me a cup of the tea she was having. It sure smelled strong, and I thought I recognized the smell. I sat down and gestured at it.
"It smells familiar."
"Mibba tea. Do not spread the knowledge, but it is one of my favourite teas."
"Um, okay?"
I took the offered cup and inhaled the smell. It was strong, musky, but there was something else there. I waited for a moment, and tried smelling it again. Deeply, and slowly. There was an almost spicy touch to it. I gave it a tentative sip, and realized I was right. It was subtle, though.
"It is not a tea befitting someone of my standing," Benezia said, answering my unspoken question. As she usually did.
"It's nice. I like the aftertaste. Little bit of spice."
"You have a marvelous palate," she added.
"Yeah, well..." That was a whole other conversation, how I managed to get that.
"How have you been, Roy? A lot has happened since the last time we met."
"Good?" I offered with a shrug. "Mission went as well as it could be expected. We got patched up afterwards, and..."
"I had a mission report sent to me already. I was hoping to talk about you."
"… what did Shiala tell you?" I said, my voice laced with suspicion.
Benezia chuckled lightly. "Not a lot," she said with a smile. "In her report, she appeared worried. Said you had angrily taken good care of her."
That's one way of putting it I guess.
"Well... I'm not too happy about how she messed with my head, if that's what you're asking."
"I was not asking anything in particular, but it is as good a topic as any other, if that is what is in your mind." She paused for a moment, but continued when I didn't reply. "I am feeling worried, however, that circumstances might overwhelm you. You are keeping weighty secrets."
"Like what?" I retorted.
"The secrets you shared with me, and all that has happened since. Humans may not share the way asari do, but you are as much social creatures as we are."
"I've got friends I talk with," I said, and shrugged.
"But not about these matters. You don't even share them with your family. Shepard." She ignored my obvious annoyance at her mention of the name and continued. "Answer me this, if you will. When was the last time you talked, truly talked, about hard feelings with someone? About something that made you uncomfortable?"
"Uh..."
I actually had to stop to think about that. Shepard, the day we talked when I told her about Christmas at Kitt's? That was a while ago, and it wasn't even that... No, it really was further back. Mindoir. Marie, and probably because it was her job. And a brilliant way I had repaid her for it, too. We actually had exchanged a few messages after I came back from Benezia's, but it still felt very... stilted, to be particularly posh about it.
Not that I was going to mention Mindoir, of course. That would just prompt even more uncomfortable questions. Actually, would Benezia even care about that? I mean, a raid in a colony world, she's probably seen some shit that would make that look like-
"Roy," Benezia said, interrupting my train of thought. "I asked one, just one, simple question. How many have you answered in your head?"
Yeah, I stopped to think about that one, too. "A few," I replied.
"You trusted me with the fate of the galaxy," Benezia said, smiling and sitting back comfortably on her small sofa. "Yet you will not trust me with a single comment on how you are feeling."
"That's... Well, I guess that the fate of the galaxy is something I'd expect you to deal with on a regular basis."
"As opposed to a conversation on how our last days have been? Believe me, Roy, we matriarchs do regular things. We even need to use the restroom on occasion, too. In fact, I have a daughter, how do you think that happened?"
Okay, I couldn't help myself, I actually laughed at that. Yeah, getting your freak on with a half-krogan matriarch. I'd say something about paying to watch that if it weren't a really creepy thought to share.
"You cannot center your entire life around the job, Roy. I should know, we matriarchs are looked upon in asari society almost like we are too good for this mortal realm."
She sipped her tea, and I did the same. How had I been? Well, I don't know. I hadn't let myself stop to think how I had been.
"I don't know," I finally said. "It's been... Shit."
"Tell me about it."
Did a matriarch had nothing better to do? I mean, sharing tea with some low level grunt whose only claim to usefulness was knowledge he wasn't supposed to have? Come to think of it, she had already answered that. She wasn't just a super-powerful, uber-rich matriarch. She still needed to pee like a regular person.
"Do you know about Mindoir?"
"I saw it in your records, yes. I am sorry that you had to go through something like that."
I nodded. "It was not easy. That was the last time I had a deep talk with someone. But... Well, five kids and I were all who made it out of there. One of them died recently."
"My condolences," Benezia said.
Two simple words, but the way she said them, the tone of her voice. The compassion. It felt like a stab in the chest. I had no idea how she had done it, I felt a sudden constriction in my throat, and I didn't even know where it had come from.
She didn't even know him.
"Drink some tea," Benezia offered. She didn't speak until I did. "What was his name?"
"Joe," I said in a thin voice. "He was the youngest. Ten years old back then. Just ten. All his family..."
Benezia nodded. "What happened? An accident?"
"Something like that. He sneaked into a shuttle, and there was an accident. Loss of pressure. He wanted to go to Mindoir." I stopped there. What else could I say? That we didn't listen to him? That-
"And you blame yourself," Benezia said, and it wasn't a question.
"Who else. He said he wanted to go back to Mindoir. He said... We didn't listen."
"Roy, you cannot blame yourself for it."
"Can't I? I should have said something, I should have..."
"Yes?"
"I don't know, something!" I snapped.
Benezia shook her head. "One life or a billion. You cannot control everything. No matter how much you wish to."
I got the feeling we were suddenly not talking about me, which was a sobering thought. Here I was, agonizing about a handful of kids, when I had put the entire weight of the galaxy on Benezia's shoulders.
A single death is a tragedy. A billion is a statistic. Only looking at her face...
"I apologize," Benezia said, sighing. "I did not intend to diminish the death of Joe. One life or a billion, they are all precious."
I shook my head and leaned forward, arms resting on my thighs. "You sure know how to put things in perspective, though. What the hell are we going to do? I like to pretend it's all under control. You know, concentrate on saving the galaxy, do my job, but... What can I really do? I'm a nobody who knows a few things too many."
"We do what we can, and enjoy those moments we can steal," Benezia said. She gave me a long look before speaking again. "According to your knowledge, how much time do we have?"
"Oh, well, let me see..." I trailed off, doing the mental maths. "About thirteen, maybe fourteen years, I don't know the exact date of the year."
Benezia nodded. "If you carry on like this, putting all the weight on your shoulders, you will break before the time comes. And you won't be able to help anybody."
"The whole point is that, we can't wait until the last minute! Shit, we barely have enough time if we start now, how-"
Benezia lifted her hand to stop my tirade, her expression serious. "Roy. Stop it. You cannot avoid life by burying yourself in this. Breaking yourself will not help anyone."
Like it matters. What's there to break anyway, I thought.
She didn't say anything else, and we spent a few minutes in silence. She finished her cup of tea, and I did the same. It was nice, really, but it lost a little something after going lukewarm. Not a minute later Benezia's omni-tool pinged, and Fieney's voice followed.
"Matriarch? Councillor Tevos is ready for you."
"Thank you Fieney," Benezia replied.
"How timely," I said, getting an airy chuckle from Benezia.
We stood up, and I stretched my legs, grateful for the break. The armor wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world to rest in.
"I would like for you to join us," she said, catching me by surprise.
"Um, okay, I guess?"
She offered me a small smile, gestured at the door, and I took a moment to put the helmet on. However, before we had a chance to step out, she stopped me.
"Roy, could I ask a personal favour of you?"
"Personal? Erm, sure?"
"Please, see it in your heart to give Shiala a second chance. She is a good asari."
It took me so much by surprise that I couldn't even say a single word. I just stared at her like an idiot until she patted me gently on the shoulder, breaking the trance. She gestured for me to precede her, not even asking for an answer, and I did so without offering one.
I was expecting to meet with the Council up in the tower, but to my surprise, we weren't heading there. The asari didn't just sit on their asses up at the tower, they actually had an embassy at the base of it, close to the others. And it was busting with activity. We walked through with only a few cursory glances thrown our way – most of them on me, or maybe I'm just paranoid – and we were ushered into a large, opulent office by the councilor's aide.
"Tevos," Benezia said.
"Benezia," Tevos replied. Damn but the two of them were stiff.
"This is Roy Morgan," Benezia said, gesturing at me. I took it as my cue to take my helmet off. "Roy, Councillor Tevos."
"Ma'am," I said, giving a small bow with my helmet under my arm.
"Roy, it is a pleasure to meet you in person at last."
Let me tell you something. I had seen real life asari now. I had even seen Tevos through vids and pictures. In person? She was absolutely breathtaking. It wasn't just her physical appearance (the purple skin, less common than the different shades of blue one usually found, the striking facial markings, the figure... yeah), it was her presence.
Benezia had the air of a wise, all-powerful matriarch. Almost stereotypical. You could say that the air around her was somewhat rarefied, due to the heights at which one perceived her. Tevos didn't. It was hard to put into words, she was approachable, yet she had an aura of power. She was not a dispenser of wisdom, she was a doer. She was someone who would listen, would know what to do, and then would do it. Which was confusing as hell considering the opinion I had of her based on the games.
When she offered her hand, I took it and shook it simply. A thought at the forefront, the Courtesy of Thessia.
Vids and pictures do you no justice, councilor.
Her response was an amused thought, only slightly surprised that I embraced that asari custom.
When it comes to surprises, you have the better of us both, Roy.
"Come, sit," Tevos said, her demeanour suddenly relaxed.
She guided us to a smaller area on the right side of the room, a small table with a bottle of water and several glasses, and four low seats. Benezia placed herself in one with demure grace. Tevos almost looked like she was nesting in hers. Me? I felt ridiculous and clumsy, being as I was in full gear.
"So, what can I do for you?" I said.
Tevos smiled, but it was Benezia who answered. "We need your help, Roy."
"With?"
"We have received a full report from your newly established contact," Tevos said, dodging the naming of those involved with complete ease. "About the upcoming crisis."
I nodded. To be honest, I had no idea what the Shadow Broker had on the reapers. He had something, according to what Liara said during the DLC, but I couldn't remember whether she went into details or not.
"It is enlightening, but it will likely not be enough to warrant a full mobilization by the Council," Tevos explained.
"I've... already told Benezia most of what I know."
"About the crisis, yes," Benezia said. "We were hoping you might have some information we could use as leverage."
I furrowed my brow at that. "I don't follow."
"Like the contents of the Temple of Athame," Benezia said.
Holy shit!
They were going to make that public? It would be a hell of a revelation. The consequences would be staggering, not only it would paint the asari as complete hypocrites, but it would also... Shit, if they made the contents available it would kill their technological advantage, but it would go a long way towards making the galaxy aware of the reaper issue.
Both Tevos and Benezia waited patiently for me to digest the news. It was mind-boggling, but I didn't get what it had to do with me.
"So what do you need me for?"
"I was hoping you would have information we could use," Benezia said. "Similar information that would make the members of the Council less prone to react negatively."
"So you want dirt on the Council? Don't you have a better source now?"
Benezia chuckled lightly at that.
"A colourful way of putting it," she said. "We do, but even to this new and better source, the contents of the Temple were a mystery. There might be other information only you had access to that would serve a similar purpose."
I hummed in understanding, thinking. Dirt on the Council that the Shadow Broker didn't have. Well, they had done a lot of shady shit, I could think of a few. Some more dirty than others.
"Okay," I said absently, my mental catalogue trying to bring back the now far away information from the games. "Tevos is getting her rocks off with Aria T'Loak... The Turi-"
"WHAT?!"
The sudden shout made me jolt in my seat, turning to Tevos. Wait, did I just... Holy crap, I did, and she looked pissed! Fortunately, before Tevos could slap me upside the head with a singularity, Benezia started laughing.
It wasn't a small chuckle, or a soft laugh. Oh no. I had never seen her lose composure like that. She was laughing her pants off, hands over her face, chest heaving, and the sound of her laughter echoed through the room. That threw us off so much that even Tevos seemed to forget her anger.
By the by, Benezia got herself under control, taking a small napkin to dry the tears on her face.
"Goddess..." she said, her voice still loose and airy. "He's like... He's like a living Prism Box," she added, and chuckled again.
"A... what?"
Tevos sat down again on her chair, having bolted up in her indignation, and gave me this really weird look. She was still angry, yeah, but also confused.
"A Prism Box," Benezia said, taking a deep breath. "It is one of the myths of Athame. It was a box that could bestow gifts to those who opened it, or cause them to come to a great calamity."
"Hm, that's a bit like Pandora's Box, only our box was all bad."
"It is not funny," Tevos deadpanned.
"Ah, Tevos," Benezia said, the smile still in her voice. "You asked to open it."
Tevos shook her head, and Benezia gave me a smirk, something I rarely saw her indulge in. With that, she relaxed again, although she never lost her amusement.
"We wanted information on the other councilors, Roy," Benezia said.
Erm... duh?
Yeah, well, I glanced at Tevos, who was glaring daggers at me, and continued.
"The Turians... There's a good one, actually. After the krogan rebellions they hid large nukes all over Tuchanka, in case they ever needed to finish them off, so to speak, and as far as I know, they're still there."
I looked at the two asari, and Tevos seemed to relax slightly. "That could work. The krogan would be furious, and that is not something anyone wants."
"As for the salarians... I'm sure she would have better stuff, but I know they have been smuggling Yahg out of their home planet to perform experiments on them. Not sure how useful that'd be, considering-"
"What?!" Tevos snapped. "Is that true?"
"Erm... as far as I know, yes. That bad?"
"Roy," Benezia said. "The salarians uplifted the krogan, and the consequences we are still dealing with. The Yahg have been declared off-limits. A covert uplifting of that race would be a huge blow to the Union."
"Well, that's good. Erm... Horrible. Bad. Whatever."
"What about the Systems Alliance?" Tevos said.
What?
"What about it? We're not in the Council."
"Yet," Tevos said. "It is merely a matter of time, Roy. If we are going to do this, to open... everything, we are going to need something with them as well."
Okay, that is pretty much Tevos asking me to commit treason. I looked at Benezia, but the look she gave me was one I wasn't expecting. If anything, I thought she actually understood my dilemma.
Sucks to be me.
"You're asking me to commit treason," I said.
"To be a co-conspirator," Tevos replied. "Our revelation is not going to be less compromising for ourselves. Should it backfire, we will be very visibly at the head of the failure."
"Assuming you follow through, and not simply use all this to your benefit."
"True. I am asking for you to trust me, in the same way you trusted Benezia."
I felt my stomach twitch at the mere thought of what they were asking me to do. I could try to think about the consequences all I wanted, depending on what I could reveal – did I even have anything? – but it was more the visceral response. To betray humanity on the hopes that Tevos and Benezia would use that information in a good way? All they were really looking for was something to cover their asses for their reveal of the beacon.
Okay, I wasn't comfortable with this at all.
"I can't betray the Systems Alliance like this. I know what's at stake, but..."
"Roy," Benezia said, getting my attention. "When we were discussing all this aboard my ship, you asked me whether I could see us doing the necessary sacrifices if the day came. How many people I was willing to abandon. Betray. You seemed to imply we would fail if we ever found a line we weren't willing to cross."
"That's different," I said.
"Different how? Should we decide to misuse this information, you will always have the option to reveal everything else you have given us today. At your own personal risk, of course, but nobody else's. It is, as you humans would say, a mutually assured destruction position."
Assuming you don't whack me first, I thought.
I thought about it for a while. For a long while. The two asari had given me their piece, and that was it. It was up to me. And yes, I did know a thing or two. One of them I was sure could make a lot of noise. At least according to Keiji. And had indoctrinated Hanar diplomats in the mix, too.
Shit, was I really going to do this? I swear I was feeling sick, but I made up my mind. I was going to. I just hoped I wouldn't regret it.
"I might need some help," I said, looking a Benezia. "I'm not sure if I remember everything."
Benezia nodded, and sat herself upright, closer to me. I realized then that the seats were set up so that melding would be easier. Good comfortable position, able to lean closer without it being awkward. She put her hand on the back of my neck, and I felt a chill run up my spine.
"Please trust me, Roy," Benezia whispered. "Embrace Eternity."
I don't know how long the meld went. I was skittish through the whole thing, not really sure how many details I really wanted to reveal. Through the whole thing, Benezia remained incredibly patient, following threads only when I let her, never prodding for anything I was worried about, even though the meld was deep enough that she could help me remember things.
And remember things I did. The attack on the batarian facility. The reaper tech. The massacre. All the details that could be gotten from the game, I remembered. And when I was sure nothing else was there, Benezia left me one final thought before the meld broke.
I will never use this for just our benefit, Roy. I promise you that.
"Woah," I said, feeling the room spin as the meld broke.
Tevos was still sitting down, but looked like she had been busy. She had an empty plate with a few crumbs in front of her, and judging by the rest of the stuff on the table, we had been at it for a while. There were plates in front of us, with cold food waiting.
"It has been a long meld," Tevos said. "Take a moment, Roy."
I blinked repeatedly, trying to get my bearings. Not that I was an expert on melding, but I hadn't experienced anything like that after one. Not even after Shiala forced her meld on me I felt this disoriented.
"How long..." I muttered.
"Three hours," Tevos replied. "It must have been a faint memory."
"It wasn't-" I looked at Benezia, and the matriarch merely shook her head. Yeah, it hadn't been so complicated, if I hadn't been so skittish, it would have probably taken just a few minutes. Yet with her gesture, she was clearly telling me not to worry.
"It was understandably difficult," Benezia said. "But it should work."
"Bad?" Tevos said.
"It could start a war. One the Council would be justified in avoiding." She looked at me. "With this, we can negotiate."
"What are you going to do with it?" I said. I was finally feeling myself again, and I was thirsty. Tevos had left a tall glass of water in front of me, which I eagerly took.
"With all of it. Bring it all up in a single meeting of the whole Council and the Systems Alliance, once we have evidence," Benezia said. "When all the weapons are in the open, we will be in a position to negotiate."
"Have you been hanging out with krogan?"
I chuckled, then stopped. Shit, she had been. Half-krogan, at least. Benezia and Aethyta were back together? I looked at Benezia, and she was giving me a very sharp glare. Damn, she probably didn't want it out in the open.
"What?" Tevos said. Oh, her voice was playful, she knew something was up.
"Nothing," Benezia muttered. "The Prism Box," she added, and made Tevos laugh.
I still wasn't finding it that funny.
"So, what about the others?" I said.
"Others?" Tevos said.
"You know, batarians, hanar, volus..."
"It should not matter," Benezia said. "The hanar will follow the lead of the Enkindlers." She gave me a meaningful look at that. Meaning Javik, of course.
"How is that coming along?" I said.
"Slowly. The Volus will be happy either way, since the galactic economy will surely move, one way or another. The Elcor might want extended privileges, which we could concede." She looked at Tevos, and the councilor nodded.
"What about the quarians and the geth?" I said.
"One problem at a time, Roy. Unless you have some dark secret about the geth and.. the..."
Her voice trailed off when she looked at me, probably because I did know some dark secrets about the geth and the quarians. She kept looking at me, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Don't tell me..." Tevos said.
"He's a Prism Box," Benezia said. "Goddess help us, he's a Prism Box."
Okay, I did chuckle at that, which only got Benezia to shake her head. With another deep breath she opened her eyes and looked at me again.
"Very well, Roy. Lay it on me. Is it the quarians or the geth?"
I smirked. "Both."
And we need to talk about the krogan too.
After twelve weeks of bootcamp, Shepard had been looking forward to deployment. With the events that had happened in between, she was no longer in such a cheery mood. Getting to space was less exciting, less bright. The only one that seemed to be able to bring her out of her shell was Goldie. By sheer perseverance.
Their first assignment was a cruiser. The SSV Berlin. Part of the 22nd Scout Flotilla, attached to the Eighth Fleet, which was in charge of protecting the more lightly defended inner colony worlds from raiders and pirates. Even in Alliance space, the threat of attack was omnipresent. Space was just too damn big. They Systems Alliance doctrine was not to try and defend anything. It was to observe everything, and deploy when necessary.
Still, it was one of the lighter assignments, much as Roy's with the Fifth Fleet. The training wheels. Roy had been doing a lot of groundside ops, but Shepard would be working with shipside ones. Ship to ship combat. Boarding. Close quarters combat.
For her, none of that mattered. What mattered, really, was the one thing Roy had told her long ago. An offhanded comment he probably didn't even realize had had that effect on her. Life in the Systems Alliance was easy.
Do your job. Follow orders. From time to time, she knew he did something that made him proud of himself. He never voiced it like that, he never voiced anything positive about himself. But she could see it in his eyes. His voice. Sometimes, they talked, and she saw he had done something she knew he felt proud of. The first few times she had asked, but she had stopped since. He always retreated inside his shell whenever she pointed it out. Like he wasn't allowed to show any positive feeling about himself.
She really blamed herself for that one. She had been hard on him. Abrasive. She didn't realize because he rarely responded in kind, no matter how much she deserved it. Even wanted it.
Having had to face Joe's memorial service by herself had not been easy. But as terrible as that had been, she was glad she had spared Roy the ordeal. He had not said a word to her the day they had received the message from Kitt. Not one. She knew how he put everything on his shoulders, and only now she really understood the weight.
The needless weight.
"Sheppy!" Goldie said, getting her out of her mental gymnastics. "Come on, cheer up! It's space walk time!"
"Yeah," Shepard said, her face turning to a grimace.
"Don't be like that, it'll be fun!"
"Assuming I won't throw up," Shepard replied, making Goldie laugh. "Again."
"It can't be that bad," she said. "We'll just stay glued to our place while our insides go all... floaty. It's cool!"
"… you're very weird, Goldie."
The woman just laughed and put her arm around Shepard's shoulders, putting her in a headlock. Which led to the two of them doing an impromptu wrestling bout. They were the FNGs (Fucking New Guys), and that meant they were the only ones in training. All nine of them – Shepard's whole unit, plus half of another – were standing in one of the boarding shuttles. The cruiser had a dozen of them, a simple vehicle with H2 mass effect-propelled engines, a reinforced breaching entrance, and reinforced to ridiculous standards.
Each one was enough for eighteen people, three whole units, so it was rather empty with only half of them and no crew.
"Don't worry Shepard," Castor said, grinning at her once she broke free. "I'll catch you if you go floating off."
"You should be the one worrying," Shepard replied, "If you float off I'm not sure I'll be able to catch all five million pounds of you."
The laughter that her declaration produced was short lived when, with barely a second of warning, alarms started blaring and gravity suddenly cut off. They all looked at each other for a moment in disbelief, then, as the cruiser shook, all hell broke loose. None of them had their magboots on, and with the shake, they started bouncing off the walls like pinballs.
And cursing. Not a single one of them forgot to curse.
"Fucking freaking dammit hell!" Shepard shouted, bouncing of the ceiling and missing the nearest beam.
"Shepard!" Castor yelled.
They were on a collision course, so Shepard manoeuvred herself to go in feet first, and kicked him on the chest to propel herself in the opposite direction.
Given the way he cursed at her, he wasn't expecting it.
"Thanks!" Shepard said, grabbing onto the beam she was aiming for. "I'm grounded now!"
"Sheppy!"
She never managed to get her magboots active. Goldie crashed right on top of her, and the two of them went tumbling around the ship once more.
Looking back, it was one of the funniest moments in her service. It got even better when she realized the rest of the crew had been watching through the cameras and laughing.
Mostly because she knew she'd soon have the chance to laugh, too, when the next lot of FNGs arrived.
Author's Notes: All right, this chapter was fun to write. I don't know why, but I really enjoy writing the interactions with Benezia. The idea that they poked me carefully and ended up with way more than they had bargained for amused me.
The idea of the Prism Box is different from Pandora's (by the way, in the case of Pandora, it wasn't a box, it was a jar; blame it on a mistranslation a few centuries ago). The Prism Box gave good or bad things randomly, it's a cautionary tale about it because asari kept trying to figure out why some got bad things, and sme good. Were they not worthy? Not smart? Not ambitious enough? No, it's just random! So, careful when doing things you cannot control the outcome of.
Anyway! Reviews, lots of reviews. Yeah, Tela as the Broker has so much potential, I just hope I do it justice down the line. Thanks everyone for the feedback!
Toothless is best: You've read Crossover, you know it'll be back! Actually, weird gear is half the fun of self-inserts :D
Oyshik: Thanks! So far they haven't said anything, but just you wait... It's going to get real weird. As for Shiala, if Roy stops sulking, who knows. :)
RadioPoisoning: "For you." I almost had the Broker said that :D I wasn't planning on importing any other non-ME weapons, but I'm open to plausible suggestions.
Mizuki00: Haha, I know right? She's like a secret badass. Just wait, she's got more tricks up her sleeve!
Bolondka: As far as I know, plural of asari is asari, but I could be wrong :) Sheppy will ahve airtime next time!
5 Coloured Walker: Figured that Tela wouldn't need it! As for the relay, you actually have a point there.
bdrivermp: N-school is coming back next time! Well, maybe not exactly, but should answer your question, hehe.
AlekTas: Heroic Safe Mode™, he's not so much detached as fixated :)
Serenarey Chiba: Heh, hehehe. Just because you brewed the tea, she's under no obligation to drink it! :D
Sci-Fifan95: Thanks man, I should go back check for typos again. And yeah, Tela as the broker just sounds like lots of potential fun. As for why just asking why, think about it. He's the Broker, he could probably find out the rest by himself (well, not really given what we know, but he's someone used to knowing!).
Tusken1602, BJ Hanssen, Junk Mail, XRaiderV1, Zeru'Xil, general-joseph-dickson, WomanSlayer,You guys rock, thanks a lot for taking the time to drop a review!
So, next time? Well, next time a very odd chapter