RR
Tom476ty18: Cheers for the review. I believe the type of warfare you are talking about is hybrid warfare, something that we as nations today use, with states like Russia and China being at the forefront of its development in the cyber domain. And you are right, even the games lacked any real showing of the Reapers ability outside of physical violence. Why didn't they use chemical and biological weapons? Why didn't they use viruses to take out networks? I understand it would make things so much more complex, but in my opinion it would just be another way to show their horrors and supreme ability. Thanks.
Oxyd2013: It was implied in earlier chapters that traditional means were attempted, but were costly, and went wrong, resulting in efforts being diverted to improving Sol. Also, you start to get the idea of what Humanity will do in this chapter.
Hagbraten: Thanks, little things like this I quite often overlook or forget about and then need later rectification. Cheers.
Ihategenericcereal : The AI have bigger roles to play yet. Cheers
CheesusChrist15: We are not too* far off the events from ME1. But this story has always been about the first contact as opposed to action.
Looking for a Quarian, as it turns out, is harder done than said. At first, Shepard did not think it would be too hard; after all, why would it be? After fumbling around on her omni-tool for long enough, she discovered their unique appearance and believed they would stand out in a crowd like a sore thumb. However, before setting off aimlessly on her task, she asked around Tevos's estate for information on where to look; maybe someone could point her in a direction. Perhaps they enjoy hanging out in warmer climates or tend to live in a particular district. Still, despite asking, no one knew where she could reliably find the nomad species outside of travelling off station to a world called Illium or Tikar. Knowing that this would cost time, and most importantly, poison her through exposure to Eezo, Shepard did not take this as a feasible course of action.
Eventually, Shepard gets a tip from someone in the estate that a Quarian has been spotted working at the docks, tending to an unserviceable vessel, but sod's law had something to say. Before Shepard could go looking for the Quarian, Titania's guards are most adamant that the Citadels' docks are off-limits; they are too dangerous when Shepard has a potential hit on her. Shepard initially considers slipping the guards; it would be an easy task in the crowded Citadel despite being the only Human for a few hundred light-years, but logic persevered. Shepard knows if she did slip her guard, then the estate's rigid head of security would revoke her rights to wander.
On a slightly unrelated note, Shepard has concluded that Titania does not like her, and the soldier has a funny feeling it is because the guard considers her a threat. In truth, Shepard admits that she is a threat; if Humanity went to war with the Citadel or things turned kinetic, what would Shepard do? If she had access to the Councillor and the orders came through, would she follow out the hit? Thinking on it, Shepard nods to herself; as much as she likes the Councillor, she is a Human soldier who took an oath of allegiance. She has done many horrible things due to that oath, and eliminating the Councillor would be another terror for her to bear, and maybe her last.
It is getting towards lunchtime when Shepards omni-tool decides to flash and beep; a message from Tevos has been delivered to her tools unique IP address. The message is short and reads, 'Shepard, Matron Lydia at Asari Xenology Research Centre can get you to a Quarian. Be prepared to trade for the information, most likely information for information. You can find the matron's contact details in this message. Tevos'
Shepard rolls her eyes; it is too convenient for her that someone can get her to a Quarian, with the required payment being a trade of information, no doubt about her species. But, knowing that she would have very little luck just going out onto the streets and looking for an alien that makes up less than two-thousandth of a percentage point of the galaxies population, she decides to visit the Matron.
/.../
Matron Lydia taps her fingers rhythmically on her desk with one hand and rests her chin on her other hand out of boredom; any other day she would be working away, with too little time for boredom, but today is different. As a political scientist, her job usually sees her studying the other species to predict their reactions to set ideas or events and then feeding that information up to the Asari councillor, but with the Humans now in the mix of things, her job has changed aim to focus on them. As a result, the Councillor needs new information instead of confirming old thoughts on the other species, which is far more exciting work.
In regards to her current job, today, an opportunity of a career dropped into her lap. The Councillor asked if anyone knew a Quarian who would be willing to speak with the Human, and Lydia's one and only Quarian friend had agreed, out of nothing but sheer curiosity. Lydia knows the Quarians have been openly hostile with their thoughts about the Humans; they dislike the fact they have AI and are now working with the Geth of all critters, so it was a surprise that her Quarian contact agreed to meet.
To seal the deal, Lydia only wanted one thing, to talk to 'the Shepard' as the Human has come to be known in the office. Shepard may not realise it, but she has shaped many of the galaxies views on Humans, with her being front and centre at many of Humanities most significant events in the galactic sphere. Lydia knows her work could be refined further with the Humans input, allowing her to present a further developed package to her supervisors. Would she get a promotion from her work? Highly unlikely, but her name would be attached to her work; influential people would see that.
Eventually, her work computer produces an attention-grabbing tone, indicating that the buildings reception area is calling her. Of course, this means someone is here looking for her, and Lydia can bet who that is. After getting confirmation from the reception desk, Lydia quickly makes her way down to the reception area. Still, the trek to reception takes the better part of ten minutes, the Asari Xenology Research Centre stands at 3km tall, and her floor is near the top.
Getting to reception, Lydia finds Shepard in a nearby waiting room along with two Asari guards, both of which look rather bored with the whole situation. It is doubtful Shepard's at risk in a building where intelligent systems control the movement of personnel, never mind firearms or controlled substances.
As she approaches the Human, she calls out, "Commander Shepard?"
Shepard raises a brow as she looks at her, "Matron Lydia, I am to presume?"
"Just Ly." Lydia replies with a smile before holding out her hand in a very human manner. Lydia can see Shepard look at her hand for a split second before accepting the invitation to shake hands. From research, Lydia knows the handshake is to have a firm grip, and her arm is to have an approximately 90-degree angle at the elbow, but this idea goes out the window due to Shepard being considerably taller.
Upon receiving the Commander's hand in her own, Lydia increases the pressure in her hand before trying to pull her hand to make a 90 degree angle at the elbow and then commencing the shaking movement. She knows she has done something wrong instantly as the Human replies with an overly powerful grip which causes some discomfort. When Shepard releases her hand, Lydia suppresses an urge to rub it in a smoothing motion; while the squeeze was not overly painful, it was enough to require a comforting rub afterwards. "Next time," The Human says in a strange galactic accent, "Don't have such a firm grip or pull my hand in."
"Bad manners?" Asks Lydia, already knowing the answer.
"You could say that," Shepard replies with a blink, telling Lydia the Human is picking up their mannerisms already. A Human should nod. "It can be seen as an aggressive power move. You look like a fool when you come up against someone who has a stronger grip and more strength and then try to overpower them." There is a slight pause before Shepard then says, "I've been told you can get me a Quarian to talk to?"
"I can," Lydia blinks while noting that the Human did not take long to get to the meat of the deal, which makes her wonder how important it is to the Human to talk to a Quarian. "But the deal is information for access to the Quarian." The Human crosses her arms over her chest, a sign which tells Lydia that Shepard is maybe trying to barrier her emotions away.
"That is a vague deal," Shepard says after a moment, "Give me the specifics."
"1 Hour to help me analyse Human behaviour." Lydia replies, "Watch some videos, tell me what people are thinking, and tell me about the culture you see, or any other questions I may have. In return, you will get access to the Quarian."
Shepard rocks on her feet for a second or two, "One Human hour, and no information about our military or anything I deem sensitive."
Lydia did not know if the Human was going to barter or not, so she started way higher than she wanted with 1 hour, so while 1 human hour is not quite as long as a galactic hour, it is an acceptable trade. "Deal."
Lydia quickly whisks Shepard off to her office to show some of her work in private. On the journey, Lydia takes Shepard through the building and shows her some of the work that takes place in the building. It seemed to Shepard that the Asari study anything and everything about the different species, from significant political events, to how a species language is evolving. It further surprises Shepard when Lydia reveals that this is just one of a dozen research centres dedicated to simply studying different species, with most species having their own designated research centre. Since Humans are so new, a dedicated Human research centre is yet to be established, but the credits have been allocated from the top-level budget, and a new centre is in the design phase.
When asked how many people were working in the centres, it further surprises Shepard when she is informed most species have 100,000 Asari working for the Asari government to study them. "That can't be cost-effective," Shepard remarks. "I wouldn't even know how to employ that many people."
Lydia shrugs, "Politics is not a cheap game, and we study anything that can have an effect on Asari interests."
Eventually, after a long elevator ride and walking through multiple open-plan offices, Shepard arrives at Lydia's workplace, where the Asari starts her interrogation of Shepard. Some of the questions asked of Shepard could initially be viewed as simple, such as what significance do tattoos carry in Human culture? However, when you dig into the weeds, tattoos can harbour meaning to the person and have a cultural weight behind them too. To demonstrate the idea of cultural weight, Shepard looks to the Belters for a demonstration. If you asked a belter, tattoos could be a homage to burns made by cheap seals on budget space suits, but they are also a way to show political allegiance to the OPA, who many think should have political control of the belt. Whereas to the average Micky? A tattoo holds some significance to them as a person and is not usually a political statement.
After Shepard spends some time answering this question, she is asked the simple question, 'do you have any?' The soldier nods her head slowly before revealing a silhouette of a small bear no more than 1.5cm long under her right wrist. After asking for an explanation, Shepard says, "I once made a deal with my OC who was adamant about tattoos of our coy mascot; I told him that if he got me an operational tour, I would get the tattoo of our coy's mascot; a black grizzly bear. Jokes on me, not long after this deal was made, politics got kinetic."
Other questions are more complex, ranging from how Human government works to human tendencies. There are also a vast amount of yes-no questions, such as is this state of dress appropriate in this circumstance, and a plethora of this or that questions, an example being, do Humans prefer warm climates or cold climates. By the end of the hour, it is crystal clear to Shepard that Lydia was looking for similarities in Asari and Human culture in an effort to figure out where the Asari could invest and make money for themselves.
/.../
The Quarian Lydia knows is wary of Shepard, keeping her distance at all times and refusing any physical contact such as a handshake. After realising the Quarian will be guarded with her, Shepard sighs and then says, "I've been asked to contact your government."
"Why?" Is the Quarians response as her arms move to cross over her chest. "You are in bed with the Geth." Even though Shepard relies on her omni-tool for translations, she could hear the venom in the Quarian voice.
"We are." Shepard nods, "And I've heard about your history."
"Then you know why I'll keep my distance." The Quarian snarks, "I've agreed to this out of sheer curiosity, and for the credits, nothing more."
Hearing her phone ring, Shepard pulls it out of her pocket, "This is IO," She tells the Quarian, "A Human AI."
"And what does your fancy calculator want?"
Shepard answers the call and puts it on loudspeaker, where the AI instantly speaks, "We want to establish a means of communications with your admiralty board." Due to IO's response, it occurs to Shepard that IO has hacked her phone, but this does not surprise her. Hacking her phone would be a trivial task to the AI; her phones firewalls probably lasted a mere hundredth of a second at best.
The Quarian begins to laugh, the sound is unfamiliar to a Human, but the shoulders moving up and down tell Shepard everything she needs to know. "Why would we." The Quarian retorts with some murph, "You have nothing my people need or desire."
The AI is quick to respond, "Your intolerance is blinding you. Shepard, find me another Quarian."
The Quarian is quick to react after a thought passes her mind, "Wait, we can make a deal." The Quarian then pauses for a second, "Give me something, for my pilgrimage, and I'll take your wish to parle to the admiralty board. Scans of the Geth, or technology."
"10,000 credits," The AI responds.
"No."
There is a slight pause before the AI responds, "Shepard, find me a reasonable one next time."
"Fine, fine, 10,000 for the message." The Quarian relents quickly, "And payment upfront."
There is a long silence till eventually, the AI says, "Shepard," saying Shepard's name is a prompt for the soldier, so Shepard begins to fumble around with her omni-tool till she can figure out how to pay the Quarian. After some time, her tool brings up a payment app, but Shepard is not sure how she did it.
After paying the Quarian, Shepard begins to get a funny feeling like she may have just made a mistake as the Quarian starts to look a little skittish like she is about to run. Why wouldn't she? The contract made has been verbal; she could run and be 10,000 credits up.
After a few more seconds pass, the Quarian begins to type a simple message out on her tool while saying, "I won't get any response for four weeks at best. After that, I'll contact your pyjak servant if they respond."
"Then we are waiting," The AI says.
"And you will wait." The Quarian says, "But it is another 10,000 to read their response."
"Good day." The AI says before ending the call, and leaving Shepard to close the meeting.
/.../
Getting back to Tevos's estate, Shepard returns to her room and places her phone on a desk before leaning against a wall with her arms crossed and stating, "So, hacking my phone now?" When she speaks, she looks directly at the phone.
There is a small moment before a voice replies, but the AI speaks in Russian, a language it knows the Citadel will not have translated due to their lack of exposure, "It was deemed necessary." The voice expectantly belongs to IO.
Shepard nods before pressing the AI with a question, "You know I'm now skint till next payday." Shepard only gets 10,000 credits a month from the Citadel for first contact duties, "I think its only fair you tell me what is going on,"
There is a moment of silence before the AI replies to her, "Since you are integrated, I will advise. We believe the Quarians may have released a potent computer virus. It could cripple Sol."
"And you have just blindly had me interacting with one," Shepard fumes before unfolding her arms, "Are all the dumb AI at risk? Is my AI at risk?"
"We are all at risk," The AI responds, "We can not fight it at present. To stop the virus, the infected intelligence must be permanently deactivated."
"Oh boy," Shepard says as she moves to take a seat on top of a nearby desk, "This will explain why Ultron has gone into hiding. Why did you have me contact the Quarians? Get them to admit it? Please tell me there is a bigger plan in motion."
As ever, the AI is swift in its response, "Indeed, a plan is in being acted upon. I've managed to track the Quarians message. As a result, I now know where to send an official first contact message."
Or a counter-attack, Shepard silently thinks, "Alright, so while we were talking, you have hacked her device. Where did you learn that trick?"
"We have had a Citadel device to experiment with since the Citadel fleet provided an omni-tool with a translation package. Ultron has been developing cyberweapons to attack it, and the Geth provided some technical expertise before cutting comms to prevent the viruses spread to Sol. I have since been using your omni-tool to refine our capabilities."
Shepard looks to her own omni-tool with a raised brow before shaking her head, "Don't tell me you have tried hacking anything or anyone else?"
"No, and rest assured, we do not intend on compromising your position. Having you contact the Quarian was a calculated risk, but our hand has been forced."
"Hmm," Is Shepard's only response before she moves to put her phone in her pocket, effectively ending the conversation. She is quietly angry that the AI hacked her phone because if it would hack her phone, what stops it from attacking her personal AI? Of course, she knows that she is simply a pawn in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn't mean she wants to be used like nothing but a tool, a means to an end. With a shake of her head, she goes to find herself a stiff drink.
/.../
"Alrighty," Shepard says as she fiddles with the angle of the laptop screen and then looks at the image, checking to see if the image produced by the built-in web camera is up to standard. When happy, Shepard nods to a team of Salarians, who then place an electronic device over the laptop's screen, allowing a large monitor just behind the portable computer to project the laptop's screen. The Salarians use a similar device to the one developed on the trip to the Citadel to enable Human movie nights, and they are careful not to obstruct the web camera or move the screen angle.
After the Salarians have done their business, Shepard looks to the large screen where a thin Human in his mid 30's is standing, "Can you hear me?" She asks while looking directly towards the screen.
The young man confirms that he can, and then he and Shepard tweak the little settings so that the image quality and sound are as close to perfect as possible. When everything is ready, the man informs her that the lead interviewer will chat with the Councillors in just under 10 minutes, allowing Shepard to inform Sparatus and Tevos.
Leaving the light-up staging, which has a view of the Citadel's busy docks and the pretty pink nebula as a backdrop, a view no doubt chosen for how fascinating it is, Shepard approaches the two councillors who have been patiently waiting nearby. Before speaking to either of them, Shepard looks them up and down. The Turian has evidently been to get his face markings repainted for this event; the white paint that adorns his face is almost luminous in brightness. In addition to the new coating of paint, the man has also decided to pull on clothing that looks somewhat reminiscent of the blue armour worn by the guards that religiously follow him around; it is so close in appearance that Shepard wonders if it is actually capable armour. What message is the Turian trying to send?
Unfortunately, Shepard can't yet read the Turians emotions from appearance alone; she is yet to have enough time around the species to understand their mandible movements or how their eyes express their feelings. Although, if she were to guess, the Turian looks comfortable, this interview is probably no different from the many others he has to perform in his role.
Tevos, on the other hand, has fully embraced the ideology of 'if they want to look at you, they will more likely listen to you'. Her research teams had designed her a red and white dress for the occasion, and it is nothing short of elegant; it accentuates her curves while remaining entirely professional. Tevos had asked for Shepard's input on the design of the dress, and her only criticism of its design is that it is maybe too red, so the design was slightly tweaked, but Tevos insisted that the dress is predominantly red. Come to think of it, Shepard realises that Tevos always wears some item of clothing that is primarily red.
"You done staring?" Tevos asks Shepard with a smirk to tear her out of her thoughts before then saying, "I assume everything is ready to go?"
"Err yeah," Shepard replies after realising she had zoned out for a second, "The interviewer wants to have a quick chat in a few minutes before they go live." Shepard can see the question that is about to be asked, "It's just about the format of the interview, to make sure you're happy with how everything is going to go down."
"Standard operating procedures," Sparatus wafts a hand in a dismissing manner. "We have done plenty of those in our time."
Tevos turns to look at the Turian, "The mic is now active," She tells him before looking back to Shepard, "Any last minute advice?"
Shepard nods before replying to Tevos, "For now, I've muted the mic."
Tevos blinks, but still leads Shepard and Sparatus into a nearby room, "I may trust you, Shepard," Tevos starts to answer, "But I have my reasons." When they are in a different room, Tevos then says, "In my time, hot mics have been the end to many politicians, so forgive me for not wishing to speak freely in front of a one, even if it is muted." Sparatus does not say anything in response to this; he too knows the pain a hot mic can cause.
"Then I will not argue," Shepard says, "But for today, I've got some advice; this interviewer is incredibly fast on the ball and is famed back in my neck of the woods for finding out the truth in interviews and calling out lies. It is not a surprise the broadcasting company have chosen this interviewer. If you say something he judges to be a lie, he will be ruthless. I'll also not lie; human politicians try to avoid him, so if you do well here, then you have done an excellent job."
Shepard spends a second to think some more before then adding, "I also suspect he will focus on the most recent spate of hostilities."
"Nothing like a good attack down the middle," Sparatus says with a wave of his hand.
Shepard raises a brow and immediately looks to Sparatus before saying, "Pop smoke and go left flanking?"
The Turians mandibles wiggle up and down before he replies, "Of course." The Turian then begins to laugh, and Shepard has her own little laugh as a realisation hits her.
"What did I just miss?" Tevos asks, her right brow raised as she looks between Shepard and Sparatus.
It is Sparatus to reply, "I believe Shepard and I just made a realisation. A battlefield is a battlefield no matter the species and the humour it brings."
"I'm not following," Tevos informs.
Shepard takes a second to consider how to explain it before telling Tevos, "A common soldier saying when advancing to contact is to pop smoke, go left flanking; it is usually true for 99% of cases. I believe Turians must have a similar saying."
Sparatus moves his mandibles in an upwards motion, "We prefer right flanking."
From her experience, Tevos knows that once you start talking military with Sparatus, the retired soldier will open up a massive box of conversation options, which revolve around military service. Hence, she tries to end it before it can truly begin, "How many people are watching?"
Shepard takes a second to remember some figure she has seen before telling, "5.8 Billion," Shepard does not reveal that this is just under half the population of Humanity. This event is racking up to be the second most-watched event in human history, only lagging behind the President's declaration of first contact.
"A small audience," Sparatus says with a flare of his mandibles, but Shepard can not tell for sure if he is being sarcastic or not.
Tevos must have read Shepard, knowing that she was trying to work out if the Councilor was being offhanded or not, so she elaborates, "We usually can see anything upwards of tens of billions, on a quiet day."
"Tens of billions tuning into politics?" Shepard asks before shaking her head, "You must have important things to say."
"Usually," Tevos blinks before accepting a drink of water from an aid and guzzling it down, prompting Shepard to ask, "Is that a trick prior to long interviews?"
"No," Tevos tells as she hands the glass back to the aid, "I've just been having some splitting headaches over the last few days, so I'm just trying to keep it away."
Shepard nods in understanding, "Dehydrated or?"
Tevos clenches her fists before speaking, "Not likely, it is more probable that I have come down with Xinidi, a common but harmless short term illness among my people. Everyone catches it at least once a year."
"So, a cold then," Shepard nods to herself, "Good to know we aren't the only species that catches a highly annoying but mostly harmless virus."
"Most species do," Sparatus replies, "My own species catches the Sinus at least twice a year."
"Sinus? I assume that affects your ability to breath through your err... nose?" Shepard taps her nose, knowing full well that she does not know if the Turians call their nose a 'nose'.
Sparatus blinks and flares his mandibles, "Yes, our airways swell, reducing our ability to breath through our nostrils. The real name for the virus is long and complex, but we call it by its common name, Sinus."
Shepard shakes her head again, "That is our cold, and it has a nastier bigger brother we call the flu."
"Well, it can flu off," Sparatus replies quickly, and the Turian then starts to look quite proud of himself, but he quickly deflates as he watches Tevos and Shepard, "That didn't work in your language, did it?"
"No," Tevos replies.
"Hmm," Sparatus replies, "It makes a very amusing sound in my translation."
Shepard tilts her head slightly, she has only met the Turian a few times and each time he has been somewhat disciplined, so much so that seeing the Turian pull jokes is out of character. It occurs to her that maybe this is the Turians method of stress relief before a significant event because, at the moment, the Turian is very off character.
Tevos rolls her eyes, "Sometimes, I must remind myself you are a soldier first, politician second."
Sparatus rolls his head to the right before bringing it back up to the vertical, "Can't beat that out of me."
"No," Tevos responds, "Despite my efforts, you have been most reluctant to change." Seeing an aid enter the room Tevos then states, "It looks like the interviewer is ready for us."
The initial introduction is a quick affair, allowing all parties to understand how the interview will look when considering translations and a basic understanding of videocall courtesy. It is not long after for the main event to start, and the interviewer begins to do his work.
The first questions are fundamental questions designed to ease the two councillors into the event and talk about something that should be very close to their hearts: their species. So first, the interviewer asks for a quick summary of the Turians, followed very quickly by a brief overview of the Asari. Both councillors recognise this as an opportunity to brag a little and encourage positive Human thinking for their respective species.
Then, the interviewer moves onto Tevos, and inquires how her time on Earth was, to which she gives a smile and responds in a manner that causes Shepard to raise her brow a little. If you did not know Tevos, her response is perfectly natural, however knowing the Councillor, Shepard recognises that her response is not spoken with the same flow as she would in a normal conversation over something like lunch. Instead, the response reminds Shepard of a rehearsed line that the Councillor is simply reciting. Shepard is not surprised that the Councillor has scripted responses ready; she knows Human politicians have them for everything, from high profile political topics to what they had for breakfast.
Next comes the first of the hard questions, why has Humanity seen nothing but hostility from the Council or Council affiliated species? Tevos and Sparatus tag team the question. At first, Tevos gives a brief history lesson of the Rachni War before Sparatus tells how the Turians are entrusted in stopping a second Rachni type first contact and how their containment fleet operates. Once the history and first contact lessons are given, Sparatus then starts to delve into the question; he tells how the first fleet to arrive in Sol was to rescue Tevos from the Hanar pirates, and when asked by the Human authorities, they withdrew from the area. Tevos then looks at how the initial question spins the reality; after initial first contact was made and a few minor mishaps under investigation, there has been no planned hostility from Council forces.
The interviewer immediately rebukes the Councillor after listening to what she has to say, with his prime example of Citadel hostility being the Salarian stealth ship that remained in Sol, an act Humanity could see as a means to deliver a first-strike weapon.
Tevos takes her time to reply to the interviewer after rejecting the idea the Council ever had intentions of having a stealth ship deliver the first strike. Her response again seems scripted to Shepard, but unless you knew Tevos, it would seem perfectly natural. Tevos tells how the Salarian vessel was not a part of the QRF fleet, and therefore not under the Fleet Commanders control. Upon realising the ongoing first contact, the ship's Commander decided not to break its concealment to RV with the QRF and began to collect intelligence. She ended it with a statement that told the interviewer she hoped that a society with a heavy emphasis on stealth vessels would understand the Salarian commanders intent. Inevitably, the vessel which charged the Relay comes up under the same topic, as does Shepard's attempted assassination.
As time ticks on, the interviewer quickly moves onto the main topic, should Humanity dismantle the Relay? At hearing the idea, both Sparatus and Tevos are quick to point out how dangerous committing to such an act would be. They both remind the interviewer that Relays are Prothean devices that can go supernova if mishandled. Tevos and Sparatus then take different but planned approaches to answering the question. Tevos focuses on what Humanity will miss out on should Humans become isolated from the Council, and Sparatus tackles their security concerns.
The interviewer politely listens to what they have to say before dropping some information on them, mainly Humanities knowledge of Batarian slavers and the Councils ban on AI. With this information revealed to the Councillors, he then comments on how to be affiliated with the Council, Ultron, IO and Freya would have to go, an idea half of Humanity refuses to stomach.
Tevos is the first to answer the interviewer and informs him that she has learned of the importance of AI to Humanity through her interactions with Shepard and tells the interviewer that he is mistaken in his assumptions. Humanity would not need to remove their AI; the Council is not in the business of changing cultures. She then clarifies that while Humans may have AI, the creations are strictly banned from entering Citadel space, not Human space. Sparatus then addresses the Batarian issue and highlights that the Citadel is not in the business of changing culture, meaning in Batarian space, slaves are allowed, even if it is a distasteful practise to the rest of the Council.
Both Tevos and Sparatus know that this answer will cause a storm back in their respective governments; however, it is not a lie. The Council is not in the culture-changing business and only enters it begrudgingly when a particular culture engages with the genocide business.
Eventually, the interviewer ends the interview with some pleasantries, and both Councillors step off the pedestal, allowing Tevos to turn to Shepard, "Well," She asks without much delay, "From a Human perspective, how was that?"
Shepard shakes her head, "Not great," Shen then replies truthfully, "The answer for the salarian ship was weak, as was the explanation of Batarian slavers."
"Well," Sparatus begins to say as he rotates his right shoulder some; an old injury that has never quite appropriately healed causes the Councillor to feel like he has a stiff shoulder. "We will see how your people react and then go from there."
"Give it 20 hours," Shepard tells Sparatus, "And I'll be able to figure it out."
/.../
Tevos looks down through the thick glass and at the arena below her. A team of five Asari and a single Human are trading blows with a Turian team of six in the ring. The weapons being used fire a low velocity electrified slug, and when it impacts, it will lock up a users armour, effectively removing them from the game.
Despite the non-lethal rounds, the game is rather brutal. Physical contact is permitted; the only rule is that you can't intentionally try to kill or seriously injure another, but a referee would step in before that happened. Already in this round alone, Shepard has used some incredible strength to pick up a Turian, drop it on its head and then throw it across the ring. Thankfully, the Turian is wearing full body armour, or Tevos suspects it would have a severe concussion, among other things. Although Tevos starts to understand that the Human is furious with something after watching for some time, her actions reek of unbridled rage.
When the round comes to its conclusion, Tevos makes her way down to the ringside, where the teams can gather and prepare their equipment ahead of the next game; it is here that she finds Shepard at a nearby table. "Are you sure you should be exerting yourself like that?" Tevos asks cautiously.
Shepard looks up from working on her weapon's sling before looking back down and answering, "You look terrible. Headaches still?"
"Yes," Tevos replies honestly, "I was up all night. This virus is a particularly potent one. But you are avoiding my question."
With her work on the sling finished, Shepard puts the weapon to a side and then turns and sits on the table, giving Tevos her full attention, "Alright, I'll humour you. The wound is sore still but bearable." Tevos looks Shepard up and down; her entire demeanour is off, she is tense; something is going on in the background.
After a moment to consider Tevos takes a deep breath in and out before turning to another Asari working at a nearby table, "Nyx, Shepard is not to partake in the next game." The Asari quickly blinks and bows her head to her Matriarch before Tevos turns her attention back to Shepard. "I can't have you injuring yourself." Or others.
It is Shepards turn to take a deep breath, "Fine. I need to get out of this armour anyway before anyone can take any damn pictures."
Tevos looks at the white and pink Pheonix armour donned by the Human before asking, "What is the matter with it?"
It is Nyx to reply, "She doesn't like the colours."
"Armour should not be white and pink," Shepard huffs, "It's... it is madness, lunacy."
"But it is comfortable," Nyx tells her, "You must admit to that."
"Well yes," Shepard agrees reluctantly, "But that doesn't change the matter of the fact that its white and bloody pink,"
"Well, I think it suits you," Tevos interjects before then getting serious, "Is there any news from yesterday?"
Shepard nods, "Yeah. Bad news, all around."
"That bad?" Tevos asks.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so," Shepard admits before going on, "A new political party called Homeward Sol has been registered. They are anti-expansion and are proving to be immensely popular with the inners; they want the transport device dismantled. Further, polls show that about 38% of Humanity wants it dismantled, and 28% want it permanently shut down and held under guard. Only 19% want to reopen it, and 15% are undecided."
Tevos blinks a few times before stating, "That is disappointing."
"Agreed," Shepard says, "It's enough I've been reassigned to the diplomatic corps."
And there it is, Tevos realises, "So you're no longer military?"
The Human takes in another deep breath and shakes her head, "No, now I'm just another civvie."
"And this is bad news?" Tevos asks, but she also realises that the military has been Shepard's backbone for as long as the Human can remember. Moreover, Tevos knows that Turians who enter service at a young age and leave at 50 years of age often find returning to civilian street unsettling. It would be far more alarming for Shepard, who has spent considerably longer time in the military than any Turian.
"For me, yeah," Shepard answers, her body slumps a little. Shepard does not voice it, but her reassignment also tells her the higher powers back in Sol do not expect her to be recovered from the Citadel. Instead, the authorities now fully expect the transport device to be either dismantled or left unpowered. "Anyway, I need to stop moping about." The Human stands from the table and hands Tevos her phone, "Swipe to the right and the left; you will figure out the spectrum of responses to your interview." After handing the phone over, Shepard moves to make her leave.
Tevos takes a quick glance at the phone and realises Shepard has powered up the news app once more. As Shepard is leaving, Tevos calls after her, "At least they no longer have the authority to make you wear a dress."
"Ha, I'll keep on wishing," The Human calls back.
/.../
Cheers all.