Kacey marched back upstairs irritated. She was a bit pissed off by the Illusive Man's tone, as well as his blank, almost inhuman expression. And those eyes…those soulless, robotic eyes were eerie and unsettling. She didn't trust the Illusive Man, not one bit. Something felt off, and it wasn't just the creepy eyes or the stoic expression. She simply got a bad vibe, a gut feeling that something was wrong, that he had plans for her he didn't want to reveal just yet. It unnerved her.

She was broken out of her thoughts by the sharp pain piercing through her ribs. Right. She had nearly forgotten the pain in her ribs. She looked around, hoping to find some sort of med-bay nearby but was interrupted by Miranda.

"Sit down. Let's take a look at that sore rib." She said matter-of-factly.

Kacey sat down and let her take a look. She didn't trust Miranda either, and it wasn't just because of the Wilson thing. But something about her tone, the way she spoke to her, rubbed Kacey the wrong way too. It felt like subtle aggression from Kacey's point of view. She ensured she had her pistol close just in case.

"Doesn't look too bad." Miranda mused, "A little medi-gel and some painkillers should do the trick."

"At least it isn't serious." Kacey responded. Miranda simply looked at her a little irritated before continuing.

"The Illusive Man is very impressed with you. I'm eager to see if you can live up to his expectations on this mission."

"Probably." Kacey replied, "Depends on those expectations."

Miranda didn't look amused by Kacey's response. As the dark-haired woman turned around to head back to her terminal, Kacey followed.

"I never got a chance to say how much I appreciated what the Lazarus Project did for me." Kacey said adding, "Thank you."

"I just hope it was worth it." Was Miranda's response, "A lot of people lost their lives on that station."

"Even after that, Miranda still looked at me angrily and her tone was still hostile."

"Let me guess; you told her you didn't like her attitude?" Kaidan replied amused, "I bet that went down well."

"It kind of did."

"Look we need to work together here, like it or not." Kacey said, "Your attitude isn't helping anything."

"I have the utmost respect for your abilities, Shepard." Miranda scoffed, "It's your motivations that concern me."

"How?"

"I believe in what Cerberus stands for. Only time will tell if you prove to be an asset or a liability to our cause."

"This cause of yours, has it got something to do with the colony we're going to?"

"You mean Freedom's Progress? Somewhat." Miranda replied, "It's a typical human settlement in the Terminus Systems. They had a small military force for protection alongside some mech and security drones. Average in every way really. Completely unremarkable…until the disappearance."

"Do you have any idea what we'll find?"

"A lot of empty buildings and one giant mystery." Miranda replied bluntly, "But you're not here for that, are you?"

"Sorry, what?"

"You want to know more about the Lazurus Project."

"Well, yeah." Kacey replied, "Wouldn't you in my position? You were the one in charge."

"I wasn't in charge," Miranda corrected Kacey, "The Illusive Man was. If I were running the show, we'd have done a few things differently."

"Like what?"

"To start, I would have implanted you with some type of control chip. But the Illusive Man wouldn't allow it. He was afraid it might affect your personality – alter your character somehow. He wouldn't let us do anything that might limit your potential in any way. "

"She considered putting a control chip in your brain?!" Kaidan responded. He could feel his anger rising.

"She did, but the Illusive Man wouldn't let her," Kacey replied, "No idea why though."

"Yeah, it doesn't add up."

"I'm just lucky he didn't."

"Can't say I like the idea of being brought back with a control chip in my brain." Kacey replied, agitated.

"The Illusive Man is taking an incredible risk with you. I just hope it pays off."

"I'm sure. Got any interests besides the Illusive Man?" Kacey asked.

Miranda scoffed, "What are you worried about my qualifications?"

"I was trying to get to know you better."

"I'm not looking for a friend, Shepard. Stay focused on the mission."

"O-kay, its obvious you're not interested in talking." Kacey responded.

"We've got an assignment to do. We can talk about it, or we can do it." Miranda replied before focusing on the terminal.

'Well, she's very uptight' Kacey thought to herself. She decided to kill some time by walking over and staring out the window, to mull things over. It was hard to process everything that happened, but it was harder to figure out how to get away from Cerberus and back to the Alliance, the Citadel, one of the two. However, she couldn't leave. She had no ship and if she tried to take one, she would have the entire base trying to kill her. She was a good solider, an excellent solider, but even she knew that she wouldn't last.

"The only thing I could do was play along, go along with them to Freedom's Progress, and find what they wanted me to find."

In Kacey's mind, going along with them for now wouldn't hurt. It was the only thing she could do for now. Her thoughts were interrupted by nearby footsteps, as Jacob walked over to her, and leaned against the railing like Kacey had done.

"I'm glad the Illusive Man convinced you to join us, Commander." Jacob said.

Kacey could hear the sincerity in Jacob's voice, but she wasn't entirely convinced.

"I didn't join Cerberus." Kacey corrected him, "I just agreed to cooperate with him, for now. I still don't trust him."

"Do you trust me, Commander?"

That was a difficult question to answer. Kacey always had trust issues, despite her welcoming and trusting exterior. She never truly trusted anyone from the get-go, often cooperating and keeping her distance. Being polite and kind, but not dropping her guard or opening up to anyone. Even among her crew on the Normandy, she only truly trusted a handful of her squad. At the same time, however, Jacob was the only one who had been upfront with her, honest and not a complete ass in Kacey's mind. Out of the three Cerberus members Jacob was the one she trusted the most, even if she didn't trust him entirely yet.

"I don't know. I haven't decided yet." She said calmly.

"At least you're giving me a chance," Jacob replied, "Most Alliance soldiers hate Cerberus on principle."

"Can't blame them though."

"I know. But—"

"Now that we're done with introductions." Miranda interrupted Jacob, "We can leave for our assignment. Come on."

Miranda briskly walked away towards the exit, with Jacob and Kacey in tow.