A/N I own nothing. Mass Effect is owned by Bioware
Longest chapter yet!
OK this chapter was both a challenge to write and still pretty fun. I know that there may be some conflicting ideas on how it turned out but overall I am pretty happy with it. Unfortunately there may be a delay between this chapter and the next one due to school work but I will continue with it, so for those who are enjoying the story, don't fear!
Also, something I wanted to mention for the future: in this story there are going to be stories from the MC about things that happened in his time as a prison guard. Thankfully, due to the fact that I happen to know a few prison guards, the stories about the MC's work will nearly all be true! Or at least, the guards I know swear they are true. Either way, it should be interesting!
Comments:
Sornosquinfallen, frankieu, rfpizzle, samuel9898 - Thanks!
Artyom-Dreizehn, Nipplegunz – Well, wouldn't you want a cabal in your team?!
GreyDragon0 – with any luck, both.
Rangle – Well, I was going for more 'excessively tortured person in a strange environment' but it is tricky to pull off. However, as he grows accustomed there should be less emo moments. Well, maybe not next chapter… Still, I appreciate the criticism.
Mk0008 – Here it is.
Madman123456 – Interesting proposal. I had already had something in mind in that regards, but after reading your comments I think I might need to change it up a little. Thanks for that. And hope things with your job don't get too bad
…
CHAPTER 10 – TO MEET A COUNCILLOR
I woke up the morning of the meeting a little nervous. After all, I was about to try and measure dicks, metaphorically, with one of the three most powerful individuals in the galaxy.
Luckily, this was not my first time encountering dangerous and influential people. When I had worked as a prison officer, I had dealt with some pretty dangerous drug lords, gang leaders, your everyday psychopaths, sociopaths and nut bags. Sure, there were plenty of low level crims in there but when you stand in front of one of the dangerous ones as he challenges you, you learn how to handle yourself in those situations pretty quick. As my mentor told me, 'learning on the job at its finest'. And seeing as the best solution to resolving those issues was, more often than not, to talk my way out of it rather than fight my way out of it, I thought I should be at least ok while talking to Tevos.
So while I was nervous, I was not catatonic. It felt more like a job interview, in all honesty. The main thing was that I needed to have a clear head and do my best to take charge of this meeting.
There were four things that I had in place to use to my advantage, should things get out of hand. And by that, I mean the asari councillor decided to play dirty. The first was that I could just say 'no' and make an appointment with the salarian councillor, I think his name was Valern. Everyone knew Sparatus was the turian councillor because the guy was basically an anti-human douchebag. I would rather not deal with him if I could avoid it.
The second thing was my knowledge of the prothean beacon on Thessia. That was an ultimate last resort though. If it came down to revealing that at the wrong time or walking away, I would probably just walk away.
The third thing was a little something that I had Hectar fix up for me. After having been jumped by Torrin and Klara in the alley yesterday I had wondered about how to avoid walking into traps like that unknowingly again. I remembered something from the film The Dark Knight, how there was that program that Batman used to turn every phone into a 3D imager of the entire city. Naturally, that tech, if it was even possible to create a fictional piece of equipment like that, was highly unlikely to be available. However, I had another idea. Sonar. That is where a submarine sends out a signal then they receive the rebounding ping that basically gives a map of anything in their way. Except I wanted it to be more like an ultrasound where it can give me a full image of what's behind a target. So, I had Hectar rig up a program that makes my omni-tool send out a sensor ping similar to an ultrasound. It makes a 3D map of everything in range which I can see on my omni-tool. The ping is essentially a sound burst that is sent out on a frequency that can't be heard by any of the known species in the galaxy. It is powerful enough to be able to penetrate a thin to moderate wall but only has a limited range of about five meters. I was able to test it out for a little while on the ship. I am hoping that if Tevos decides to try anything, like a few commandos hidden behind a wall, then I will be able to know in advance and make a hasty retreat or call her bluff. It isn't much but it is something.
The fourth and final thing I have is a little bluff. It's a countdown timer. I set it to reach zero about three hours after my meeting finished. It didn't really do anything, but no one had to know that.
I got dressed and headed out to meet up with the three remaining members of my crew an hour before the meeting. It took another fifteen minutes of leisurely walking but I arrived at the front of C-SEC headquarters to see that I was the last one to arrive. Aleria was talking to Ely and Hectar was standing there, fiddling with his omni-tool. They girls noticed my approach and turned to face me. Hectar took a moment longer before he noticed and closed down the omni-tool. I gestured over to a quieter corner, away from the bustle of officers, informants and victims desperate to be heard by anyone in earshot of their problems.
"Alright," I began. "So is everyone ready?"
Aleria looked paler than usual but she gave a small nod. Ely nodded a few times then looked down at the ground. Hectar hesitated a long moment then shook his head.
I looked at him. "What's wrong Hectar? You feeling a little anxious?"
He looked up at me, his glowing eyes narrowing. "You're not?" he asked sarcastically.
I shrugged. "Anxious: no. Nervous: a little. But I don't think that everyone needs to worry. After all, those cheeky messages only had my named attached. You three should be safe. Though now that I think about it, it may be better to have you walk somewhere else. Go for a walk somewhere on the Citadel. Anywhere, it doesn't matter. Just don't tell us where you are until I give you a place to meet up with us. The password for an all clear will be 'cucumber sandwiches'. This may seem paranoid to all of you,' I said to the whole group of now rather confused and uncertain members of my crew. I stare at them flatly. "What? I am basically going to meet with a councillor who I am already been cheeky to. A councillor! She has resources and can call on any number of security personnel to make life difficult. I am just doing what I can to make sure that we all walk out of here, healthy and whole. I'd miss you all too much if something bad happened."
Aleria gave a playful smile. "Aww, you do care! Don't worry boss, you can play your games as much as you want if it puts your mind at ease." Considering how nervous she had seemed before, I had a feeling that this was her attempt to calm her own nerves. That or she was just trying to sound confident. Either way, I was grateful for the show of support.
Once the plan was made Hectar made his way out of C-SEC and headed off on his own. Ely and Aleria walked along with me towards the Presidium.
What isn't really shown in the games about the Presidium is that no one can really just go to the Presidium. You have to be approved to be allowed entry. It kinda flew in the face of any of the equalitarian people from my time. Here, the rich and powerful were literally separated from the rest of society. Everyone who goes there needs to be considered 'approved'. I had been put on the list of the approved people only because of my appointment with the asari Councillor, but Ely and Aleria had not. I had to show their employment details to the C-SEC guards manning the entrance to be allowed to have them with me. Even once they were cleared, we were escorted to the councillor's office. For some reason they seemed to have a real concern with allowing us to walk around the Presidium freely. My suspicions were confirmed when I walked past the C-SEC officer's terminal and it had orders to stay with us at all times posted in big, holographic letters… with 'from the office of Councillor Tevos' attached right next to it. Hmmm. Not a great start. We were then taken to an isolated security station and were given a very thorough search for weapons. Or at least, I was. Not that I had anything. I still hadn't bought any weapons since I arrived
Quite obviously, Ely and Aleria were beginning to get angry about this too.
"Keep calm," I murmured to them. "Don't blame C-SEC. they are just doing what they're told." I couldn't help but feel a little sympathy towards the officer. I had been in his position of 'just doing what I was told' when dealing with prisoners back in my time.
Still, having the escort meant that we were able to arrive at the councillor's office ten minutes before the appointment was due to begin. The C-SEC officer told us he would be waiting for us for whenever our appointment was finished. Apparently, he had orders to do so. Another bad sign. I was starting to feel better about my safety precautions. Something about this whole meeting was really rubbing me the wrong way. I tried to shrug the feeling off and made my way to the reception desk. Time to get into this.
….
Ely walked up with Mr Neilson to the asari sitting at the reception desk, staying a small step to his left, while Aleria seemed to be doing the exact same to Mr Neilson's right.
"Hello, Brock Neilson to see Councillor Tevos," Mr… Brock said very politely; she had to get used to calling him that. Considering how they had been treated since their arrival at the Presidium he was certainly being a lot more polite than Ely felt like being right now.
The asari receptionist looked at him and immediately Ely could see a hint of condescension and hostility in the blue women's face. It seemed fitting with the rest of their treatment.
"I'm sorry, but for some reason, I have your appointment not being for another hour for now," she said, her voice mockingly sweet. "You'll need to come back later."
Ely stiffened at the very obvious slight and shared a quick look with Aleria. The pilot looked just as angry as she felt. What was with the arrogance this woman was showing? No, she realised. It wasn't this woman. It had to be Tevos behind this. First C-SEC, now her personal receptionist. Ely was just glad that her mask hid her facial expressions. Not that it mattered. Aleria looked mad enough for the both of them.
Curiously, Brock wasn't mad at all. In fact, he even favoured the receptionist with a little smile. "There must be a mistake of some kind," he said calmly, bringing up his omni-tool. He fiddled around with it for a few moments before he said softly, "I know it's here somewhere," as if he was merely talking to himself.
Ely's omni-tool pinged with a received message. She ignored an annoyed glance in her direction from Aleria and opened it up. What? She thought to herself, feeling a nugget of confusion. It was from Brock, who was standing less than three feet from her. She looked at him briefly but he ignored her, apparently engrossed in his omni-tool. She opened the message.
Don't react! I need you to hack the receptionist's desk and turn on the intercom to the office. Can you do that? Cough for yes, sneeze for no. If you do, cough a second time once you are done.
He needed her to hack the intercom? She looked at the terminal on the desk in front of her. It looked pretty standard. Should be fairly straightforward. She wasn't as much into tech as Hectar was. If he had been here there would have been no question about it being done. She wasn't as good as he was but she was no slouch. Plus, while they had been working together down in engineering, Hectar had been able to look at her hacking programs and modify them.
She coughed. Then she got to work.
In the background she vaguely kept tabs on the conversation.
"Ah here it is," Brock announced. "Sorry, it's a new omni-tool. I keep forgetting where things are on here. Now as you can see here…"
The encryption on the receptionist's desk was pitiful; not what she expected for the councillor. It took less than four seconds to breach the outer firewalls. Once inside, there were further files that she could access. Wait, the receptionist was looking at drell porn? At work? Somehow it was both fascinating and disgusting at the same time. She took a screen shot, making sure that the user ID for the receptionist was visible. She may be a Pilgrim but even she knew that blackmail at all levels was useful.
"… Councillor Tevos had to change it," the receptionist was saying snidely, still in that mock sweet tone. It was beginning to grate on Ely's nerves. "These things happen from time to time."
She continued on and found the control. She activated it and coughed, then closed down her omni-tool. She wanted to watch the show. The receptionist, as focussed as she was on Brock, didn't notice anything.
Brock's face immediately changed to that of a person fighting a smile for a small second. He leaned forward, keeping a polished fake smile of his own as he did so.
"I see," he said calmly. "I'm sorry, in my haste I don't believe that I caught your name."
The asari raised one tattooed eyebrow. "It's Maryssa."
He just continued giving that false smile. Something inside Ely started to get a little excited. She had a strong feeling that something amazing was about to happen.
"Maryssa, what a beautiful name," he said, almost sounding sincere and still incredibly polite. "Well, Maryssa, let me tell you what is about to happen. You are going to look me in the eye, apologise for wasting my rather precious time and that of my crew here. Then you are going to say these exact words: 'The councillor will see you now.' You will do this because if you don't I will turn right around and leave the Presidium. Then I shall make a call to the salarian councillor, get an appointment immediately, and the economy of the Asari Republics will take such a hit that it may never fully recover its dominance during your rather long life. And to top it all off, I will ensure that the Council of Matriarchs on Thessia knows that the blame for their losses can be placed solely on the shoulders of a petty functionary who thought that it would be a good idea to annoy me and the councillor who thought to try my patience." He turned his head slightly, looking at the terminal. "Is that understood, Councillor Tevos?" His voice never deviated from its pleasant tone, in spite of his words.
"Perfectly, Mr Neilson," Tevos' irritated voice came from the desk speaker, causing the receptionist to nearly jump out of her fancy dress.
"Councillor," Maryssa stammered. "I didn't…"
"That's enough," Tevos interrupted snappishly. "I'll deal with you later, Maryssa. Send Mr Neilson and his… crew in." The intercom clicked off.
A long awkward moment passed as the receptionist stared at her terminal, her face pale with horror.
"T-the councilor w-will see you now," she stammered not looking up.
To Ely's surprised, Brock didn't move a muscle. He just kept staring at the receptionist expectantly. Nothing happened at all for a long moment. Ely wondered what was happening.
Finally, he raised an eyebrow. "I'm still waiting for that apology, Maryssa," he said, calmly.
She flushed a deep purple. "I'm..." she started not looking up.
"Uh uh," he interrupted, his tone still pleasant. "You will look me in the eye as you apologise for wasting my time and that of my crew. As I instructed you."
The asari's face went even darker purple as she glared at him, clearly livid. It looked like she wanted to leap over the desk and attack the human. With visible effort, she composed herself. "I'm sorry for wasting your time and that of your crew, Mr Neilson," she bit out.
He gave a dazzling smile that looked like it might have been actually genuine. It made Ely smile behind her mask. "And on behalf of myself and my crew, I accept your apology," he stated firmly. "Now, you have a pleasant day." With that he walked past the desk and headed towards the office beyond, leaving the fuming secretary glaring impotently at his back.
Ely looked at Aleria. The asari pilot had her mouth gaping in open wonder. She snapped it shut and let out a tiny squeal. "That was awesome!" she whispered. "I don't know how on Athame's bodice you did that, but that was simply amazing! I don't even care if Tevos has us arrested now, I am just glad I got to see that happen." Ely fully agreed that no matter what happened in this meeting, the encounter with the receptionist had been fully worth it.
"Well, it wouldn't have worked out nearly so well if it wasn't for our charming ships specialist here," he said modestly, gesturing to Ely.
Ely felt her face grow warm and rubbed a hand on the side of her mask, in embarrassment. "Thanks Brock. Oh," she said quickly as they reached the door, "I have to do something for the receptionist on the way out. I think you both will love it."
They both looked at her curiously. Brock gave them both a tight grin. "All right," he said softly. "Game faces on now. I want you to watch the councillor closely for any reactions she has to what gets said. And be careful; taking on the reception was child's play to how this is going to be. Just remember, leave all the talking to me."
The bubble of amusement popped inside Ely's stomach and she felt whatever remained of it form into a solid lump of anxiety in the lower part of her stomach. Aleria's face went a little paler purple than usual as she lost her smile.
Brock though, he straightened his back, lost the faint smile he had been wearing for the secretary and merely looked passive and composed, far more composed than Ely felt. How did he manage to do that?
He palmed the door open and they walked in.
…
Aleria walked in after Brock as he entered the councillor's office, fighting the fluttering nerves and doing her best to keep her face neutral. She knew she was only partially successful in doing so and was looking at Brock's face, feeling a little envious that he managed to look so calm. And people say that the asari are the natural diplomats, she thought to herself.
The office was larger than the cockpit on the Hidden Enterprise and there were artworks from around the Asari Republics scattered tastefully around the room. It almost looked like an art gallery. Some of these pieces must have cost more than the Enterprise. The bonus of being on the Council, Ely thought wryly.
The councillor was sitting at her desk but stood up as they entered. She was wearing a red dress with white highlights that worked perfectly with her dark purple skin and facial tattoos, much to Aleria's envy. The matriarch seemed to be flawless in her style in such a deceptively casual way that Aleria didn't think she could ever achieve sitting in a pilot's seat.
"Mr Neilson," Tevos greeted coolly. "Please take a seat."
There were only two chairs in front the councillor's desk. Aleria walked forward and stood behind them, Ely moved and stood next to her. Neither of them moved to sit down.
To her surprise, Brock didn't move towards either of the chairs. Instead he moved around the borders of the office, peering at the various paintings and tapestries lining the wall. He opened up his omni-tool and walked slowly around the office walls, his gaze alternating between the artworks and his 'tool.
Oh that's right, he wanted he to watch Tevos's reactions. She turned back to look at the older asari, who was following Brock as he walked around the office walls. The matriarch's face was showing open irritation at his ignoring of her instruction.
"I am in rather a rush, Mr Neilson," she said tightly, glaring at the human's back. "I don't have the leisure of sitting around all day threatening people."
"Threatening?" he asked innocently as he stepped in front of a painting of the statue of Athame, from the Temple of Athame on Thessia. Aleria knew that one. Every asari knew that painting. "My dear councilor, I am not threatening anyone! In fact, I am trying to prevent damage to the Republics by coming here. I am doing this for you and your people's wellbeing. In fact, really, I am doing this for the benefit of the whole galaxy."
Tevos narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Brock merely stared at the painting, not bothering to turn around and look at her.
"I am still have a lot of work to do, Mr Neilson," she finally said.
"And yet you will humour me for a few moments as penance for your actions earlier today and for the actions of your secretary," he replied without looking at her.
"What actions are you speaking of?" she asked, her brow furrowing slightly in confusion. It looked genuine as far as Aleria could tell.
"The orders that came from your office for C-SEC to treat us as suspicious persons, to be given, somewhat invasive, physical searches and to not be allowed movement anywhere without an officer escorting us," he said, his tone colouring slightly with annoyance. "I understand the need to have security here in the Presidium, more so for your office, but to see on the officer's terminal that such excessively overbearing treatment came 'at the order of Councillor Tevos' was an unnecessary burden to darken our meeting before it began." He finally stared over his shoulder at her, eyes narrowed in distaste.
The councillor's brow furrowed further. "But I didn't…" she stopped. Then she pressed a button on her desk. "Maryssa?
"Yes, Councillor?" the receptionist replied through the intercom.
"I am going to ask you a question and I want you to think very carefully before you answer," Tevos continued stiffly. "Did you send a message in my name to C-SEC telling them to pay extra attention to Mr Neilson and his crew and to treat them suspiciously?"
A long pause came through the intercom. Aleria felt a trill of vindication as she realized that the receptionist had to be sweating. After all, the asari officer that had searched her had been very touchy with her hands while doing the search.
"Yes, Councillor," the receptionist finally replied.
"Call Anthalees to replace you," Tevos said coldly, her face hardening. "You will lose the rest of the day without pay and I will deal with you later."
"Yes, Councillor." The line went dead with a click. Aleria spared a brief look to Brock, to see that he was staring at the asari councilor with an expression of polite interest.
Tevos closed her eyes and raised her hands to rub her temples. Then she let out a deep sigh and turned back to Brock. "It seems I owe you an apology, Mr Neilson," she said, her voice now carrying only a trace amount of bitterness. "While the manner you sought an appointment can be considered crude, brash and heavy-handed, it does not justify petty retaliation by someone claiming to use my name."
Aleria bit her tongue to prevent her from speaking against the councillor, feeling angry at the statement. There hadn't even been an apology in her words!
She needn't have worried. Brock gave a small chuckle. "How very political of you, Councillor," he said, looking back at the painting, his back towards Tevos. He seemed very fascinated with it for some reason that Aleria couldn't understand. "You attempt to smooth things over in half a sentence but offer an insult in the other half of the sentence. And you appear to have also forgotten the actual apology. If you are going to be insulting but skip out on the original apology, why bother with the show of dismissing the wrongdoer in the first place?"
Tevos's jaw noticeably clenched as she appeared to fight back an angry response of her own. She took another deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're right, I apologise." It came out sounding very forced in Aleria's opinion.
Apparently it was enough for Brock though. "Apology accepted," he said, keeping his tone gracious. Aleria was truly impressed with how he had held himself during the meeting so far.
"This is a fascinating statue," he continued into her thoughts. "The goddess Athame, I take it? From the Temple of Athame on Thessia?"
"Yes," Tevos replied, her voice, still tinged with annoyance but starting to even out to a more conversational level. "One of the oldest statues still in existence in Council space. Save the protheans, of course."
"Indeed." For some reason he sounded amused. Aleria resisted the urge to look at him, doing her best to follow his instruction to focus on her fellow asari. "You know, I find this statue truly incredible. After all, what secrets must her creators held as they encased her likeness in the stone?"
Tevos's eyes narrowed slightly for just a moment. It was so slight and so quick that Aleria almost missed it. She must really be getting impatient to start with the actual meeting.
"But you know, religious artifacts like these, they are always so much more than they appear," the human's voice carried through the office. "Religion itself usually is, but artifacts such as this, this particular ancient statue, it is far, far more than the stone that makes it, or the face that it carries." His voice now had dropped to a volume slightly above a whisper. "There are things that I know I see when I look at this statue. Things most people wouldn't realise they saw." He slowly turned to look at the councillor with the ghost of a smile on his face.
At that, Tevos's face definite tightened. Her posture changed ever so slightly, opening up slightly. Aleria saw her hands clench into fists briefly. "And what is that?" the matriarch asked, her voice soft and challenging. It almost sounded like she was threatening Brock, but that didn't make any sense.
"Hope," the reply from the human came. "Guidance. The realization that there is something out there, something we can turn to in times of need. That hope is far more important than most people realise. Take it from a person who spent a great deal of time living without hope that hope is one of the most precious things that we sentient beings can have."
Tevos visible relaxed at his words. At the same time she sent him a confused and uncertain look. Something was going on here, Aleria realized. Something that only Brock seemed to know but Tevos seemed to trying to catch up on. He was, dare she think it, toying with one of the three most powerful individuals in the galaxy. It struck Aleria with another feeling of amazement.
"But enough about art and religion," Brock continued, taking two steps past the painting and coming to a stop at an empty part of the wall. "Should we begin this meeting, or are we waiting for someone else?"
"No, we are not waiting for anyone else," Tevos replied, her voice once more returning to the business-like tone that she used in all the vids.
"Oh, good," he said. Then he knocked three times on the wall with his knuckles. "You can come out now. The councillor says you are not needed for this meeting."
Aleria stared in open mouthed amazement as after a few seconds pause, a previously unseen panel opened and a salarian male in expensive-looking armour and a vicious looking pistol on his hip came out of a hidden passage into the office proper. Brock looked at Tevos with an expression of wry skepticism.
"Just the receptionists fault, huh?" he asked rhetorically. Aleria saw the matriarch's eye twitch slightly before a look of annoyance settled on her face.
He turned back to the salarian. "What's your name, Spectre?"
A trill of dread pulsed through Aleria. A Spectre?
The salarian now had Aleria's full attention, Tevos forgotten in the background.
He blinked his large eyes twice. "Jondum Bau."
Brock gave a single slow nod. "Are you here to kill us?"
The Spectre blinked and his head tilted back in a sign of surprise. "What? No! I am merely here for the protection of the asari councillor!" he exclaimed.
Brock looked back at Tevos, an eyebrow raised in polite disbelief. "You brought a salarian to listen while we talked about a confidential concern regarding the Asari Republic economy?" he asked incredulously. "A rather odd choice, Councillor Tevos. I could understand an asari Spectre, but I must say I misread you if you had another species join in to our subterfuge. Perhaps you feel more open than I had realized."
Aleria felt a little bad for the salarian, Spectre or not. He was looking back and forth between the human and the matriarch, looking for all the galaxy like he was trying to understand something that wasn't being said.
"I trust all of the Spectre's to be discrete and beyond reproach," Tevos countered mildly.
For some reason, that seemed to anger Brock. "Maybe," he said, his tone dismissive. "But maybe you should be a little more careful." He turned to the salarian. "Well, you can see that the councillor is perfectly fine and will remain so for a long time after our meeting is over. I would recommend that you send Spectre Bau away, Councillor Tevos, so that we can talk business but if you insist he stay then so be it."
Aleria looked back at Tevos, cursing herself for getting distracted. So much had happened already and the meeting itself hadn't even started yet!
Tevos's face tightened for a moment into an unreadable expression but relaxing to cool, measuring gaze. "No, thank you Spectre Bau," she said, her voice clearly containing a simmering anger. "You can wait out in the main area until I call you."
The salarian nodded and left through the main door. The room itself was full of tension as Brock and Tevos stared at each other, both of them stone-faced.
Brock broke first, letting a small smile breach his features. "Shall we start our meeting properly, Madam Councillor?"
…
I moved over to a seat directly across from Tevos, trying to settle my emotions. I had mostly expected there to be someone hiding in a hidden room or passage somewhere. After all, if I was one of the councillors and I was as suspicious of someone, as Tevos was obviously suspicious of me, then I would have had someone on standby myself.
The underlying hostility that was permeating the air was definitely not ideal as far as negotiations went. I know that asari are venerated as the 'diplomats of the galaxy' so I still had hope that a positive middle-ground could be reached here. Maybe even closer to my side. That's what I wanted: a positive outcome. Preferably one that didn't take away any of my freedoms. Like life.
I knew that I had gone hard and abrasive early on, even despite my soft tone of voice and polite words. I had been pushing Tevos since I first messaged her. That was on purpose. I wanted her to know that she couldn't just bully me around, as if I were beneath her. I didn't have much experience with dealing with politicians directly, but what I did understand was that a weak politician was often scorned and taken advantage of. A strong politician was respected. Maybe not well liked by the other side, but definitely respected. I knew that Tevos wasn't going to like me, but I damn well sure wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be easy to dominate.
As for keeping my head so far in this battle of wills… well, I had my time as a prison guard to thank for that. I had been threatened to my face. I had my family threatened to my face. I had been propositioned. I had all manner of polite and impolite conversations, both heated and ice cold exchanges, with big time and small time criminals. The funny thing was they respected strength too. And I had held at least some level of respect at one point.
Especially as most of those exchanges had to be done without using any force. It was only done through words. De-escalating a situation with aggravated prisoners by talking them down had been a specialty of mine.
As a result, I knew how to talk my way out of a situation. That was what I was counting on here.
The councillor sat across from me as I took my seat, her face still rigid and composed, yet clearly not pleased.
"Oh, do cheer up, Councillor Tevos," I said, trying to keep my voice light. "You look like you are trying to be the aggrieved party in this discussion.
Her left eye twitched. "And you believe otherwise?" she asked, her voice soft. Dangerous.
I raised an eyebrow of my own, fighting to clamp down on my annoyance. "Well, let's take a look at the facts," I said, keeping my voice still polite, but slightly cooler than I had been talking before. "I contacted you directly to talk about a matter that would concern the economy of the Republics. Due to other circumstances, I must act rather quickly on this issue and could not afford to wait the six weeks that you or your assistant proposed. Otherwise I would have had to open things up to the wider galaxy which would only hurt the status quo the galaxy currently operates on, specifically the asari. When my crew and I arrive for the meeting, we are accosted and suffered invasive treatment by C-SEC on orders from your office. Receptionist or not, we felt violated and the orders came with your name attached," I said with a raised hand, cutting off Tevos before the purple matriarch could interrupt. "Then we arrive at your office only to be put off side by your receptionist. Then, when we make it into your office itself, you have a Spectre hiding behind a false wall. A Spectre, for whom assassination is considered perfectly legal if they feel they are completing their mission. And you are annoyed at me for trying to save the asari economy, realising and not tolerating mistreatment suffered by myself and my crew and discovering a potential ambusher with government authority to kill me and my crew on sight." I sat back in my chair and gave her a level stare. "How am I to believe that I am not an injured party in this conversation?"
Tevos stared at me unblinking for a long moment, her face evaluating. "Very well," she finally replied. "If your actions truly are as noble as you believe then I do apologise. However, your methods for browbeating yourself into my office were hardly those of a person with pure intentions. It is easy to make rash judgements in that situation."
Ah, there it is. Asari diplomatic skill at last. I finally felt like we had reached a point where we had a chance of understanding. But I wasn't going to let myself relax too much. This was Tevos's domain. This was where she was most comfortable and had decades of experience at the least. If I lost focus then this whole endeavor was sunk.
"Very well," I said. "Now, straight to business. These are, as you no doubt already know, my crew members, Aleria N'Tavis and Ely'Hael nar Qarat. Ely, if you please?"
Ely moved forward and reached into a pouch, pulling out a small chip of eezo in her suited hand and placing it on the desk between the councillor and me. The dark purple asari stared at the eezo for a long moment.
"You have proof that this is not from any previously claimed element zero mines?" she asked, her voice now curious, not a trace of hostility in the question.
I opened up my omni-tool and brought up the certificate of authenticity from the mineralogist. Tevos took a good long look at it.
"It's a mineralogist on the Citadel," I offered helpfully. "That way, if you have doubts you can ask them directly."
She sat back and looked at me, her expression shrewd. "How much did you find?" she asked after another long pause.
I linked my omni-tool to hers and sent the data. She brought her glowing orange omni-tool up and scanned it. A small tic near her eye was the only sign that she gave when she read the amount.
She closed her 'tool down and cocked her head thoughtfully. "You know, this amount, while not insignificant, won't irreparably damage the Republics economy," she said evenly.
"Maybe, maybe not," I replied, keeping my tone unconcerned. "But I had one of my other quarrian crew members, one Hectar'Galon nar Fallir, run the numbers. According to him, that eezo could fully support the entire Migrant Fleet for more than fifty years. They have the largest navy in the galaxy, Councillor. More than twice the size of the salarians, if my numbers are right. Going by that alone, it would be more than a hundred years before the salarians need to come to the asari for a single drop of eezo."
I gave her a small smile, trying to let it look sad, almost apologetic. "And then there are other things to consider. Digging the eezo out of the mines on Thessia is labour. Sure, the eezo is there in great quantities, but there is still the labour costs of sending people into the mines, infrastructure to prevent collapse, safety guidelines for workers as established in Council law and any dredging that comes along with separating it from the dirt. This is just a large asteroid. Move it where you want, chip pieces off as needed and drop it off at a refinery. Much more simple. Cheaper. And if the salarians are thinking ahead, not only are the able to run their fleet and improve their ships, they would also invest in domestic technologies. And, because we know they are pretty smart, how long before they become more economical with it. Sure, it might only last just over a hundred years today, but fifty years from now, with plenty of cheap excess eezo to experiment with, they might be able to triple that. I do hear they are rather intuitive with technology," I added as an afterthought. "Or they could just keep what they need and sell the rest at a discount. Losing the salarian market would be one thing, but competing for a large chunk of the turian market? Maybe losing the hanar or elcor market? Or even the human? I know they are always looking for more eezo. After all, whoever has the eezo, rules the galaxy."
The councilor sat stock still during my pitch listening to every word I said patiently. I had to hand it to her. Now that she was no longer off balance from our early verbal sparring, she was much harder to read. Damn. I was hoping she would have taken a little longer to collect herself.
"Interesting claim," she said in a non-committal tone. "But the fact remains that it is just one asteroid. I don't believe that you truly realise how large the Asari Republics economy truly is."
"Oh, I disagree," I rebutted. "I know that it wouldn't really affect the amount of money that the Republics already has. After all, what is an asteroid compared to, what, four eezo heavy planets? But that isn't what this is about. It's about two things. Image and reliance."
For the first time, the councilor looked thoughtful. "What do you mean?"
"The asari have been the heavy hitter in the eezo market for millennia. Every galactic market comes to you looking for such a valuable resource. You basically have no competition. You are the undisputed leaders in the galactic market. Everyone relies on you. Even the newcomers for the next few millennia will start to feed at your trough, unless they come from a planet like Thessia." I paused to let that sink in. "So what happens when people stop relying on you? The markets are a fickle thing. I know that, everyone knows that. A lack of confidence in a market can have a lasting impact on investment. A lack of confidence for a hundred years… well, I probably won't be around long enough to see the Republics recover from that. Investors fleeing for a new and upcoming market? New technologies to fight the dominance the asari have."
I deliberately turned to look in the general direction of the painting of Athame's statue.
I looked back to see Tevos's eyes narrow just a fraction. "For someone not part of the Republics economy, I imagine it will be a very exciting time," I press on casually. "And for the bystanders… well, what happens if they start believing there is another option than to rely on the asari producers? If we minor races believe we don't need to be your financial puppets? Oh sure, it won't last forever on one asteroid," I pause dramatically. "But I imagine that with a possible second and maybe even a third, it would be quite dramatic."
That got the matriarch's attention. "There are more?" she asked skeptically.
"There are always more asteroids," I replied evasively. "Maybe I know of them, maybe I don't. But the sale of this asteroid would guarantee first option to buy the next two as well. And just so you know, and these lovely ladies can confirm," I gestured to the Aleria and Ely behind me, "I found that one on my first try. I already have leads for more."
Tevos's eyes flickered to the ladies above me before looking back at me. She stared at me for a very long moment. I think a full two minutes passed where we just stared at each other. I could feel Ely starting to fidget a little.
"You know, I am trying to think of any reason why you would actually do this," Tevos finally said. "This seems very out of character to every human that I have come across. Most are not so… altruistic as this. I am trying to determine in what way you benefit. Why are you not trying to sell on the open market? Why have you not sold it to your own people?"
"Well, money, obviously" I replied bluntly. "A wealthy and motivated buyer is always something that every seller looks for. As for why I haven't sold it openly; tell you what. I am truly doing this for the sake of galactic stability. If you truly believe that the galaxy would be better if I sold it to someone else other than the Republics then you give me the word right now, Councillor Tevos, I will walk out that door," I gestured to the exit with a flick of my head, "and that asteroid will be up for auction to the highest bidder before the day is out. Is that what you think is best? Because I will do that this minute and stop wasting both of our time."
I waited a long minute. Tevos said nothing. I knew I had her then, and from her expression, she knew it too.
"That's what I thought," I said, keeping any gloating I felt from entering my voice. "As to your other question, I have no reason whatsoever to give the Systems Alliance a benefit if it causes a problem to the greater galaxy."
She cocked her head quizzically. "You are not a fan of your own government?"
I snorted. "You've met Ambassador Udina, I presume? If he is humanity's best representative, I can understand why the three big races don't have a high opinion of us."
A shadow of a smile flittered over Tevos's face. "I see," she said simply.
I let out a small sigh. "Councillor, the galaxy sits on a much more precarious balance than any of us would rather admit. Between Council space and the Terminus, between the conflicting economies, not to mention whatever the batarians and krogan are doing. Nothing is as stable as any of us would like things to be. Even as allies there are always competing interests between the Council races. It's true that I would likely get more than I will be offering you for the sale of this asteroid if I were to put it up for open auction. What matters more to me is that the balance of the galaxy as we know it is kept. I need the money that this asteroid will bring. There are a great many things that I plan to do with it; my business is depending on it. But I will take the slightly lesser value if it means that the galaxy stays stable for now."
Tevos stared at me, her look evaluating me. "It's not every day that I am taken by surprise, Mr Neilson," she said. "But you have managed to do that a few times today. I wonder how often you are likely to do so, if given the chance."
There wasn't anything to say to that so I sat there and waited for her to speak again.
"Many people view your race as young, ambitious and greedy," she continued after a moment. "Today, I think it is possible that you have shown me all three of those things. But you are willing to keep the balance of the galaxy as it is, to the benefit of the Republics. I can appreciate that."
She paused for a long moment. I stayed silent. "I think we can do business," she finally said softly.
I let a soft genuine smile of satisfaction out and bowed my head towards the councillor.
We spent the next twenty minutes or so discussing prices and logistics. It was agreed that asari would pay three percent above market value for unrefined eezo; market value for the eezo, the three percent as a price for exclusivity, meaning that I would keep the promise of offering them the next two eezo discoveries I found at market value. I was agreed that the money would be paid to me within two more days and I would remain on the Citadel under escort by someone of the councillor's choosing until they returned with verification of the asteroid, to make sure that I wasn't pulling a fast one on them. That was fine by me. I still had people to recruit and premises to acquire so I was only too happy to stick around and play ball. I had no intention of running once I had the money. Well, not in the way she thought I might run.
Finally the contracts were agreed on and signed. I kept a copy on my omni-tool and Tevos had one on her terminal. With a final thank you to Tevos, I bid her farewell and Ely, Aleria and I left the office.
I had to caution Aleria once as we were leaving. "Keep it together," I said out of the corner of my mouth as she looked like she was about to explode with excitement. "Wait until we are at a hotel or something."
As we passed the receptionist's desk we saw the receptionist that we saw the first asari aide, Maryssa, doing what looked like a handover with her replacement. She stopped and glared daggers at me when she saw us. Ely opened her omni-tool and did something. After a moment the public display flashed up with a screenshot of a drell that seemed to be plowing an asari. Interestingly, they both seemed to have human-norm genitalia. Is an azure just what they call a vagina? I wondered.
Maryssa's name was at the top of the screen, clearly from her terminal. The time stamp was about when we were walking in. I fought hard against the smile that threatened to give me away, and could see Aleria fighting one too. I had the feeling neither of us were that successful.
Finally we were escorted out of the Presidium and made our way to a random high quality hotel we had passed on our way in. We got up to the penthouse sweet when Ely and Aleria couldn't hold it in anymore. They burst out cheering and jumped all over the room in excitement.
"I can't believe you just did that! That was amazing!" Aleria exclaimed, hugging me tightly.
"Best boss ever!" Ely crowed, holding onto my elbow and shaking it with glee.
"Seriously! You just out-bargained a councillor!" Aleria jabbered on happily. She hopped up on her toes and pecked my cheek with a kiss. I looked at her and her cheeks flared a plum colour.
"I am glad you are happy ladies," I said, grinning openly with them. "You have no idea how satisfying that was." I let out a chuckle. "Or maybe you do, Ely, you sly little quarian! Nicely done on the porn, by the way." All three of us laughed out loud and it felt damn good.
"Alright. Ely, call Hectar and give him the good news. Then, I want you both to tell me how Tevos reacted as I walked around the room at the beginning. Tell me anything she did that looked out of the ordinary."
Another step accomplished.
…
Tevos watched the human lead his crew from her office. There were a lot of conflicting emotions and thought going on in her head right now. Frustration being the most prevalent of them, followed by confusion. Satisfaction for a well struck bargain wasn't even a contender for the top two.
She knew that she had done the right thing by the Republics in organising the purchase of that asteroid. The human was right after all. Damn him. She hadn't expected that; she had thought he was merely being dramatic and pushy which was one of the reasons that Jondum Bau had been there to evict them if it was a waste of her time. She didn't think he had been actually serious. It had let him dominate the conversation from start to finish. He had not seemed intimidated in the slightest. He had almost seemed as arrogant as that blasted batarian ambassador, if only far more civil and cultured in his approach. The man could have been a politician. He certainly would have been more entertaining than that blustering clown Udina.
Him finding out about Spectre Bau had been a nasty shock. She had expected to be able to have that as a trump card. She had no idea how he had known that. Only the Council, their bodyguards and the Spectres were supposed to know about that secret passageway. It was an escape route from her office in case of emergency. Someone must have talked. That was a security concern that needed to be addressed. Damn
What had confused her was that he had actually seemed completely genuine to keep the galaxy running as it was. That hadn't been an act, Tevos was sure. She had been a diplomat for more than two centuries. She knew when someone was being genuine. Brock Neilson had actually been doing what he thought was the best for the galaxy. And he had argued, bartered and bullied a councillor to get it done without fear. That, despite its apparent foolishness and the irritating fact that it had been her that had been the recipient, deserved respect. The fact that it only benefitted himself and the asari was just a bonus. While a cynical part of her mind told her that he was going to get the credits anyway, the fact was that he could have gone straight to the open market. Doing it this way would basically, as he said, keep the status quo. The Republics had more than enough to pay for it. It would barely be noticed on its own. She might have to do some creative credit juggling to pay for the other asteroids, if there were any more. Otherwise someone might notice the vast amounts of money being moved around and ask awkward question. Most likely that damned sneaky Valern.
In all honesty, the eezo itself wasn't the defining point of the argument. It was his comments about image and reliance. Had she allowed the element zero to go to any other race, especially enough to stop reliance on the Republics, then certain members of the Council of Matriarchs would call for her head. Especially as there was less and less eezo being pulled from the current mines. More mines were planned but there was always transition differences which resulted in lower production values. It could take another five years before things returned to normal.
Then there were the comments he made about the statue of Athame. Could he possibly know? No, she rejected that idea. He couldn't. It was the most important secret in the galaxy, the hidden prothean beacon. There was no way that any human would be allowed access to it. None of the priestesses would ever speak of it to an outsider. The list of matriarchs that knew of its existence was fewer than a hundred and they were all the strongest proponents for asari power in the galaxy. He couldn't possibly know about the beacon.
Still, she knew nothing about him. Spectre Bau's initial background checks had been clean and curiously blank. Something wasn't right. There were too many conflicting impressions of this human. She needed to know more.
She opened her omni-tool. "Spectre Bau, are you there?" she asked.
"Of course, Councillor Tevos," he replied immediately.
"Go back to Mr Neilson's background check. I think you missed something the first time. His profile that was passed on was nothing like the human I just met. There weren't enough details from that to draw a conclusion."
"Right away, Councillor."
She hung up and pressed her intercom. Saving the asari or not, a councillor's work never stopped.
…
