Chapter Seven: Sklērós
"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars." -Khalil Gibran
Several hours after leaving Rilo's corner, Martin had made his way to one of the commerce districts. The hum of the station gave way to the crowd of people coming and going each way. Martin took a deep breath as he looked upon the chaos of it all. He couldn't grasp why anyone would willingly want to live on this shit hole of a station. But that wasn't his problem; he'd get what he needed and be off to some other hellhole soon enough. Hopefully.
Martin opened his omni-tool to confirm the directions given to him before he landed on Omega. Of course, he was late, really late. But that didn't concern him; why would he have to give a damn about being late to some meeting. Hell, he wasn't even told who he would be meeting. He forced his way into the crowd, trying not to brush elbows with the civies, making momentary eye contact with a few as he passed them. He stopped in front of an old boarded-up storefront. The old storefront looked like a relic, with no way to see inside; the shutters were locked and graffitied. Faded advertisements were a testament to years gone by. He double-checked his Omni, confirming this was indeed the place.
The door slid open, creaking as it began its process, and Martin cautiously stepped inside the dimly lit interior, closing the door behind him. He glanced around, His eyes adjusting to the shadows that seemed to swallow the entire room. The mostly empty shelves and countertops were covered in about as much dust as to drown an infant.
"Well, this ain't exactly a five-star business," Martin quipped, his voice echoing faintly against the worn metal walls. The footsteps caught his attention as the figure emerged from one of the room's corners. It startled him enough for him to reach his hand towards his pistol. He hesitated as a silhouette of an Asari appeared before him. Her posture was rigid, arms crossed as she greeted him with a piercing gaze that seemed to strip away any friendly pretense.
"Martin Winters. You're late." She stated coolly, her voice carrying an edge of authority.
Martin grinned, undeterred by her icy demeanor; he remembered her: the no-personality Asari from Illium. "Fashionably late, I'd say. Keeps things interesting." He paused for a moment to judge her response, but her face went unmoved.
"So, You're the Omega welcoming committee? Thought there would be more of you."
Athria's expression was unchanged, her eyes boring into his with a particular scrutiny that made Martin shift uncomfortably. "I told you I would be your handler for this mission. However, because you can't seem to follow directions, I guess I'm going to be more involved in this than I want to be. The Initiative thinks you won't need my help, but I can see you're nothing but trouble."
Martin chuckled, though it sounded hollow even to his own ears. "Trouble? Me? You must have read something in the tabloids; I'm a ray of sunshine." Her stare intensified, and Martin felt the weight of her skepticism pressing down on him. "A wiseass with a wrap sheet full of terrorism, what the hell are we thinking; The Initiative may be eager to overlook your bullshit, but I'm not."
He shrugged, his smile fading slightly. "Fair enough, can't blame you for being cautious. I would be, too." He honestly didn't care. "But hey. Now we both get to go all in on the bounty, right?"
Athria's demeanor softened marginally, a flicker of annoyance crossing her features, "Don't mistake me for someone who cares about you or your sense of humor; just stick to the job and stay out of the way."
"Right, serious face, all business," Martin replied, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm not here to have fun, and we don't have much time," she retorted firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument.
Martin sighed, realizing he may have already pissed her off. "Yeah, fun's overrated anyways."
She unfolded her arms and finally dropped eye contact, which came as a relief. She stepped closer to him while raising her arm in front of her as the orange glow from her omni-tool illuminated the space around them.
"I've been monitoring reports from around the station, hoping to see if I could pin down the Quarian's location. But the equipment here is anything but reliable."
"Yeah," Martin said softly. "Welcome to Omega."
She brought her gaze back to his, pausing for a moment. "Since you were late, do you have any information?" Martin half smiled, thinking he may have done more work than this uptight desk jockey. "Somewhat, I know she met with another Quarian in the lower levels some time ago. Didn't tell me a why or destination, but she was there." She stayed quiet, her head still tilted down, but she looked up at him with her eyes as if judging him. He could feel her sight on him like pressure on his forehead. He tried to ignore it, keeping his sight locked on her Omni-tool.
"Yes," she paused, backing away slightly, lowering her arm. We should try to hack into the station's network. They may not have the Citadel's bio-tracking network, but they are bound to have something we could use." Martin leaned against the dusty wall and crossed his arms. Butting into her thoughts, "Or we could ask around." He suggested. Without hesitation, Athria's eyes widened as she raised both brows. "No, we shouldn't tip anyone off; that's exactly what we don't want to do." Her sudden reaction gave him pause; in his experience, unless someone had a reason to warn the Quarian, it wouldn't matter who they spoke to. Something didn't sit right with him.
"I'm sorry. Am I missing something here?" Martin questioned as he felt his face stiffen. Her body language shifted ever so slightly, less authoritative and more insecure. "Nothing that you need to know." she snapped back. "Fine," he replied, waving off the question. "So what's the plan?."
"I've heard rumors of an old security station in one of the wards. With any luck, I'll get what we need." Her voice softened from earlier, with a hint of pride.
"Sounds easy enough, what's the catch?" Athria let out a light, girly giggle. "You are going to the station and accessing their system." Martin pushed himself off the wall and brushed the dust off his clothes. "Alone? You obviously never read my file; I don't do well with computers." Athria moved towards the door before turning back around.
"Oh, that's right, the uneducated barbarian can't work a computer." She snarked with a demanding tone. "Don't worry too much. I'll be around to help you learn how to read." she pressed the door latch while turning around. The door creaked as it opened again, letting the sounds of the crowd outside reverberate through the room. He watched as she left the room, which left him filled with anger he hadn't felt in quite some time. "I'm gonna bury this bitch."
""""""""""
It took two hours for Martin to travel to the district Athria had instructed. He recognized some of the landmarks from before. "Blue Suns territory, great..." he unenthusiastically said under his breath. "Not like these assholes have a bounty out on me or anything." He had hoped that maybe they didn't know he was back on the station, or at least they knew now not to mess with him, considering just how many of them he had taken out. But Martin knew better. Organizations like the Blue Suns don't let grudges die out. He noted his surroundings as he headed to the security post through the district. Taking in possible exits if they were needed but doing so in a way that wouldn't make it seem obvious.
"Martin, you're getting close to the post. Try not to draw too much attention to yourself." Athria's voice echoed over his comm in his ear. Hired the wrong person for subtlety, he thought to himself. "How do you know where I am? How are you tracking me?" Martin questioned, although quietly trying not to draw attention to himself.
He heard a chuckle from the comm, "Oh, poor barbarian. I hacked your Omni-tool when you entered the storefront. You really shouldn't keep such personal... details unencrypted like this." Her voice carried an arrogant yet playful tone, ending with an airy seductive laugh as she ended the conversation. Martin's face soured as his steps began to take a more authoritative march. Maybe he couldn't take out his aggression on her quite yet, but he had a few ideas on a release.
Martin continued walking past the thinned-out crowd and the smells of the industrial works around him. He noticed that the Blue Suns' presence was few and far between—a good sign for sure. He just had to hope it stayed that way. He rounded a large intersection and saw the concourse in front of where the Security Post should be.
"Athria, this isn't a Security Post; this looks like a headquarters," Martin protested into his communications. There were about ten seconds of silence before the crackle of the radio sounded back. "Huh, would you look at that? They called it a post. Strange."
Martin waited again as the communications cut out.
"You didn't do any actual recon, did you?" Martin disdainfully questioned. "Hey! I didn't ask for your feedback, barbarian!" Her barking began to irritate him increasingly. His anger over her attitude was causing his hearing to fade into a singular, loud, ringing tone. He clenched his teeth and opened the comm; however, he paused momentarily and let go of the input.
Martin relaxed his face and took a breath before he disabled the comm and shut down his Omni-tool. "Fucking worthless little shit." He tried to shake off the anger before walking into the building. He hadn't a clue of what to do.
He walked past the two guards and headed for the front desk, where a short human woman with brown pulled-back hair stood. Her clothes gave the impression that this might be corporate headquarters or something. While the Blue Suns themselves didn't particularly give off the kind of corporate vibe, someone still needed to handle payroll for the thousands of employees working in the area.
"Welcome to Sonax Tower; how can we help you today?" The woman asked with a sickening corporate smile. Martin leaned on the desk and took just a second to formulate some kind of response. For once in his life, he felt nervous and could feel his hands slightly tremble.
"Yes, I'm looking for the Blue Suns office. I have a package to deliver to one of the reps; they asked that I deliver it in person." The woman paused for a moment, "Um, yes, their offices are on the twelfth floor. Just take the elevator up and take a right when you exit." Martin nodded as he backed off the counter. "Thank you."
Martin walked into the elevator and pressed the holographic interface. The doors shut, and he felt the elevator pull on his insides, giving him a moment of discomfort. He started to think that Athria was messing with him. She had to know that this wasn't a security station. How could someone have gotten this wrong? Either she was toying with him, or she was utterly incompetent. Neither answer gave him any comfort. The discomfort returned as the elevator slowed, and the pleasantly soft chime shook Martin of his train of thought. The doors opened, and Martin stepped out, following the receptionist's directions. He knew he needed a plan going forward, so he turned his omni-tool back on and swallowed his pride.
"I was wondering when you'd come back online." Athria's voice crackled over the comm. Martin kept walking, albeit slowly, trying to buy himself some time. "Listen, cut the crap; I'm on the twelfth floor of the Sonax building, about to walk into the offices. Where do I go? What do I do?" There was a long silence, which made him very uncomfortable, and he could not slow down any more than the pace he had set, or it would look suspicious to the two guards standing next to the doorway. Athria cracked back over the comms just as he walked past the two.
"Schematics show a security station at the back of the main office floor; you'll have to find out how to get there. Maybe a distraction of some kind." Athria's voice came back, sounding serious but yet helpful. The kind of tone he could follow, "Got it."
Martin traveled through the small maze of cubicles filled with the unconcerned masses that inhabited the large room, making his way to the back. Surprisingly, no one seemed to notice him, neither security nor the workers at their desks. He quickly reached the break room and saw two Human men and an Asari. "Pencil pushers," he thought.
Martin quickly reached for the coffee machine and began making himself a cup, hoping to fit in. He waited for the three to leave. He felt their eyes diverting to him in between their discussions. Martin hoped his presence would make them uncomfortable enough to go, and thankfully, they did before he was forced actually to drink the coffee.
He quickly set down the paper cup and opened one of the microwaves, removing an explosive grenade from his pocket. He quickly darted his head towards the open doorway, double-checking if the coast was clear. Martin activated the grenade, set it on a timer, and shut the door while walking away. He walked somewhat calmly to the security area and knocked on the metal door. His pulse was pumping, and his body was getting hot, but he was trying not to sweat.
The door slid open, and a bald human in blue armor answered the knock. "Can I help you?" The man grumbled. Martin's eyes were aimed at the floor and quickly scanned up to the man's face. His mind ran on overtime, trying to think of an excuse.
"Ah, There's a fight in the breakroom; thought you guys should-" Martin quickly yammered. "Fucking hell," the man snapped, raising his hand to his forehead. "John, Edward, I need you." Martin heard the other two jumped up from their chairs as the man started marching away.
Martin waited until he was out of sight and looked down at his hand as the door closed. "Shouldn't wear your ID card around your hips. Easy for pickpockets." He smiled as he scanned himself into the door.
Martin rushed inside and closed the blinds to the room and locked down the door. "Athria, I'm in, what do I do?"
"Ah, got in faster than I expected." The comm cracked back.
"Listen, we don't have much time!" Martin's uneasiness was turning into an adrenaline rush. "Put your hand over the console." Martin reached out with his right hand. "NO! The one with the Omni-tool!" She barked.
"Shit!" He quickly switched hands. His Omni-tool activated, the glowing orange light around his arm opened, and the computer in front of him began flashing, then stabilized to show unreadable code whizzing across the display. "Twenty seconds." Athria chimed in. Martin Drew his pistol to the door; time was almost up.
Boom*. The loud explosion rocked the small room, flickering the lights. "Fuck."
"What was that?" Athria asked with a slight mix of concern and anger.
"Um, my distraction." As he finished his response, the fire alarms began to scream, and what sounded like rain began to rattle.
"Goddess, you are stupid!" Martin could tell she was probably pissed, but he was more concerned with the door. His Omni-tool flickered off, "Done! Now get your ass out of there!" She barked at him.
Martin re-holstered his pistol and opened the door to a scene of chaos. The fire suppression system was raining water from the ceiling as the mass people fled the room, trampling each other to escape. "Probably should have used a flashbang," Martin said quietly. He quickly joined the panicked crowd.