Bribery: (n.) invisible grease that makes politics go round and round. – Sol Luckman, The Angel's Dictionary

Ài – [愛 – love] (whether spoken by Xiùlán or Samantha, the meaning is 'Luv')]
ARC – Alliance military slang for Arcturus Station
Kaffe – equatorial Thessian vine, the seeds of which are used to produce a non-alcoholic beverage of the
· · · · · · same name, the taste described as a mix of coffee and chocolate. (Thessian/Source: CDN)
Qīn'ài de – [亲爱的 – Darling]
Qīzi– [妻子– wife]
Tiánxīn – [甜心 – Sweetheart]

• SYSTEMS ALLIANCE BASE, VANCOUVER, BC · EARTH, SOL SYSTEM •
⸰ Wednesday, 10 July 2222-CE ⸰

As much as I did not wish to leave my Qīzi, I had agreed to take on another financial accounting job, this time with a consortium of exclusive banks, so was making ready to leave our comfortable domicile within the Systems Alliance base in Vancouver, BC. I had fixed a bit of lunch for myself and was half-listening to the midday news on ANN when I heard a name that focused my undivided attention on the receiver downloading the satellite signal.

After listening to the entire report by ANN reporter Iris Dunnigan, I sent a text to Xiùlán, who was next door in her office, then finished my lunch. While I waited for her, I did a quick Extranet search for Dominic Osoba; my inquiry brought up a plethora of articles concerning the former ambassador and councilor, virtually all of them unflattering. I didn't have to explore too far to find a print article that mirrored what I'd just heard on the satellite receiver. I rose from my chair and turned to greet my Qīzi as she entered our apartment from her office suite's rear door.

In response to her unvoiced question, I hugged and kissed her; pushing back slightly, I smirked as I announced, "His appeal was denied, Qīn'ài de! Osoba's original eighty-five year prison sentence, along with having to forfeit nearly one-point-nine million credits, is going to be carried out as specified by the trial judge's decision." At the look of astonishment on her face, I added, "A pair of MPs has been dispatched to escort him from his cushy quarters off-base to the temporary lockup here; first thing tomorrow morning, he'll be boarding a shuttle bound for Arcturus Prison."

Xiùlán sat in one of the chairs beside our small dining table. "That's astonishing, Sà mi! I thought for sure he'd manage to slither his way out of having to relocate to the ARC!" She shook her head slightly before saying, "I think that's cause for celebration!"

"Agreed." I poured us each a measure of the exquisite single malt she'd received as a gift from Spectre Shepard and Liara T'Soni, upon her promotion to the rank of Admiral.

Touching the rim of my glass to hers, I declared, "To justice! Long delayed, finally done!" After downing the whisky, I said, "I need to be on my way, Tiánxīn." I took her glass and, after placing it in the sink with mine, turned back to find myself engulfed in a loving pair of muscular arms.

"Ào suǒ bā réngrán shì yītiáo shé, wǒ de àirén, dàn zhìshǎo tā huì zài jiē xiàlái de 85 nián lǐ bèi suǒ qǐlái." [奧索巴仍然是一條蛇，我的愛人，但至少他會在接下來的 85 年裡被鎖起來。– Osoba is still a snake, my love, but at least he will be locked up for the next 85 years.] She pulled back slightly to lovingly gaze into my eyes. "I know I don't have to say this, but … please be careful out there, Sà mi. Come home to me safe, wǒ de bǎobèi." [我的寶貝 – my darling]

"I'll be home before you have a chance to miss me, Tiánxīn! Wǒ yǒngyuǎn ài nǐ!" [我永遠愛你！– I love you forever!]

• AHN'KAHAR STATION, STRENUUS SYSTEM · HORSEHEAD NEBULA •
⸰ Sunday, 11 August 2222-CE · · · Approximately Seven Months After General Joesiar's Arrest ⸰

Chinami'Taelas paused in the doorway to Buchanan's office and waited for a few moments; Buchanan finally shifted his attention from the datapad he was studying to the young quarian and said, "Come in, Chinami. Tell me what you've discovered."

Grinning, she moved to sit in the chair beside him and said, "The general has amassed far more creds than should be possible on his Alliance salary, Griff … even the income from his many investments cannot account for his vast wealth." Indicating the terminal on his desk with a wave of her hand, she asked, "May I?"

Buchanan quickly saved his own research notes, cleared the screen and replied, "Be my guest."

Chinami deftly logged into her assigned server and brought up the results of her many hours of mind-numbing research. "The general's wealth was being regularly supplemented by payments from an unknown benefactor … payments that came to an abrupt end nearly thirty-five years ago, right at the conclusion of the war." Turning slightly in her chair, she spoke in a near whisper. "The creds were actually bribes, received on an irregular schedule to avoid undue attention."

Her voice rose slightly, in pitch and volume, as she continued. "It was Cerberus, Griff—the Illusive Man himself!—paying for inside information on everything, from troop movements to fleet strength and deployments. It's the main reason the bosh'tet was able to abandon Cronos Station and get totally clear of the Anadius system, mere hours before the Alliance began their assault."

"General Joesiar, along with others among the top brass—the two Traynor brought down not even beginning to scratch the surface—was keeping Jack Harper informed about everything the Alliance was doing, not only before the Reaper invasion, but during the entire war."

Buchanan chuckled. "I would never fault her for leaving us, but it would seem our Miss Traynor left her research post before completing everything. She did manage to take Garrett Sutton down, and her persistence paid off with the Alliance reclaiming a portion of Admiral Owen Fletcher's estate … who had also amassed a small fortune—what he didn't gamble away, of course—before he chose to eat a bullet." He shook his head slightly while continuing, "I guarantee you that, had she known, she would have stayed long enough to bring this general down as well, particularly because of her run-ins with his miserable excuse of a nephew just prior to the war's beginning."

"Just how many more of them are there, Griff? Is every member of the Alliance top brass corrupt?"

He responded in a voice sounding just a bit forlorn. "I honestly don't know, Chinami; what I do know is just how appalling it is that humans seem to be so easily tempted by illicit credits or corrupted by even the slightest hint of illegal influence over others." With another slight shake of his head, he concluded, "I have absolutely no doubt that General RaeLee Park is as honest as the day is long, and Admiral Yuán Xiùlán is totally incapable of any kind of deceit. Hell, Sammy was forced to leave us, because her work here as the Shadow Broker—the most wanted criminal in Alliance space—caused a massive conflict of interest for Yuán's position in the Navy."

The quarian shrugged her shoulders as she admitted, "Regrettably, unlike Sammy, I have been unable to uncover any vid-comm records of Harper speaking with this general. What I do have are the financials, listing each of the illicit deposits made to the general's accounts during the months Spectre Shepard was working to stop Collector attacks on human colonies, and during the run-up to the start of the Reaper invasion. Unfortunately, commercial records from the months during and immediately after the war are still in somewhat of a shambles. I have misgivings at being able to find definite, undeniable proof of the general's unprincipled actions. He has been careful, Griff … extraordinarily so."

"I don't believe anyone can make an illegal living without making mistakes." Griff's expression was somber. "There are literally dozens of ways to track credits, especially for someone in the general's position. Hell, couple hundred years ago, people that didn't wish to be found would simply throw their hands up in frustration, say 'to hell with it!', and move 'off the grid', as they called it."

Griff chuckled as he continued, "Moving into the wilderness certainly had a few advantages, but a person still needed to purchase basic necessities – stuff they could not make for themselves. Those transactions were almost always done using cash." At her questioning look, he added, "Currency. Coins. Local governments always discouraged their citizens from using cash, as credit chits could be tracked much more easily."

Chinami nodded in agreement. "Understood, but purchasing those necessities still leaves a credit trail, even if it is strictly cash. Using a credit chit doubly damns you, since your payment to the chit's issuer can be traced back to you."

"People are inventive, Chinami. There have been all kinds of schemes concocted to hide money trails." He paused briefly before continuing. "Actually, the only proof we need to bring General Brad down is the trail of credits from his bank accounts to that of his nephew; the general probably doesn't even realize the credits he provided to Jay-Jay for living expenses just might be construed as having been used to purchase the M-98a Black Widow he employed against Admiral Yuan."

"That proof, buried as it may be, is still out there, Griff." With a heavy sigh, Chinami raised her hands up even with her shoulders and just as quickly dropped them in her irritation. "I'll keep searching … something will turn up; I just know it! I only hope it's sooner, rather than later."

• AHN'KAHAR STATION, STRENUUS SYSTEM · HORSEHEAD NEBULA •
⸰ Tuesday, 11 March 2223-CE · · · About 12 Months After General Joesiar's Arrest ⸰

Chinami'Taelas looked up as Oriana strolled into the compartment and stepped up beside her. "Hi, Chinami. Making any progress on your search?"

The quarian grinned with her reply to her friend. "I believe I've discovered—as you humans like to say—a smoking gun. Do you remember the general's aide de camp … Alliance Navy Lieutenant Joshua Fessenden? He's been doing a lot of banking for his boss these past ten or eleven months. During that time, the three largest, oldest accounts set up in the general's name have been slowly drained of funds, to the point there are virtually no credits left in any of them."

She smirked as she added, "Those creds didn't just vanish into space … they were deposited in newly created accounts in a couple of banks: Elysium Financial Services, out in the Vetus System, and another on Illium, of all places … Azure Holdings Inc.; the funds are split in a nearly fifty-fifty ratio between the two institutions."

Oriana's jaw dropped momentarily at Chinami's report; recovering from her surprise, she queried, "Is there any way for us to get at those funds … or at least obtain the records of the deposits?"

"Lieutenant Fessenden chose each institution specifically for its security from electronic intrusion or theft, Ori." With a mock grumpy chuckle, she added, "However, I have learned there may be an electronic backdoor, unknown even to the heads of security of each bank, that will allow access to those accounts; they were set up without the banks' knowledge, so as to permit the security consultant hired by those banks the ability to get into any account." Snarky expression firmly in place, she whispered, "Care to guess the identity of that consultant?"

Oriana plopped into the chair beside the quarian; an increasing expression of astonishment on her face accompanying her question. "Really!? You're telling me that consultant was Samantha Traynor? … for both locations?"

Chinami nodded in agreement with her reply. "That's exactly what I'm telling you, Ori … and really … why should that surprise you? We both know how adept Sammy is with anything having to do with computers, smart circuits and electronics in general." Chinami paused for several moments before concluding with, "Question is, how can we exploit this to our advantage?"

Ori chuckled with her reply. "I expect that, if she's provided with all the facts before we ask for her assistance, she'll leap at the opportunity. Jay-Jay was a major pain in her ass during her early years in the Navy. The little bastard attempted to kill her lover and future wife on several occasions, and he …" at this point Oriana's eyes unexpectedly filled with tears. She looked down at her hands, clenched tightly into fists, gulped down the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat and, with her voice hitching at the horrific knowledge, looked back up and continued in a halting manner, "… he captured my sister in Vancouver, on Earth … right after the war. He chemically blocked her biotics … used her for a punching bag … brutalized her … did unspeakable things to her … things no woman … no female, of any race, should ever be subjected to!"

Chinami's eyes went wide upon learning this unwelcome bit of history. "Keelah! How did she manage to get away from him?"

Wiping her eyes with one hand, she explained in a shaky voice, "Sammy's wife, Yuán Xiùlán, the XO on the SSV Hong Kong II at the time, rescued her … got her to safety aboard the frigate, then transferred her to Huerta Memorial for treatment. So, I really cannot imagine Sammy passing up an opportunity to exact retribution … some form of payment, from Jason's vile uncle."

Chinami tentatively placed a hand on Oriana's knee. "I am so sorry, Ori."

Oriana continued speaking softly, in a voice reflecting infinite sadness. "Miranda's unaware that I know about what happened to her back then, Chinami; I'd really appreciate it if you did not mention this, if and when you meet her. Miri doesn't talk about it … didn't even tell me about it. Griff shared the info from the non-public court records of Joesiar's original trial, back in 2188." Tears continued to trickle down Ori's cheeks on either side of her nose. "I expect she'd be mortified to learn that I know of all the horrors that were inflicted on her."

"You have my word, Oriana. It is not my story to share, with anyone."

After coughing in order to clear her throat, she requested, "Compile all the data you've discovered concerning the original accounts — who was receiving the illicit funds, and who was contributing. Once Sammy has that information, she should be able to track down the various sources."

"Consider it done, Ori," came the smiling response.

• SYSTEMS ALLIANCE BASE, VANCOUVER, BC · EARTH, SOL SYSTEM •
⸰ Thursday, 13 March 2223-CE ⸰

I had just terminated the ANN news feed I had been half-listening to and, after standing and stretching, was intent on joining my Qīzi for a private breakfast in our quarters; the electronic trill announcing an incoming call halted me in my tracks. Retaking my seat in front of the comms terminal, I eagerly keyed the ACCEPT control upon identifying the source of the call. As a pair of images resolved themselves on my monitor, I happily greeted two of my dearest friends. "Griff! Chinami! To what do I owe the pleasure? I don't remember having recently sent any inquiries to your attention."

My quarian friend responded first; her lilting voice colored by a somewhat mocking tone, she asked, "Does each call we make to you have to serve as a data exchange, Sammy?"

I chuckled lightly with my response. "I might have expected a call next week on my birthday. The twenty-first of the month will be sixty-five years since my birth on the colony world of Horizon."

Griff chimed in with a snarky laugh. "Damn, Traynor! You don't look a day over sixty! Being married to an admiral must be really good for your health!"

"I don't know, Griff. We only just managed to prevent an assassin from completing his vendetta two-and-a-half years ago; to this day I'm continuously looking over my shoulders, even with Jay-Jay occupying a small cell in Arcturus Prison." I paused for a couple of moments, then continued with an unhappy sigh, "There's been too damn many attempts on Xiùlán's life—admittedly, all by that same, revoltingly vile little dung-ball—over the past three-and-a-half decades, for me to ever be able to completely relax."

"That's partially the reason we've contacted you, Sammy." Chinami glanced down for several moments; returning her attention to my image on her monitor, she continued, "I've just sent you copies of all the financial data I've been able to compile on General Brad … should go a long way towards getting a conviction for accepting and paying bribes over the years. Of more interest to you, there are also records of the money trail … records that prove, among other things, he unknowingly financed the illegal acquisition of the M-98a his nephew used in the attempt on Xiùlán's life."

This brought a smile to my face. "If we can find proof he knew what those funds were going to be used for, that alone would be enough to obtain a conviction for being an accessory before the fact in the attempted murder of Xiùlán, Chinami … well done!" My praise brought a slight flush of embarrassed pride to the face of my quarian friend. Taking a quick glance at the quantity of data contained in the files I'd just received brought a happy smile to my own face. "You did an outstanding job … both of you. Please pass on my thanks to Oriana as well, Griff; I feel sure she was involved in this job every bit as much as the two of you."

"Thank you, Sammy. I will be sure to pass that on." He cocked his head as he made ready to terminate the connection. "Stay safe, Sammy … and please keep Xiùlán safe as well. You need any other assistance, give us a call." He waved as their images pixelated and faded from view.

Xiùlán was admonishing me as I entered our dining area. "Nǐ de zǎocān kuài liángle, qīn'ài de. Guòlái hé wǒ yīqǐ zuò ba. [你的早餐快涼了，親愛的。過來和我一起坐吧。– Your breakfast is growing cold, my love. Come sit with me.] What took so much time? You're usually out here before me," she added with a loving smile.

"I spent a few minutes listening to the news, then got a call from Chinami and Griff." Xiùlán's happy expression dimmed somewhat upon hearing those names.

"Why did they call, Ài? Are they still researching the pervasive corruption among the Alliance military's senior officers?"

"Basically, yeah – but focused primarily on one person in particular." Activating my omnitool, I pulled up that portion of the data pertaining to General Brad. "For one thing, they discovered the trail of credits that provide irrefutable proof that the general unknowingly funded his nephew's purchase of the rifle used in the attempt to end your life, Qīn'ài de."

"That's amazing, Tiánxīn! So, what's the matter?" She looked a bit puzzled. "The expression on your face tells me you're less than happy about this result."

"Just having the credit trail doesn't prove intent. Unless an audio recording or vid-file can be found in which Jay-Jay specifically requests the credits for the purchase of that rifle, we have nothing," I scoffed. "It'd be beyond simple for a slick-ass lawyer to convince a jury that Brad simply transferred those credits to pay for his nephew's living expenses on the Citadel." Leaning back in my chair, I took a sip of coffee, then gazed at Xiùlán over the rim of the mug. "That he bought an M-98a—a weapon he was prohibited from owning due to the requirements specified in his pardon—is something about which the general probably had no knowledge of, nor control over … proving him as an accessory before the fact is dependent upon that very issue."

A mirthless chuckle accompanied Xiùlán's observation of, "Looks as if the Shadow Broker wasted a lot of time and energy producing data that cannot be used against General Joesiar."

I shook my head once as I replied, "Somehow, when you say it out loud? The results sound so much worse." I took the final couple of sips from my mug, set it down on the table and added, "Unfortunately, there's more. Brad had virtually all of his assets deposited in three accounts he'd set up decades ago. All three have been slowly drained of funds during the past eleven or twelve months by his aide-de-camp, Navy Lieutenant Joshua Fessenden; he deposited the funds equally in two rather exclusive banks: Elysium Financial Services, out in the Vetus System, and another on Illium, of all places … Azure Holdings, Inc.—but, only after running those funds through specially set up accounts in five other institutions. As each of those accounts was emptied, he closed them."

"Sounds like a lot of extra paperwork, Sà mi. And I have not heard of either of these so-called exclusive banks … what's so special about them?"

I replied with a snicker, "Lieutenant Fessenden chose each institution explicitly for the security they provide against electronic intrusion or theft. Unfortunately for the lieutenant, he is unaware that the security consultant hired by their corporate headquarters just last year to make each of those places electronically impregnable can access an electronic backdoor for every one of each banks' accounts." By this time, a sly smile had eked its way onto my face. "A backdoor that's only accessible by yours truly."

As I was speaking, the corners of Xiùlán's mouth had gradually tipped up to form a snarky grin. "You're telling me you're the only person possessing backdoor access to each of those banks? Wait! You're not planning … ?"

I held up a hand to forestall the protest I could see coming. "You're gonna hurt my feelings, tiánxīn! You're thinking I intend to pinch those funds? Furthest thing from my mind!" I frowned as I shook my head slightly. "What I am going to do is obtain copies of the deposit records from the time those accounts were opened … then I'll obtain the records of all the other deposits and withdrawals made among the other five banks the lieutenant was using."

"Will that be enough, Sà mi? The JAG won't begin proceedings unless their case against the general is absolutely airtight."

I shook my head slightly as I admitted, "Honestly? I don't know." While we'd talked, I'd been eating my breakfast when a thought struck me. "There may be one other path of inquiry open to me." Finishing the last of my breakfast, I said, "I'm going to re-board Iringù-Eßizkur and do a deep-dive into the treasure trove of data Garrus and Liara downloaded from Cronos Station."

"That station destroyed by the Alliance near the end of the Reaper War, was it not?"

I replied, "Yes … mostly. The critical sections—those that contained the primary data storage banks—were still intact, and still in orbit around Anadius. I don't believe more than a third of the data downloaded by T'Soni has ever been inspected … I'm hoping I'll be able to find some tangible evidence of Harper's collusion with General Brad. There's probably more in there than I can imagine, but if I'm able to uncover anything that can be used against the general, I'll copy it to an OSD, then talk to former Spectre Shepard." I looked down at the floor for several moments as I thought of what I needed to do; returning my gaze to the sable-brown eyes of my Qīzi, I concluded, "I'm certain she'll be willing to recommend an asari or a salarian Spectre willing to submit our proof."

Xiùlán smirked as she asked, "Should I wait up for you tonight?"

I laughed at the snarky expression on her face as I replied, "No need. I'll have Irin jump into a geo-sync orbit overhead. It'll be nice and quiet for the research I need to accomplish. I'm hoping to find what we need in less than a day, but we'll see." I stood from the table, placed a chaste kiss on her cheek and whispered, "Everything I need to spend a few nights as Irin's guest is already inside 'er. I'll grab my backpack and get going. Wǒ ài nǐ!" [我愛你！- I love you!]

• INSIDE IRINGÙ-EẞIZKUR, IN GEOSYNC ORBIT · EARTH, SOL SYSTEM •
 ⸰ Friday, 14 March 2223-CE ⸰

By the time I'd boarded Iringù-Eßizkur and she'd achieved a stable orbit above Vancouver, it was late afternoon. I'd done a bit of preliminary research in the Illusive Man's records, but the amount of data I needed to plough through was massive; even during my short stint as the Shadow Broker, I'd only managed to turn over less than a sixteenth of what was stored on Irin's isolated server.

"I don't believe I ever realized just how many petabytes of data T'Soni recovered from Harper's private servers, Irin, and I'm surprised you haven't complained about your servers being overtaxed! Just how much storage capacity do you have?"

»I do not feel that my servers are overtaxed, Friend-Samantha. By your method of measurement, I have a total capacity exceeding many thousands of your zettabytes. The space occupied by the data containing the Illusive Man's records is only a small fraction of my total capacity.«

"That's good to know, Irin." I pulled up the master file containing everything from Cerberus' headquarters and began to methodically work my way through the sub-folders; I was hampered by the lack of descriptive file-folder names, meaning I had to open each one I looked at in order to see what was contained within.

I was getting ready to throw up my hands for the day when Irin spoke up: »What data are you searching for, Friend-Samantha? Perhaps I may be of assistance?«

"I'm looking for any and all communications between General Bradley Joesiar and the Illusive Man … that is, Jack Harper, the leader of Cerberus. If you would, please search back in time, from the date of Harper's death on the Citadel."

»That would be the termination of our harvest, correct? The end of your war with my brethren?«

I laughed with my response. "That is correct, Irin. Jack Harper was the primary point of contact within Cerberus. Unfortunately, once he succeeded in compromising a person, he never stopped demanding information. Yes, he was paying them, but he wouldn't allow them to simply cut ties and flee. The very few that attempted to do so were never seen again." I paused as I thought about Harper's cruelty.

"Rumor has it they were kidnapped, bound and brought before him. If they could not be dissuaded from leaving, they were loaded onto a spring-loaded platform inside a twelve-meter long, one-meter diameter polymer tube." I shook my head as I recounted their fate. "The muzzle of the tube was pointed at Anadius; the latches holding the springs compressed under the platform were triggered, and the unfortunate person inside was propelled like a high-speed bullet out the end of the tube … through the kinetic barrier … off the station and into deep space, with a trajectory that insured they'd enter the star's outer atmosphere."

»I did not realize he was such an unpleasant human. It is probably a good thing he is now part of the cosmos.«

"Agreed, Irin. Anyway, if you can perform that search, I'd really appreciate it."

»Search is complete, Friend-Samantha. All pertinent data has been copied into a new file under the heading 'HARPER/JOESIAR'; it has been placed in your personal server for easy reference.«

"Really? You searched through all those bloody files and found every mention of Bradley Joesiar?"

»Is that really so surprising, Friend-Samantha?«

"Considering we were discussing the storage capacity of your servers, it actually is," I exclaimed as I moved to sit in front of my workstation. I quickly found and opened the file; after a hasty scan through the contents, I leaned back in my chair and quietly observed, "This is … absolutely amazing, Iringù-Eßizkur! You've eliminated most of the drudgery of doing this research. How did you know to cross-reference the corresponding deposits of creds with the vids of the Illusive Man speaking with General Brad?"

»It seemed like the most efficient use of my time, Friend-Samantha. I've learned so much from you and Buchanan-Griffen about data research during the many years we've been together.«

I was a bit stunned at how simple Irin made it all seem; she had even cross-referenced multiple deposits of creds tied to a single video conference; it also appeared there were instances where a single deposit would have been so large as to attract unwelcome attention from the division of the Financial Regulation Commission overseeing bank transactions. When necessary, Harper had the disbursements broken down into multiple, 'under the threshold' payments in random amounts to avoid arousing suspicions.

I sorted through the pre-war vids until I found the very first instance—March, 2175—of General Brad agreeing to provide Cerberus with sensitive information, such as Navy fleet strength and warship deployment locations, along with fleet and ground assignments for the various Marine platoons, squads and fire teams assigned to the southwest NorthAm continent. First payment was rather conservative, I mused. Must have wanted to see if the general could become a serious asset.

As I worked my way through the records from oldest-to-most recent, I noticed the payment amounts after each 'discussion' were regularly increasing, until Cerberus was forced to break the payments into two, sometimes even three random amounts, that totaled what appeared to be a rather significant sum of credits. By 2182, the general's monthly compensation from Cerberus was nearly equal to the rather substantial monthly paycheck he received from the Alliance.

"Irin, are there any Shadow Broker records prior to 2188 stored in your servers?"

»There is an abundance of records, all uploaded from the Normandy by Liara T'Soni, after she transferred her base of operations from the former Broker's vessel over Hagalaz.«

"She copied all her records to your servers? Why didn't she tell me?"

»Unknown. Perhaps she believed you would discover everything on your own.«

I thought about her reply as I did a cursory search of the files sitting in Iringù-Eßizkur's isolated server. "It would appear that records of Harper's entire tenure as The Illusive Man are stored here, Irin." Looking a bit more, I added, "Unfortunately, it seems that many of these files are duplicates of the data already stored here." After taking a few moments to think about the problem, I asked, "Irin … would it be possible for you to organize, consolidate and merge all of these files in order to eliminate all the duplication?"

»I can easily perform that task, Friend Samantha. It will be complete by morning.«

"Okay, Irin … set back down at the base. I'll spend the night sleeping with my tiánxīn, then rejoin you in the morning. I want to take a look at the vids of Harper and General Brad … pick two or three of the most egregious examples of the general's corruption to hand over to the JAG. I'll contact former Spectre Shepard in the morning … ask her for a recommendation on a Spectre—preferably an asari—that'd be willing to present the proof; me giving it to them would raise too many questions, particularly relating to how I came to be in possession of the data in the first place."

• SYSTEMS ALLIANCE BASE, VANCOUVER, BC · EARTH, SOL SYSTEM •
⸰ Late Friday Evening, 14 March 2223-CE ⸰

"Sà mi? I thought you'd be spending the night inside Iringù-Eßizkur!" Xiùlán exclaimed, obviously surprised to see me home. "Were you unable to find the evidence you were searching for?"

I set my backpack down beside the door before moving to embrace her. "I actually found a huge amount of data, qīn'ài de—more than enough," I quietly said, "But I need to go through it all … inspect and extract the records pertaining to the Illusive Man providing credits to the general for information." After thoroughly kissing her, I pushed back, saying, "I'm really knackered, darling. I'm gonna take a quick shower and crawl into bed."

"Of course, Sà mi. Would you like some tea, or maybe some Kaffe after your shower?"

"A cup of tea sounds nice, Ài." I planted a tiny kiss on her cheek before moving to our bedroom.

It was nearly 2230; rather than rushing through my shower, I had taken my time, reveling in the sensations of a warm, misty spray cascading over and down my body. After toweling my skin and hair dry, I'd pulled on a sleep-shirt with matching short-pants. Strolling into the kitchen, I thanked my qīn'ài de qīzi [親愛的妻子 - dear wife] as she handed me a steeping hot mug of tea. Sighing appreciatively upon carefully taking a couple of sips of the fragrant liquid, I followed her example by pulling out a chair and sitting at the small table.

"Looks as if you feel a bit better after your shower, Sà mi." She sipped from her own mug, then asked, "You said you found a huge amount of data … care to tell me what you discovered?"

With a small chuckle, I replied, "The Illusive Man may just as well have been stationed at the main headquarters on the east coast, Xiùlán. He wielded influence over a right fair number of Alliance Naval and Marine officers, along with a number of people in the British forces during the war." I sipped my tea as I thought about those times.

With an expression of concern etched on her face, she said, "Surely, you don't mean to go after all of them. That would make me complicit in your …"

Holding up a hand to interrupt her thought, I said, "Won't be a problem, zuì qīn'ài de. [最親愛的 - dearest] Trust me … I don't have enough surplus energy or spare time to be a part-time Shadow Broker. I'm sure many of those involved are long since dead, and most that remain alive have retired from the armed forces to either work in the private sector or simply put their feet up and kick back." With a smirk, I added, "After I've gone through all the data, the Broker will be receiving a large data file. He employs a lot of agents that excel at doing the leg work required to confirm or disprove the current involvement of those people in any criminal activity."

Xiùlán's concerned expression had morphed into one of guarded happiness. "So, you're actually not going to armor up and go looking for trouble?"

"Oh, I'll be armored up, same as every time I venture groundside. It's just, I don't go looking for trouble, Admiral – I'm kinda like Captain Shepard, in that it somehow always manages to find me."