章節 73: 73
Citadel. Customs House. Legate.
- Listen to me, if you had a bag of these papers, I wouldn't let you through," the woman yelled in the face of the Vork sergeant. Behind the sergeant was half of the Normandy's crew. Holy shit, that's why I'm being punished at Citadel Customs. God's punishment, that's for sure.
- Listen, you female! Here are my papers; here are my boys' papers. - The vorka was outraged, almost spitting in that girl's face.
- I won't accept this fake and let you stupid animals into the Citadel.
- Stupid animals!?" the sergeant said indignantly, "You have to prove it!
- You're a thief. That says it all." said the woman, but the sergeant was almost at the end of his tether.
- So you're a racist on top of that? What the hell is that? From a legal point of view, explain to me why my boys and I can't go to the Citadel? - The poor sergeant's sense of adequacy kicked in, and decided to go by the law.
- I don't have to explain anything to you. You need to get through!
- So, what's going on here? I approached them and decided to join them. After all, the Vorka deserve a rest.
- And who the hell are you?" the angry girl indignantly said.
- The X.O. of the ship these Vorka are crewed on. Now will you explain why you won't let the Vorka through customs?
- Crew? Since when did the Citadel become a refugee haven?
- Actually, they're technicians and dispatchers. What makes you think they're refugees? I started to explain.
- "Dispatchers?" suddenly, out of nowhere, came the voice of a turian with the insignia of a sergeant. Well, it's equivalent. Are you sick of living?
- To whom do I have the honour of speaking? I asked.
- Sergeant SSC Ectus Varkol.
- Sarterus Ractos, XO of the frigate Normandy," I replied.
- That's right. Then would you explain why you're trying to sneak these Vorks onto the Citadel?" asked Ectus indignantly.
- They're the ship's crew. Dispatchers, maintenance staff, two of them over there, two koks...
- Cocks? What are you even thinking, trusting these animals to cook food!?
- Please! Don't insult the crew! But we'll go your way since I don't want to fight with you. Find me any code, charter, order, agreement, warrant or anything else that says no Vork are allowed on the Citadel, and we'll all return to the ship in peace. If not, the S.B.C. will be in big trouble with the press on charges of racism. And you know, considering you're a turian, it would be very amusing if the word vorka was replaced by the word, er, well, human.
- Oh, man.
- Come on, tell me something." I said, glaring defiantly at my vorka. They all had their units on and were filming us. Poor Ectus stared for a few seconds at seeing 30 glowing units set in camera mode and then still turned to me.
- I'll find it. And when I do, your Vorka will never leave the ship again," he hissed in my face.
- Deal," I said, and Ectus went to the girl who started it all to find something about the Vorka. Come on, come on, try. I read the whole thing cover to cover three hours ago.
****
Citadel. Level 28. Shepard.
The three of us walked through the level just to see how different the place was. I'd never been here before, though. Honestly, it was nice enough.
- Shepherd? Shepherd! How is that possible? Do you want to waste press time? No. No! Not that son of a bitch! God, why do you hate me so much! Shit, I'm gonna have to answer that, cos she's gonna be watching. Okay, maybe she's changed. After the five teeth, I was knocked out. Yeah, people do change after that.
When I approached this... journalist, I stood in front of her. Behind her was her ubiquitous flying camera. Is it new, or if she fixes the one I knocked her teeth out with?
- Captain Shepard. Calissa Bint Sinan Al-Jilani. "Westerland News, she said hello. It's a voice I know. It's deceptive.
- Ah, there's our Al-Qaeda spawn. I see medicine works wonders. I caustically recalled the incident.
- I could say the same for you, Captain. For a dead woman, you look pretty good. I'd like to ask you a few questions.
- Knowing you, I'd rather drink a litre of krogan rincol in one gulp, but I'm afraid you'll shoot me drunk, so I'd rather talk to you sober. Come on.- she responded by switching on the camera, which immediately flashed into my face, and from behind me, I heard Liara and Tali step out of the frame.
- We know from reliable sources that the Alliance demanded that you hand over the geth you were tasked with capturing for the Council. Is that true?
- Williams, you bitch, I'll bury you," I whispered, looking away from the camera, "Yes, it's true.
- Why didn't you give the Geth to the Alliance? Are you more loyal to the Council than you are to humanity?" I clenched my fists involuntarily, and Calissa noticed it and stepped back. However, I allowed her to correct herself later, so I decided to answer.
- Sometimes, the Alliance needs to be protected from themselves. If I gave the Alliance the geth, it would mean the failure of my first mission as a SPECTRE. It would have resulted in my expulsion from the Special Forces and, worse, a clear undermining of the Council's trust in the Alliance. So that's something I don't regret.
- Is it true that the geth could escape the same day the Alliance ordered you to give up the geth? - Well, that's better.
- First of all, the Alliance couldn't have ordered me to do that. It's in the SPECTRE charter. I suggest you read it. Secondly. Well, how can I put this? The makers of the Mako Armoured Personnel Carrier do eat their bread.
- Erm, sorry? She didn't understand me.
- You see, that geth hacked into our frigate's systems, opened the hangar and jumped the Mako to the planet from the upper atmosphere. And upon landing, the Mako was in relative integrity and reasonable serviceability, having lost only three wheels. I've crushed Geth walking tanks with that armoured personnel carrier, killed it with a Prime gun, and its shields withstood three shots from a Colossus. Colossus! Even though Mako was calibrated by a turian and a quarian. So don't blame me for the geth being able to escape. He escaped on Mako, and that's all there is to it," I said in one breath, remembering everything I'd been through on that armoured personnel carrier. Yeah, those were the days," I didn't regret missing the geth. It was his ship that saved the Destiny Road and destroyed the Overlord.
- Yeah? Heh, that's interesting..." Calissa said in a whisper. Okay, I missed something. Next question. Some sources say you were in the Citadel Council Chamber during the battle. You killed the SPECTR traitor Saren Arterius there. However, when you began to open the Citadel, it was on your advice that Admiral Hackett decided to save the Destination Path, meaning that you essentially talked the Admiral into sacrificing people for the Council. So it's true that you are loyal to the Council after all and not to humanity?
- That's it! I've had enough! I've had enough. I stepped forward and swung, hitting her jaw with all my might. She blacked out immediately, and the camera looked at me mockingly. I just moved on. I still have a lot to do at the Citadel.
Customs.
And Auctus was still digging through the Codices. No, he'd been sitting there for three hours looking for anything with that broad that had anything to do with vorka specifically.
- Well, well, well, well, where is it? - Ectus couldn't stand it anymore. A whole queue of visitors had gathered.
- The trader needs to understand why he's not being listened to. The trader wants to go through customs. The trader wants to keep the laws of the Citadel.
- Shut up, jellyfish. Don't interfere with my work. Wow, Ectus is really getting on my nerves. I'm really getting on his nerves.
- Hey! Don't insult my husband, bird!" the Azari stood up for the Hanar.
- Just stay out of it! I'm busy!" replied Ectus.
- What do you mean, stay out of it? You insulted my husband!
- I don't need the outrage of a pervert!
- WHAT? You overgrown bird!
- Scaly lizard!
- Chitinous militarist!
- Blue-ass whore!
- Oooh...that's something the Azari didn't expect. Neither did I.
- Hanar wants to kill an S.S.C. employee. And with those words, the Hanar lunged at Ectus, trying to grab him with his tentacles.
- Hey, take him away. Put him in the cell! And her too! - two S.B.C.s immediately twisted the Azari, who started swearing profusely in Azarian, because of which I didn't understand her, and dragged her to her. At the same time, the hanar was sedated with an electric shock, gathered his tentacles in a bunch and carried in their arms. What the hell is going on here? I should check this Ectus' medical records.
****
Alliance embassies. Shepard.
- Wait for me here," I said, and the girls stopped. I had to talk to Anderson first and then to the Council.
- Okay," Liara said, and I walked on.
After a few turns, I came to Anderson's office. Well, it was Udina's office, and Anderson was his assistant.
- Excuse me, Admiral ad... Shepherd?!?! The secretary stared at me. She couldn't utter a word, and I calmly entered the office.
As I entered the office, I immediately noticed Anderson staring at the Presidio and the aircars flying by. It was a beautiful view, no doubt about it.
- Ah, Udina," Anderson said suddenly, stepping away from the edge but still not turning around, "The meeting's already..." Anderson stopped talking as soon as he turned and saw me. It was easy to recognise me; I wore civilian clothes, a triple shield generator and a plasma pistol. Anderson's shock was more than justified," he said. Shepherd.
- Hi, David," I said calmly, but Anderson still looked at me with a stunned look.
- К... K-how?" he said with difficulty.
- Just this. Okay. I'll explain.
- You will. Come on, explain how you survived when I saw you with your jaw, right arm and foot!" he sounded angry. I know when Anderson's about to go down.
- Look, I can do anything..." Anderson didn't let me finish, though, as he hugged me. Tightly, and even fatherly in a paternal sort of way. It was strange to think about because I didn't know what it was like to be hugged by a father. However, I couldn't call this hug a favourite person, so only the love of an older man came to mind. Who would always help in times of need? Anderson had always helped me. So I just hugged him back.
- How is that possible, Shepard?" he finally let go of me and asked.
- It's this. Remember the geth I caught that the Alliance ordered me to give up?" I asked, stepping back toward the balcony to look at the podium. Anderson got the idea and followed me.
- Of course, he did. You can't forget something like that..." I wonder why he'd be so nostalgic. I can see that he's immersed in memories. Strange, he doesn't have much to remember.
- He's the one who brought me back to life. Literally, brain dead. Completely. So you have him to thank.
- Heh, Legatus never ceases to amaze.
- Do you know him?" I wondered because he couldn't possibly know his name if he didn't know him.
- Oh, I do! He saved me and Hackett's lives! He saved us from such a mess that I can't tell you, and it would take me a long time to tell you. Now he's pulled you back from the dead too. Amazing get.
- Yeah, and now he's my X.O. on the Normandy.
- So it's true? He asked me out of the blue.
- What do you mean?" I asked because I didn't know what he meant.
- I've come across some reports from Omega and Illium. But I don't have time for them. Everyone's dealing with the Earth problem right now. Legatus did this, didn't he?" He looked at me meaningfully, and I couldn't say anything against it.
- Yes, he did. He didn't know it was going to happen.
- He didn't? Now he was surprised.
- Yes. At first, he thought you'd found the Reaper, so he flew there to destroy it completely. So it would be different from Saren. And then it turned out that this Reaper-- Special. A traitor. He's got a beef with the Reapers, so he's our ally.
- Well, Shepard, you never cease to amaze me. You're friends with a giant space lobster now. Well, that's pretty fucked up. As far as I know, Anderson has reached one of the extremes of fucked up. But it's not over yet.
- Actually, he has a name. Nargul.
- Nargul?" he looked at me sceptically, "He's an A.I.?
- Yeah. He's pretty normal. Intelligent. Better than..." I glanced at the table, hinting at someone else, "some of them. How's it going with Udina?
- Is this some kind of joke, Shepherd? It's not funny. Even the Legatus can't handle a prick like that. And he doesn't!
- I see," I said sympathetically, "Is it that bad?
- It's not that bad! Я... I admit, he's a good politician. He's made several major treaties with the Azari and the Salarians. He won three green planets for the Alliance in a heated debate, weakened the Farixen treaty, and, what can I say, prevented a war with the Hegemony. In fact, many wanted that war, even he, but I talked him out of it. The Reapers are coming, after all. But he's a human being. A fucker." David said unashamedly. And he's a goddamn model Alliance officer. Udina, what the fuck did you do to my Anderson?
- Ugh, David. You're so rude.
- You sit in an office with him for two years. Two years, Shepherd! If they don't take me away from here, I swear I'll get drunk and swim naked in that Presidio pond, and I won't get out of there until I find some fish.
- There's no fish in there," I said, as if to explain a fact in the public domain, "I asked.
- Exactly, Shepard!" he said, crouching down to look me straight in the eye; he was half a head taller than I was. That's the plan.
- Swimming in that lake all my life, just to avoid seeing Udina. You've reached the end of your rope.
- I know. Sparatus once told me to see a counsellor and gave me the number. I went. And then I left. And the psychologist couldn't go for another month. And then Sparatus took offence. But he's all right now; he's a normal bloke.
- "Did you get drunk and beat each other up?" I asked, looking at David like his mum. I remember what she looked like.
- Yeah," he admitted, his head drooping, "He's got a lot of problems. Tevos is on maternity leave, Valern is forty and will die in a week, so he's drinking heavily, Sparatus is learning to be a father, so he's been replaced by Quentius, Udina's taking advantage of it all, and the new Azari counsellor, Irissa... She's a bitch," he said in one breath.
- This is fun.
- Yeah, it's hilarious," he said, and then he got serious and thoughtful. We, that is, me and the Council, had some reports about you, but we considered it misinformation. But now... - he couldn't finish, as the door to the office opened and all four councillors came in. Udina, Quentius, Valern and the Azari, who was probably Irissa.
- Shepard.- Udina said as everyone stopped and the door closed behind them.
- Good afternoon, Councillors," I said, my heart racing.
- I see you're alive after all," Udina said as I walked around his desk and sat cross-legged on the edge.
- I see that the creature of Tartarus and the other councillors are doing well and unencumbered by any worries. Even though the northern fur bear creeps in quietly and stealthily," they'd noticed the venom in my voice. Not so much as a hint.
- What are you talking about, Shepard? I hope this isn't your Reapers story," the Azari said, and I wanted to vomit, "You know, it's a bit of a cliche, as people say.
- Yeah," I replied, "It's no longer an accordion, psaltery, flute, balalaika, piano, organ, bagpipe, dudka, alpine horn, or ratchet. It's a fucking didgeridoo. Do you realise what's coming at you?
- Look, Shepard," the Azari continued, "Stop talking about the Reapers constantly. You need proof that they exist.
- No proof?" I couldn't stand it. "You had a Reaper killed in the Citadel.
- What makes you think that ship was a Reaper? As far as we know, the Sovereign was a Protean dreadnought that was repaired by the Geth and used by Saren. Incidentally, the Geth found another Protean dreadnought and activated it. And it ended up on Earth." she said the last sentence to Udina's face.
- I already told you that we then..." Udina started to justify himself but was immediately interrupted by the Azari.
- Stop making excuses, Counsellor. The Alliance knew what it had found and kept it from the Council.-this is where it really pissed me off. For some reason, I felt like standing up for Udina. Honestly, I wanted to do it for the sake of humanity.
- Maybe you should get your heads out of your arse and listen to what you're being told. The Reapers are coming. Didn't you go to Ilos and talk to that V.I.?
- We sent an expedition team down there. They didn't find any V.I. The video from your armour was erased, from what we understand from your own words. Somehow all the video of that V.I. on Ilos was erased. And in a very rude way, but nothing could be recovered. Not even Tali. So there was no proof. I'm sure the Keeper did some digging. But the fact that the V.I.P. on Ilos was down was the worst of it. The only thing left to do now was rely on their strength. They're not gonna listen to the Legatus anyway.
- Goddamn it, are you stupid, or are you faking it? I've reached the end of my tether. At least you, Valern, can tell them. Do you believe me?
- I do," the Salarian said calmly and unexpectedly. "And I often remind them that the Reapers are coming, but these sheep won't listen.
- Watch your language, Valern," the Azari said, but the Salarian would not back down.
- What are you going to do to me? I've got a couple of weeks to live. Then I won't give a damn about you three, the Dalatressa, the Primarch, the Matriarch Council, or the Defence Committee. So don't threaten me," Valern said and smiled in a way that would make Mordin look like he was having a good time drinking whiskey and smoking a Cuban cigar.
- And why won't you retire...- Udina said quietly, but the Salarian heard.
- To make you feel comfortable? Not a chance in hell, Udina. Before you die, you should repent and do more good deeds. Salarians may be believers, but not so much that you, Udina, should improve your living conditions.
- So that you'll be boiled in a cauldron when you die." replied Udina.
- Ha, the Salarians don't have an afterlife, Udina. You should know that. We all move into new bodies. It's called reincarnation.
- I wish you were in a Vork body," Udina muttered again.
- That's not so bad, by the way. My entire Normandy maintenance staff is Vork. Even the cook. Oh, what faces. You should take a picture of it, put it in a frame and put it on your bedside table. No, I'll put you by my bedside. You'll be looking at me and-- Liara. Brrr! Imagining the councillors looking at us makes me sick.
- Shepard," said the Azari, "How many times do I have to tell you that there are no Reapers?" she said, "I don't know what happened to you on Eden Prime because of that beacon, but listen to me...
- Now listen to me, Irisse," I said, standing up from the table and walking almost right up to her, "I'm going to leave now. But, in a few months, maybe a year, when the Harvest begins, when hundreds of Lord-like ships will descend from the sky to Tessia, when your "Pearl of the Galaxy" will blaze with bright flames when it is dotted with tens of thousands of metal stakes with azari on them when your troops will already lose hope, and they will only pray to their Goddess when the air on your planet will be saturated with smoke from hundreds of thousands of burnt corpses of your people..... I will come here to you, and I will say. "I told you so."
After those words, I didn't feel like talking to those degenerates, so I just walked out. I said hello to Anderson; I had nothing more to do in this office.
****
Customs.
- Sir, you can think of me as anything you want, but this is the third time we've looked through all the Citadel Codes, and we haven't found anything about the ban..." the girl said to Ectus. For 7 hours, we sat on the dock floor. We watched Ectus diligently repeating, or rather studying, as he had hardly learnt it by heart at the Academy, all the criminal and other laws of the Citadel. During this time, I had time to look through the medical or rather two medical charts of Ectus. 5 stimulants, 7 sedatives, 3 sleeping pills, and that's just the prescribed ones. On top of that, he's enrolled in an alcoholism course. According to his doctor's electro-diary, his blood has traces of a turian analogue of Viagra. A second doctor has information that Ectus has potency problems. Yeah, that explains why he's so unstable. He needs to heal, and he's interrupting my holiday on the Citadel. Shit, I was gonna take Tali out to a restaurant. I even dressed up for it; Susie helped me. It's not fancy, but I'm certainly worthy of the title of "decent turian on a date." But what can I do? I can't leave my little thieves to their fate. They've endured so much time with Garrus, Zaid, Grant and Rex that they deserve a holiday. Eh, I hope Tali's not bored with Liara and Shepard.
- Shut up! Don't interrupt my work!" Ectus interrupted the woman and continued to read the Codes.
- Boy, would you stop it?" I pleaded, "We've been sitting here for seven hours. Don't you have anything better to do? Like listen to the Krogan scold you tried to search without justification or kick some hanar preacher out of the Presidio?" I listed the activities that could be hobbies for officers.
- You don't have to talk dirty to me. Right, yeah. Aha! Found it!" he said, which I didn't expect to hear. "Maybe it doesn't say vork, but... "Any humanoid may not enter the Citadel without special medical authorisation if their intelligence level is below seventy." And statistically, a Vork's I.Q. is 40. Shit, he's right. There's a catch, though.
- Yes, but we can prove otherwise by taking an I.Q. test. And it's not forbidden to do that anymore." I got an angry growl from Ectus, but after a few seconds of playing "Angry Civic-Amental Glares", he gave us all tablets with the test on them. All thirty vorka.
- Enjoy.- he blurted out, and the venom in his voice would have been enough for the entire Palaven. On the other hand, we all began to decide on the questions.
1. What weighs more, 1 kilo of fluff or 1 kilo of metal shavings?
Are you fucking kidding me? The first question and immediately the accordion of my childhood? You are pathetic.
2. What number needs to be added? 06, ..., 88.
As if I wouldn't guess that the answer is 68. Although it will take, others gethas a while to figure it out.
3. Which word is redundant?
a) Tessia;
b) Sur'kesh;
c) Palaven;
d) Illium.
Well, it's clear here the homeworlds of the races, and Illium is superfluous. Well, let's go.
****
The Citadel. Somewhere out there. Shepard.
Liara and Tali were walking through the levels and just walking around. Actually, we were walking to the docks, just walking, because I wanted to talk to Tali. Except I didn't know how to approach it.
- Um, Tali," I started, drawing attention to myself.
- Yeah, Shepherd," she said.
- You know, I've been meaning to ask you... It's about Legatus.
- Uh, yeah?" she faltered immediately but didn't deny it, "What about it?
- How-- How did this happen? I mean. I didn't think you would love a Geth.
- Shepard!" she interrupted me, and I could hear the anger in her voice, "Don't call him a geth. He's anything but a machine. And the fact that he's got a platform like that-- I don't care.
- What, not at all? Liara's involved.
- Yeah. With us Quarians, looks don't matter because of the spacesuits. It's become part of the culture. It's all about the soul and. inner beauty. And Legatus has that.
- Well, it's hard to argue with that, of course. He's kind and compassionate. I continued, but--
- But what about you. with this--
- What? That's the question that really angered Liara. How do you-- How do you-- What the hell do you think you're doing in your head?!?
- Well, it's quite normal between couples, Liara said casually.
- Oh, are all Azari like that? So... dirty?
- I'm a hundred and eight years old. At my age, it's normal." Liara excused herself.
- Look at me," I said, looking at the Azari, but Tali intervened.
- What is wrong with you? Why do you think we had something?!? Yes, I love him, and he loves me. He's never once hinted at it," Tali blurted out, and Liara and I looked at each other.
- Not at all? Liara asked.
- No. Well, yes, there was something..." Tali said uncertainly, and Liara and I decided to press the point.
- And what was it?
- He-- He mentioned something about-- children." Liara and I were stunned. That's something we didn't even expect. Legatus and Tali. Children. What's it called? Legatiki? Legashiki? That was too much Tali interrogation, but it's bloody curiosity. And Susie had taken the bug off, so we could not know what was happening. I wish we didn't.
- ...-children?" I said, barely able to fight the urge to faint.
- Yes. Well, not exactly about them, but... It's something we've talked about. Although... Ooh, why am I telling you all this?" Tali said, waving her hands, "You know what? Stay away from us! Go-- Go to hell!" then she turned around and walked away from us. But before she did, we took advantage of the opportunity to look at her.
- You know," Liara said, "Quarian women look good in their costumes.
- I wouldn't deny it," I said, and we went to catch up with Tali. And it was time to go meet Kasumi.
****
Customs.
135. Do you understand quantum plumbing?
No, that's too much! This is-- That's out of line. And there are 865 more questions like that. I FUCK THIS! Even a get would break his brain, burn his nerves, and tear his arse trying to answer these questions. And that's with the conspicuous absence of these body parts.
136. Can gaseous wood be obtained by burning it?
NO!
****
In three hours.
583. The Azari had five fruits. Then came the Salarians. The Azari and the Salarians became friends and had 15 fruits. Then the Rachni came and took 13 fruits. Then the Krogan came, became friends with the Azari and Salarians, gave their 7 apples, and then took all they had taken from the Rakhni and added 2 more. How many vegetables did that make?
*Savoury, seasoned with paprika, basil, black pepper, almonds, nutmeg and cinnamon, fried to crispy perfection and drenched in HATE facepalm.
****
Club Supernova. Shepherd.
The club was as noisy as ever. Crowds of people, dusk, loud music, packed dance floors, and dozens of drunken sanities squirmed in epileptic seizures. Yeah, it's Supernova. We were supposed to meet in the V.I.P. area.
That's where we headed. Then we passed a biotic shield that muffled most of the sounds, and we took our seats.
- Captain Shepard. Do you know the golden rule?" came a sweet female voice that was very pleasant to listen to. The Legate told me the secret phrase.
- He who has the gold makes the rules," I said, and then a girl in a beautiful suit with a hood that hid most of her face appeared out of nowhere. "Kasumi Goto?
- Yes. Pleased to meet you, Captain Shepard. She said.
- Why are you wearing a hood?" Liara asked, "You're going to be on our ship anyway. Why hide?
- I'm the most successful thief in the galaxy, not the most famous. I have to keep it that way. You only have to hide sixty per cent of your face to be unrecognisable. So as long as I'm on the Citadel, no one will know I was here," she explained. She had a pleasant voice, and her manner was catlike.
- Well, did the Legate explain what was going on? I got to the point.
- Yes. A dangerous assignment in exchange for forgiveness of debts.
- Another debtor?" I wondered, "And what have you done?
- Ask Liara," she said with a chuckle. Liara looked away guiltily, "She hired me to infiltrate the Araba Tecnologico Industriale factory to see what was happening since dozens of agents had already failed their attempts.
I take it you're not one of those dozens, are you?
- Yeah, my pride was hurt at the time. That's why I agreed, and I still hold a grudge against the Legate.
- Really?" said Tali, "And for what?
- It has to do with my... Professionalism. That was my first failure. The Legatus caught me in a very extravagant way.
- How? I inquired.
- Locked me in the workshop without sounding the alarm. And while I was trying to open some door, I inhaled some gas and passed out. Temporary blindness and half a day of vomiting included," she said with caustic sarcasm. "And then he offered to join you instead of turning me over to the police and promised to help me with a mission.
- For you? What is it?
- It's about my past. A colleague of mine. A colleague, Keiji Okuda, was caught. He was in Alliance Intelligence and had a grey box implanted. However, he was later accused of betrayal. He then escaped and went into hiding but was soon caught. He was Donovan Hawk, a fence and criminal mastermind. He killed Keiji and took the box, but the data was encrypted. To see what Hock wanted, he'd have to go through his entire life from activating the box, which is ten years that can't be rewound. Right now, the box is on Beckenstein, in Hok's mansion. Legatus promised me he'd get it to me.
- Right from the mansion?" Liara wondered, "And Legatus is a dreamer. Why do you want the box?
- There's data in there that could damage the Alliance. More specifically, it could start a war. And another thing. It's the last thing I have left of Keiji.
- Well, good. We'll help you," I agreed. "In the meantime, let's return to Normandy and talk it over.
- Sure," she said, and then she was gone. She's got a good disguise, though.
****
Another two hours later.
As we neared the docks, night fell, and suddenly I got a call on the unic.
- Counsellor Valern?" I was surprised to see Salarian's face.
- Good evening, Shepard," he said, "I'm calling you on a matter. I, Udina and Quentius have decided to give you back your SPECTRE status.
- Why would I agree? Then I'd have to report to you. I explained that little detail to him.
- That's true, but there's more to it than that. If you accept the status, your job is to find evidence of the Reapers. We need to convince Irisa, who is against giving you back your status. And without her vote, we can't start preparing for an invasion. The public won't understand, and we'll be impeached, and the next councillors will send you packing. If the evidence comes from SPECTR, that's a whole other level.
- So I'm just going to have to find evidence of the Reapers, and the rest is up to me, right?" I decided to make sure I was right.
- Quite right. Valern said.
- Good. I agree. Yes, it was necessary to change the Council's mind and prove them right. It may work.
- I'll be in touch, Captain. He disconnected, and a few seconds later, I received a status packet. Well, that should be easier.
****
Customs.
We saw a strange sight when Liara and Tali arrived at the docks. 30 Vorka were sitting on the floor watching something on datapads, and next to them sat a turian doing the same thing. It was Legatus.
- Hey, what's up, X.O.?" I asked, walking over to him.
- I'm taking the I.Q. test so Vorka can pass. Question eight hundred and thirty-six, who runs faster? The options are a glass krogan or a warren.
- You've been sitting here all this time, since we got here, trying to get the Vork to the Citadel?" Tali asked.
- Yeah. I couldn't just leave them here," said the Legate.
- Okay, here's the next one. Who's forbidding you to pass?
- That's an Illium creature. He pointed his finger at the turian.
- SSC Sergeant Ectus Varkol. He introduced himself.
- Council SPECTRE Jane Shepard. And on my orders, all Vorka from my frigate have the right to be even in the Presidium.-and to top it off, I sent him a data packet confirming that I was in charge.
- А... Ah. I- You may... You can go through..." he said something and did his business.
- Shepard... - now Legate turned to me, and in his eyes, I could see sincere hatred - I've been here all day, tearing everyone who gets in my way, including myself, so you could come here and let us pass with one order?
- Um... Well, yeah..." I said with guilt in my voice. It seems he had already reached the end of his rope. So he smashed the datapad against his head with all his might, then grabbed his knees, fell on his side, and a few seconds later, the entire dock erupted in a scream of pain, sorrow, frustration, and HATE.
- BITCH!
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