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[Redbelle]

A flashing light with a overt audible tone rang out at the seemingly unmanned comm station until the noise roused someone from underneath. there was a bang. Than a string of something Marshall in the Captain's chair took as expletives in Turian. Then Aelias emerged from under the terminal wearing a head lamp before looking at her board, connecting the incoming call to her active channel that she'd just spent the last ten minutes tracing from the jumble of wires, before accepting it.

 

"This is Medusa answering.... Damn it, where's the caller... Ahem.... Sorry we're having a technical problem at the moment. Please identify yourself".

 

Spirit's take it all. This system had to go. Flat out. Half the wire's ended in no connections she'd found out when she'd tried to trace the connections to the communication junction box.

 

If the comm station was this bad, how was the rest of the ship? She'd need a team working the problem so she could assess upgrade viability.

 

At the very least, if she could cut out most of this unnecessary wiring it would help her avoid garrotting herself the next next she tried crawling under her station.

[Kel Riever]

Jen looked around, impressed by the equipment.  "Good stuff!"  She was familiar with most , if not all of it, but what was more impressive than the technology on hand,  was the size of it.  All the equipment she saw and even more to the point of redundancy, was at the university.  But nothing was so compact and so efficiently arrange.

"Actually, just a computer terminal for starters.  I'd love to read what data you have on hand."

Tesha set up Jen at a terminal.  "And you can send your message from here, too.  The Medusa hasn't quite hit the Relay yet, so we can still com them in real time.  Go ahead, use it here..."

~ ~ ~ ~

On the Medusa's bridge, Aelias gave her stumbling greeting and there was silence from the other end.  It could have been a delay.  Or the whole system could have been failing to receive.

Then the sender's voice came over every loudspeaker on the bridge, in full volume.  With reverb.

"Medusa this is Jen Severn.  I wanted you to know I'm okay.  I am not on the ship.  I'm on the Janiri  now, all safe.  A bit of a story, I'll spare you.  Would you please let my family know when they come looking for me?  Especially my MOM!"

The last word seemed to pitch way over the top, and was accompanied by screaming feedback.  

[Redbelle]

Aelias's hands slapped over her ear canal's as she ducked under her station. Her back hitting the last panel she hadn't removed. As her eye's squeezed shut she didn't see the rest of the bridge crew likewise adopt similar position's as hands clamped over their ears......

 

Atop Aelias's station, the PA light was lit while another signalled the transmission had been transmitted throughout the entire ship and the feedback was now reverberating through every speaker on board.

 

Only one speaker seemed unaffected. The Captain's quarter's were on a separate circuit, seemingly by design. As Aelias opened her eye's with a wince she clawed her way back up to her station and saw the pleading eye's of the bridge crew looking at her. She cast her eye's over the panel, desperately looking for the right combination of button's and switches to flick before she gave up, ducked back down, reached for one of the cables she'd traced back to the junction box and pulled with all her strength.....

 

The cable yanked free and the reverberating feedback that had pounded it's way through the ship stopped abruptly. Climbing back up in full view of the bridge crew with the cable in hand she swung it in a circle a few times.

 

"Well, here's your problem". She announced, holding the cable aloft.

 

"What.... the hell...."! Marshall shouted, the sound of the feedback still ringing in his ears.

 

"Basically..... the comm systems.... Ah, one moment, we're still connected". Aelias said, dropping the cable as she bent down to retrieve her headset. Finding it was still working and with no reverb she continued transmitting. "Janiri? Medusa again. We received your message....". Way to understate the obvious. She thought before going on. "I'll pass it on....". it was then Aelias's eye caught the PA announcement system light was lit. "Ah, actually, I think it's already been delivered. Do you have anything else you wish to convey"?

[Kel Riever]

"Uh, no.  I hope everything is okay.  Basically it was a mix-up.  I wanted to take a look, and...oh yeah, please let someone know I have my treatment kit with me so they don't panic about that either.  Whoever this is.  Hi, by the way."

Jen was looking at some sort of audio meter graph on her computer.  How unusual to not have an accompanying picture of the person she was video communicating with...

[Redbelle]

"This is Aelias Trook. Recently appointed. Jen right? Would you mind staying on the line for a little while? I have some system diagnostic's to run and since your already calling me I can kill two lizards with one stone..... I don't think we met before. I take it you were once aboard the Medusa but are now on the Janiri"?

 

Aelias quickly accessed the duty logs and noted that the Medusa and Janiri were heading in different directions, but scheduled to meet again at a destination.

 

"Jen, I don't know if anyone's told you this on the Janiri, but both ships will be heading to different destinations before their next rendezvous. You mentioned a treatment kit. Given the time apart do you think you'll be okay or do we need to organise anything for you"?

 

As she spoke, Aelias flipped switches while putting a channel she knew to be reliable into her right ear while she tested one's she hadn't had time to test in her left. Adding Jen's call to those new channels, flipping through them one at a time Aelias quickly found dead channels and marked them down on a pad. She'd have to track down the faults later. For now though, she had to keep this Jen person talking.

 

"You say your mother's aboard. Anyone else? I don't really know anyone aboard right now except the people who crewed with me on the Audron. What's your mother like"?

[Kel Riever]

Jen was wondering about the person on the other end of the com, but she seemed professional enough.

"Aelias Trook?  Hi.  Um, all right, Mom...my mother is Rosanne Severn.  She's really nice.  She was a librarian before all the...well, we didn't know everything that was about to happen.  She's probably helping with the ship's laundry and refab system.  And then there's my crazy brother, Keith.  Don't worry about him.  Oh, so about the treatment kit...I have two weeks of supplies...but...my brother was going to work on that for me.  Morgan.  He's the one you know if you know any of them.  I don't know if you can organize anything for me yourself.  They offered here too, but...I need, all right.  Morgan and Jess...the Captain have an idea of what's involved."

Jen felt a bit apprehensive.

"Am I talking too much?  You, uh, you seem like a nice person.  How are you doing?"

Jen winced at her own question.
 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Meanwhile, VERA was in the process of assembling Jen Severn's research documents, bouncing them off several galactic servers, the request coming from a Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, Ph. D., Amaranth Neuroresearch Corporation. NYU, being a public organization, complied with the request and charged Naleena's private account 50 CR per document. VERA would have to answer for that line item later, but she didn't believe that Naleena would mind spending such a trivial amount. Besides, she had been observing organics and knew about the guilt trip. She then began compiling links to all bibliographical sources in Jen's papers. She was ready.

[TheMajonese]

Janiri - Armory

 

There was only one thing Arian had to do with his helmet and that was connecting the trigger mechanism at the backside that opened the helmet, with his omni-tool. That would allow him to get rid of it, even if he couldn't reach his helmet with his hands. He couldn't think of any situation where this would be useful. It was still better however to be prepared for everything.

 

One great thing about his armor was that all parts we're independent from each other. The plates around his upper arm were seperated from the gauntlets and Arian could take them on and off very quickly without having to follow any specific order. In addition to that, the material was very light, even if it offered less protection than the heavy armors that he used to wear during his time as mercenary on Omega.

 

Arian took off the heavy gauntlets and did the same as with the helmet; connecting the mechanism to open the plating with his omni-tool. Then he tested the sharpness of the blades that were attached on the forearm section by carefully scratching them over his right palm and to his surprise, the little pressure he used was enough to leave long and unusually deep cuts in his hand. After the second blade he switched over to just use the tip of his talons because his dark blue blood began to trickle from his hand.

 

"Spirits...!", he called out when he looked at the blades. I can almost decapitate someone with them! Well...not a krogan...but probably something thinner like humans or asari... With another glance at the long metal talons of the gauntlets, Arian was certain that he didn't need to use a knife in close combat as the attached blades were far more effective. He wouldn't even need to drop his gun to use them.

 

When he looked up from his work Arian spotted Essul at the fabricator, creating a new set of outfits before leaving again. How long have I been down here? But after checking his omni-tool, he realized that it had been less than an hour and he still had enough time to finish everything before the Janiri would reach its destination. After getting some medi-gel for his right hand, he returned to his work.

[Redbelle]

Aelias chuckled to herself. "I'm fine Jen. Thanks for asking". Aelias squinted a little as she tried manipulating what she thought was one of the comm dishes attached to the hull. The main transmission coming in on the main dish seemed fine and as the other turned Aelias saw the gain of the transmission being receved on the dish climb.

 

No way to auto attune the dish.... Have to remember all that math.... Think in triangles.....

 

The second dish locked into place and Aelias noted how fast the transmission gain grew from background spacial interference to detecting the signal coming in from Jen.

 

To think,  I had VI's for this on the Audron.

 

"Say Jen, I've been looking over the ships watch log and it says an Anika from Medusa recently exchanged to the Janiri. Do you know her"?

[Kel Riever]

Morgan was going over the Omni-tool information with Jess and Dahlia.

"There was a recommendation from Naleena to pick up Omni-tools on Illium.  From what Essul said, though, it sounds like where we're going, the batarians are starving for technology.  They'll pay a closer eye to the tech than something like booze or coffee, but at the same time, you can't hack a security network with coffee.  Also sounds like you've got an angle, Jess, that higher ups in the command chain will want a better tool, which also helps us figure out which Omni-tools to load with hacking software, right?  So we might consider two types."

Leaning in with what Dr. Hayashi dug up with him, to show Jess and Dahlia.  "Elkoss makes Ciphers, which are inexpensive and available almost anywhere civilized we go.  Aldrin does too, but as a human concern, I'd avoid them.  At the high end of the scale, and available on Illium, are both the Armali Council Nexus and Serrice Council Savants.  Three problems I see with these:  Expensive, even more expensive on Illium, and in no way do you want to make a purchase without also hiring an Illium lawyer to go through the purchaser agreements.  Personally, I think it's too much.  We're not buying Omni-tools for the best of the best, nor do we want to put them in the hands of people we're not working for.  And if they aren't frequent users, I doubt they'll even be able to understand all the complex features."

Morgan dragged up a picture on the datapad of his preferred choice.  "Go back to Elkoss.  They make what they call a high end Cipher model  It is a total rip on an Armali Council Nexus.  It emphasizes shields and tech, even though it can't compete with a Nexus in either category, and drops medical applicators almost entirely.  But, they're a lot less expensive, and come with enough marketing propaganda to look nice.  You can get them on Illium, or a few other places...here's a list.  It isn't quite available everywhere.  But a good volus merchant will be happy to make a deal for these at a discount, I bet, if you can show them you know what you are talking about.  Conversely, our client isn't going to be savvy, or they'll just be happy enough to get something a bit better.  And, when installing the hacking software, you don't have to deal with the intricate asari coding.  Your hacker can probably, in fact, add some smokescreens to the devices."

The elevator door opened at that moment.  Babe was there, in her new outfit with Amy Babylon.  Morgan shut off the datapads and sat back. 

Babe brought Amy forward, and then turned to take a seat on the couch, on the other side of Jess from Morgan.  She folded one booted leg over the other.  "Miss Babylon has insisted she's been eagerly awaiting our conversation."

[Redbelle]

As Babe sat beside her, Jess looked up and saw.....

 

She blinked.

 

"Well luv". She said to the sister she'd left behind and who didn't know was currently sitting across from her. "You sure clean up nice and pretty".

 

"Thanks". Amy replied back, a slight bite in her words. "I had some help with the new look".

 

"Going to keep it"? Jess asked, gesturing to the seat before her. Amy slid into the seat, finding the form fitting skirt required her to not so much sit, but slide into the offered seat.

 

"Unless anyone else has any idea's..... this look is far to high maintenance for me. I can spend the time better. In my line of work time means ratings and every minute I spend doing my nails..... Sorry, I didn't come here to talk about these clothes after what happened to my other ones".  She slid a not quite hostile look at Babe that seemed caught between annoyance and fear that Babe might not like the look.

[Kel Riever]

Babe smirked and looked over to Jess.  "Of course, what she's not telling you is her nails were done for her.  At my expense.  Ordinarily a cosmetologist will allow you to keep working at they attend to you, but I dare say Amy here has a nose for excellent service, and might have been surprised a bit by the attention lavished on her.  It can be...distracting."

Her eyes sliding back to Amy, Babe then offered.  "But like you said, we're here to talk about what you'd like today, Miss Babylon.  You have something to propose?"

Morgan didn't think he'd be thrilled by what he was about to hear, but the setup definitely had his attention.

~ ~ ~ ~

Back on the Janiri, Jen replied to Aelias.  "Yes!  Yes, Anika is here.  She's a lifesaver, to put it bluntly.  I mean, I don't know her well.  Do you want to, um, speak with her?  Or have me tell her anything?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia interrupted with a business idea. "We might want to consider picking up some Serrice Council omni-tools for ourselves. Their Savant models are the best in the galaxy. We'll be on Thessia for a few hours rounding up some alcoholic beverages, and one of us can go to an electronics shop and get one. It shouldn't take long. At least we won't have to pay the inflated Illium prices," she said with the 'could we, please' look in her eyes.

[Redbelle]

Jess looked to Dahlia, then to Morgan. "How about it luv? Where does Thessia fit into our itinerary? The Cipher sounds like a go to for handing out to the solider's. The higher ups though? I imagine a Batarian general will need something with higher processing and communication...... That's a good point luvs. Where do Batarian officer's do their commanding? Front line or back line"?

 

"What are you talking about"? Amy asked, obviously peeved that her meeting was being hijacked to talk about trade.

 

Jess looked back to Morgan and Dahlia with a look that said, 'later'. "Sorry, Amy... Can I call you Amy"?

 

"Please do".

 

"Thanks. We're in the middle of something. It can wait. Though tell me, have you ever been to Thessia"?

 

"No. To busy. Maybe if we ever stage a debate perhaps but I tend to go where my work needs me to be".

 

"Don't we all luv". Jess smiled when she noticed Amy eyeing her. "Something on your mind"?

 

"Where's your arm"? Amy blurted out. "When we met you had two! Now you have one! How do you lose an arm inside of a day and not be climbing the walls? Are you on pain killers? Should you really be having this meeting right now"?

 

Jess stared at her, then burst out laughing. "HAHAH..... Aaaaahhhhh.... Aw luv. Lost the arm years back. It was damaged when I met you and a checkup had it relegated to junk status. Pity, I was attached to that arm". She said with a broad grin. "Though you seem to have me at a disadvantage, Amy. I let slip something about me, how about you tell me something about you"?

 

"I work for Terra Firma at the moment". Amy began. "TerF have had public image problems thanks to a battery of negative propaganda by the entrenched parties of Earth who are afraid at how our grass roots movement is gaining supporters due to their gross mishandling of policy and support of Earth's vital service's.....". Jess inclined her head as she let Amy rattle on. "....Not to mention the current administration's inability to affect galactic policy, even with a council member on the Citadel council. The people of Earth need and demand better. The best. Which is why Terra Firma came to me. Under my guidance we're up in opinion polls and....."

 

"That's nice luv.... Really nice.... But I meant, about you, personally.... Like why does a home grown, intelligent, successful woman like yourself choose to work for TerF"?

 

Amy raised her chin defiantly. "Because everyone said it couldn't be done. And I'm going to prove them wrong. I am proving them wrong. And when it's my time to go I'll be able to jump to whatever position I want, where ever I want. It's not wrong to want to be successful". she added, looking and somehow not looking in Babe's direction. "Some of us are just to honest to lie about our own contribution towards acheiving that success".

 

"But why luv"?

 

"Because the people....".

 

"No one's that selfless in my experience luv. You want this meeting? You tell me. What's driving you to do what it is your doing"?

 

Amy was quiet for a long time before she gave an annoyed sigh and looked up, her eye's steely, as if she were holding something back inside her that was fierce and raging within. "Because, the state of the galaxy, such as it is, allowed a council sanctioned agent to go about killing his mark, whose effort's resulted in the life of my brother when we were still children. Collateral damage they called it. Regreatable. But in the wider context of galactic stability, acceptable. Then my fool of a sister ran off thinking she could get justice in some delusional fantasy of working outside the system to acheive a revenge fuelled goal of avenging our brother and she died to. Died in a brawl. Caught between two side's of degenerate's. Her body was destroyed, the only thing left of her was her ID that we had brought back to Earth to bury. No action was taken to arrest those repsonsible. No one cared for just another human in over her head".

 

Amy blinked and looked away to compose herself, then turned back. "That is the reality of this galaxy Captain. if your human, no one will care about you. If your in the way of the largely alien centric council that has had decade's to cement their power base, you will be cut down to acheive their desire's. Two member's of my family were cut down. That is.... unfortunate. But what really get's uner my skin is the way those death's were sweapt under the carpet Captain! No action. No investigation! Nothing to bring justice to those deaths...... Mother and Father never let me out of their sight after that and every day after. I was always with them, watching them grieve and as the only one left, I made it my business to be the best daughter I could be for them.... They'd had to much pain and nothing to let them mourn knowing they would get justice. If TerF get in. If they call the shots, then yes, they will be human centric. But that simply balance's out every other council race who are just as centric to their own species".

 

Amy's eye's flashed dangerously. "You know that's true. The council look after their own. When you have the feast before you it's easy to hand out crumbs and yet humanity is at the same table thank's to Shepard's action's putting us in a seat at the table, but we still get crumbs.... Just served on a plate now. The human race need's representation. Effective representation! If no one step's up who is prepared to work to change the status quo then those in power will maintain how things are now and things are not good for humanity. Or anyone else. Because if no recourse for challenging power exists then those at the height of that power will simply continue their corrupt ways....".

 

She looked at Morgan and then at Babe. "Outside Terra Firma I made a speech. I asked for everyday people. Not political types. People who know how to do their jobs. To come and change things for us. Terra Firma has politicians. What we don't have are people who can guide those politicians. If we need to build a skyhook we don't need a politician making decisions on matter's they have no background in. We need engineer's who can look at the project and decide if it's worth the time, money and expense. If there is a matter of law in the galactic courts, we don't need a politician making noise on the vid screen's. We need a lawyer to look at the case and decide if the matter needs intervention, and what kind. And if some human is killed unlawfully and without cause we need representative's who will chase those who did it down and enact justice for those who were taken from us. We need people who believe in law. Who have worked to uphold the law and will fight to see justice done". 

 

Amy took a deep breath and continued. "We want people who can make a difference writing policy for people to enact those polices. Real people, unbound by the red tape that gathered over years of countless administrations that's heaped more rules on what they can't do that needs lawyer's to find ways to let them do what is needed. It's a slow, inefficient, ineffective system that simply does nothing, because nothing has become easy. Terra Firma's plan is to wipe the slate clean. New rules. Simple to understand. People whom we trust doing the job we entrusted them to do".

 

Amy looked at Morgan and Babe. "Maybe it's not as close to home for you as it is for me, but when I met your two crew here, I saw an opportunity to increase human recruitment in C-Sec. Human's who, in enough number's, can start to change the attitude's of those aboard the Citadel as to the value of life a human has..... My brother died on that Citadel. I want to do everything in my power to stop any more human deaths at the seat of galactic civilisation..... Because we need civilisation to work. We need it spread out from the Citadel to every star in the galaxy. So that anyone else's sister who steps out among those star's doesn't become a statistic with no body to bury. The galaxy needs justice for all.... And if you'll let me work with your two people here, I know I can make a start. Not change the galaxy, but start things rolling in the way humanity needs if we're ever going to have people in power who actively want to help a human when they are in need.... Because I remember when everyone around us turned the other way at the sight of a small boy bleeding out on the deck while the Spectre who shot him simply walked on by".

[Kel Riever]

Morgan took a moment during the conversation to glance at Dahlia at his right, to check in on her, and see if Amy was drawing any reaction out of her.  Then he let the story Amy said sink in, particularly since it wasn't just about what happened to Amy, but to the woman on his left.  He didn't glance to Jess, because he didn't want to give anything away, nor did he expect to see anything on her face but her hidden expression.  But he wondered if he couldn't just feel what must have been happening for her inside.  He leaned back then, careful to keep his attention on Amy with his rugged stare.

Babe had Jess to her right, and as Amy went on, she felt herself naturally lean in and put her arm around the Captain.  Unlike Morgan, or Jess, Babe didn't hide her feelings.  In fact, as she went through her emotions, they fed into the room.  Needing to break from Amy's story visually for a  moment, Babe's big pool eyes went to look up, at the ceiling of Jess' that gave a view of space.  She thought about the memories she'd had that barely started piecing together, such as the shocking memory of her full name, the feelings of a torture that had come back to her, the person delivering that torture, and that bit that Miss Priss had said on the bridge.

As the view of the stars captured her attention, Babe was snapped out of it by more of Amy's conversation.  Babe had a moment where she wondered if Amy had looked up to see they were in space, or if she'd simply had known, or that she was consumed so much that she missed that they had left the Citadel entirely.  But Babe also focused on Amy's story, and as she went on, Babe didn't feel that her compassion for Amy had been misplaced at all.  When Amy was done, Babe cast her gaze downward for a moment, and very badly wanted someone else to speak.  She instead, found herself responding first.

"It is an injustice, what happened.  And to want to change things for the better within the systems that exist is brave and admirable."  There was something that bothered Babe and it seeped into her voice, as well as the feelings she exuded.  "Is your message of humans above others noble as a means to an end?  Or is it revenge?"

There was something about Amy's agenda that worried Babe.  It was a question of who Amy Babylon was willing to court to meet her goals. 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Goddess, you make it sound like we hate humans!" Dahlia said, aghast at Amy's ranting. "I fought to take back this ship. I helped save this man's life by melding with him for the duration of the emergency surgery. I understand why you feel the way you do, losing your sister and your brother and not having anyone do anything about it. I grew up dirt poor on Omega. My father was Batarian. Do you know what that is like? And he was a kind and loving father, too. Yet, I fought against Batarians to liberate humans in Dome 410 on Caleston. I'm Asari, Ms. Babylon!"

[Redbelle]

Amy looked over at Dahlia coolly. "Then, I wish there were more like you". She said bluntly, I'm well aware that I do not speak of the people of your race. But the leader's of the council races reflect the strength's and failing's of their people's simply by the fact that they allow travesty's like the one to befall me to happen without so much as an apology. Your story however, is one of struggle. And that is precisely what the human race must do if we are to gain any standing in the galaxy by which to change the current social standing of humanity. A human life, when addressed towards the council, is insignificant when balanced against the cosmic order.... Yet when an Asari life is weighed against the balance, suddenly coucilor Tevos finds the means and drive to effect a solution. When it is a Turian, they will dispatch agent's and C-Sec will make the case a high priority. When the Salarian's have problems, they draw upon their own special tasks group are dispatched. And their relationship which has gone on for years allows them to work together for their benefit as well as their council member's for favours". Amy shrugged. "That's just how the game is played at the high levels. Meanwhile, an Asari crime lord works Omega that the Asari high council refuse to acknowledge and Tevos declares is out of council jurisdiction..... When it is known that a spectre or spectre's could walk into that place and remove the blemish from the Asari's well presented record. That, is power. The power to ignore reality and fabricate one that everyone abides by. And Terra Firma would rather deal with realities....".

 

Amy sighed heavily. "Take for example commander Shepard. Largely ostracised from the council because he won't stop pressing a case that an old alien presence sitting on the edge of the galaxy is set to swoop in on us and destroy us all. The council refuse to acknowledge him because he's an embaressment. Yet every test the military could do was done and he was pronounced sane, in full grip of his faculties. was telling the truth and when accounting for his actions, could provide reasoned basis for his conclusions. All that was missing was evidence as his actions resulted in the loss of much.... But with relay travel, it is not out of the realm of possibility to launch probes out into dark space to test his claims. TerF know of a research company who do just that. Studying dark space and how the presence of no nearby gravity wells or spatial anomalies affect space in those area's. And their findings.... They believe dark space may not be as empty as our scientists theorised. Yet the council dismiss these claims as well instead of wishing the research team luck in their studies. A Human Spectre pushed away from the council. A human research team studying things the council would rather they didn't.....".

 

Amy locked eye's with Dahlia. "I don't blame you or your people for what is happening to our people. But I do blame the leaders you allow to remain in place for slowing the progress of achieving more uniform equality across the galaxy. And as you say, when you wanted something to happen at this dome of yours, you have to take action yourself. Well so must we. Humanity can't expect other's to pull itself up the galactic hierarchy ladder. It's something we must do ourselves. And quickly, else in one lifetime of your people, ten generations of humans might suffer for our failing to achieve our goals".

[Redbelle]

At that, Amy's eye's slid over to Babe. "Revenge implies punishment Ms Babe. And the one who shot and killed my brother is dead. No one knows how but he died and his body was identified and removed back to his home planet where he was buried a hero who was slain by someone whom the Spectre's are still seeking to find".

 

From the coach where Babe was hugging her, Jess smiled..... Unpleasantly.

 

"I would have preferred trial and for the court's to decide his sentence". Amy went on. "But I can't deny, part of me is glad he's gone and can no longer hide behind the protection of a council who condones such actions. But I can't take this to heart for that spectre was just one of many wild cards the council employs. People for whom the spectre position is one to abuse for their own personal amusement and thrill. We can't allow ourselves to think that while one rotten apple is gone, the tree where the fruit hangs is uncorrupted. Full disclosure of those in the council employ and their service records should be available to the government's of the galaxy so that we know those the council employs are both fair and just. This is both fair, and right. For while the Asari may prefer a Justicar police force model, I don't recall the rest of the galaxy asking if they wanted to accept the mandate the council gave to the spectre's. From what I hear, Spectre's are coming up against more and more legal challenges. The time is coming when public pressure will demand the council to budge on the issue of spectre's and I think we can all agree that on past performance, the council will not budge. At which point it will cease to be a council of the galaxy, and be simply the overlords, directing the galxy from their citadel tower. this is a possibility every government in the galaxy has had, and without transparency, we have no idea if it a viable possibility. And government's that don't plan for the worst have a habit of falling".

[Kel Riever]

"Okay, let's take a break from all the philosophy for a minute here, meaning no disrespect to your personal story, Amy."

Morgan tried hard not to put his face in his hand.  Putting a hot tempered Dahlia in the same room with Amy and her whole...deal...seemed like a big mistake from Morgan's standpoint, though maybe this is what Jess wanted.

"We all want to make things better, I'm sure, whatever way we can.  But like I said when we met, we're a bunch of freelancers.  Put aside the whole morality of what you're talking about; are you sure you have the right people for the job you're asking for?"  Morgan gave Amy a worried expression.  He wanted her to at least have a chance to explain herself.  Even if she sounded like she was far from the reality of who she was talking to.

"I think she believes she's got the right people," Babe interjected, oddly on the forgiving side with regards to Amy's pitch.  "It's Babe, by the way.  Just Babe. Not Miss Babe, or Babe something or other.  Just Babe."

Babe took a deep breath, and talked to the others she sat next to.  "Amy's got conviction, right or wrong, yeah?  She could also be asking someone much worse to do the job.  It's a ridiculous job, a bit, I think."  She turned to Amy then.  "But I don't think Amy is ridiculous.  And I think Amy is more open minded then she lets on."

Lowering her gaze to Amy, Babe added, "I've seen that Amy, in fact, can change her mind for the better about a couple of things.  And I wouldn't have spent time with her if I thought that wasn't the case."

 

[Redbelle]

"Just..... Babe.....". Amy drew out the words as if scrutinizing them. "Juuuust...... Babe...... Ms Babe That's BRILLIANT"! Amy lurched forward, seemingly having just switched track on the fly to something else that had the intensity of what she was feeling disappear entirely, swallowed by the creative impulses that seemed to have gripped her.

 

"As word play goes it works on so many levels! Justice must be metered out by those who are just..... That could be the slogan for the whole recruitment campaign! Just Babe! Just Morgan! Just You!.....".

 

Jess was smirking slightly as she watched her sister get so animated she actually hopped off her seat and started pacing. "Okay, so here's the pitch. I want justice to be done. Not put off. Not brushed or filed away. Just.... done. But it's not. Focus group's tell us that Turian's and Salarian's and Asari can deal with the major crimes but.....". She said holding up her index finger's to the group. ".....They have trouble really identifying with the human mindset to the point that mistakes in the justice system keep cropping up. Things that are offensive to Humans but not to Turian's for example..... We need an influx of human C-Sec officer's because I can tell you, all the acclimation seminar's all non human C-Sec personnel have to attend aren't working. Humans need to work side by side with alien's and vice versa. PROBLEM"! She declared. ".... We dont' have enough humans who want to be officer's. It's a trickle, we need a flood. Something to break the strangle hold the other race's have on C-Sec becasue all the humans who go in are acclimatising to the way the other race's do things. Right now we judge, based on past records..... It will take about twenty years for the institutionalised way of thinking to come around over the course of those years to bring humans up to a level where enough is known about us as a species to allow more effective policing.....".

 

Amy paused dramatically and then announced. ".....We can do better. Pairing up humans with non humans. Problem. We still don't have enough humans. Solution? We make people want to come to C-Sec from other security firms. We entice, advertise, push the benefits and see who shows up at our door and I appreciate this may not go over but it's a simple fact of life that glamorous and handsome people attract more attention on vid screens than plain people do.... Believe me, if that wasn't the case I'd be on screen but my gift's are buried a little deeper down".

 

"What about me"? Jess said raising her hand.

 

"....... Your missing an arm". Amy stated matter of factly.

 

"Hmmph..... Got me there". Jess lowered her hand.

 

"Now I could go to any talent agency and believe me I've got them on speed dial..... But then two people who fit the bill and are completely natural.... not actors. But one who tried to help a woman at the rally and one who, as I understand, defends the ship with the ships guns? Well how can I not see what fate dropped in my lap.... But as has been discussed, I may have come on a bit to strong the first time we met. Sorry, it's just my way. Opportunity in my line of business has a habit of appearing one minute, gone the next. Have to strike while the idea is fresh. While the interest is there. It's not much I'm asking for. Just some time in front of a camera doing commercials to promote C-Sec recruitment. Standard contract's though there's room to negotiate and we can do them to your schedule so you won't be pulled away from your duties. You can even review the footage and see if you like it..... All I need to know is that none of you have any reason why you can't take part in this endeavour. I mean....". She laughed. "It's not like you've killed anyone recently.... Right"?

 

Jess's brow was up and an open grin on her face. "I've been good this week.... How about you Morgan"?

[Kel Riever]

Morgan balled a fist to his mouth, and squinted like he was in pain.

"I have no words," Morgan whispered.

Babe was obviously amused by everything that was going on.  She took in Morgan, Jess' and Dahlia's expressions.  "I give her an A for dedication."

 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia sighed again. "Ms. Babylon, the head of C-sec is a human. Commander Bailey? Where have you been? There are more humans in C-sec than ever before. The Spectre on the ship traveling with us is in a relationship with a human. She's Asari. Things aren't as bad between humans and other races as you're making them out," she said, shook her head, and then turned to Morgan. "Okay, I'll shut up now."

[Redbelle]

"We know all about Bailey.... We put him there at much effort I'd add. Though the influx of other humans isn't as great as you might think and the unifying presence of human and other races aren't there. But its a start. And after we get a foot in and can drive policy its every other race and gender and other we can bring in to make policing all the more effective. But we can talk about that later. All I need to know is, are you willing to be the ones I turned to for my first choice"?

"Heck luv. I'm game".

Amy stared at Jess. "Get a new arm dear. Then we'll talk".

But Jess wasn't finished. "So we heard what you wanted to say.... How about we hear from them what they think? How about you Babe? I think Morgan has concerns.... But how would you bump up C-sec recruitment"?

[Kel Riever]

"Would you, ah, pardon me a moment, Miss Babylon?" Morgan asked.

Babe smiled, relieved she could express her mirth, and rose.  "Why don't you share some of your other ideas with me while we wait?  I'd like to hear more about this Just Babe idea..."  Babe came over to Amy, took her hand, and walked her towards the edge of the cabin, near the elevator, where if someone was quiet, they wouldn't be overheard.  And Babe, of course, watched Amy be so consumed she still wondered if she'd known they'd left the Citadel.

Morgan, with Jess on one side of him and Dahlia on the other, couldn't lean into both, so he leaned back instead, and whispered in an exasperated fashion.  "Okay, how is putting me in a commercial for a human centric political party a good idea for laying low?  How is it a good idea for anything?"  He turned a particularly wary eye towards Jess, who he swore was getting a kick out of his discomfort.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I agree with Morgan. If he wants to lay low it's not a good idea," Dahlia said. "Jess, what exactly do you have up your sleeve?" then she looked at her arm. "Sorry... awkward."