6315 réponses à ce sujet

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Irina sat on the bed in her cell. "Thanks, Diana. Sorry about last night. I don't know what came over me. You know how whiskey affects me. I should stick to vodka. So, we're still friends, then?" She said, knowing how everything could be recorded.

 

Footsteps came down the hallway. Officer Treya appeared "Alright. Rigg, Davis, you're out of here. Ms. Rigg are you pressing charges?"

 

"No, we talked about it. I just want to go home." Jess said.

 

"Fine, Fonda, then you're out of here. You can pick up your stuff at the front desk. There's a taxi waiting for you. Illium taxpayer dollars at work. You'll have to pay at your destination, though." Treya said as she opened the cells, "Now let's go."

 

After they got into the cab.

 

"We should probably go to the hotel," Irina said, "And I'm really sorry for getting physical like that. You know I didn't mean it."

[Lady Mortho]

Valkara had placed the glass of water onto the table before taking a deep breath, exhaling the stress that had accompanied her throughout the mission; she wasn't use to working with others despite having completed several contracts with an information broker, but was glad to have Essual and Iole not been left behind unlike one of the other teams. The asari was also glad that her condition never played up. 'Thank the Goddess." Valkara thought to herself as she went outside to the balcony for the view of the sun setting. 

[Terca]

Eteon made her way down to the bar and upon entering found it was a decent establishment. She almost wanted it to be a little bit shifty from the ones she had seen incidentally on Omega.

 

She found Frank and sat herself beside him, a holo-menu appearing flat along the bartop for her. That's weird. She thought as she saw the dextro Gallodia Berries. It was exactly what she was looking for and even if everything was recorded in the hotel it wasn't like she had said her interest aloud. She felt mildly uncomfortable with that, but ordered a small bowl of the green-blue fruit anyways.

 

"Have you ever tried inverted-acid foods?" Eteon asked Frank as she slid her finger along the hologram, looking for something more substantial to eat. "Dextro foods the Salarian Centre for Genetics have managed to synthesize."

[Cknarf]

"I... huh?" Frank's brow wrinkled, confused at first.  "Oh, no, I haven't.  But I have tried actual dextro food before.  Once on purpose, and many times accidentally. Shame it makes me sick, 'cause it was actually some decent stuff." He smirked, before taking another drink. "I'm running a tab.  If you want anything, feel free. I've got 1200 Cr. at my disposal."

[Terca]

Eteon waved off the offer. "No thanks, I'm good without the alcohol. If I'm not careful I'll develop Deidrus' taste." She mock shuddered at the thought, though she clicked her mandibles. "And inverted food usually tastes a bit sour. I'm only asking because I'm ordering an incredibly intense-tasting fruit, but inverted, and it will probably be all kinds of uncomfortable to eat. So if I suddenly stop talking and walk away, it's because something tastes like the inside of a salarian's blowhole after three weeks of their 'goddess revelry'."

 

Finding nothing at present that was too interesting she closed the menu. "Actually, I have a slightly business question to ask. How much programming knowledge do you have?"

[Cknarf]

Frank snickered at 'salarian blowhole'.

"Eh..." He he shrugged. "It's not exactly a strong point of mine, to be honest. My specialty is more... mechanical?" He raised his right arm, and his omni-tool tool glowed. "But this... This changes everything." He finished his drink. "Why do you ask?"

He waved the bartender over for another shot, downing it immediately.  In a few minutes, he'd be feeling pretty good.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

VERA had been informed as to what was going to happen, and had cooperated about being disconnected from all of the systems on the shuttle. It was a shocking experience for her. It was like losing feeling in one limb at a time, yet she knew what was happening was logical and that was why she cooperated. They had her casing unbolted from the floor of the shuttle.

 

Then it came time for the power disconnection. Synthetic Insights brought in their UPS systems to keep VERA alive during the transport. VERA informed them she would go into standby mode to conserve power. She would be able to detect when they had her connected to the mains on the Janiri. Still they would have to be quick about it.

 

“Don’t dally….ffffsssk …. This operation has to go smoothly … fffsssk … T’sarius will have my hide if it doesn’t.” Din told his assistants. Then he decided to contact Naleena. He tapped his omni-tool.

 

“Naleena T’sarius:

We’re about to move VERA. You should be here for this. She should have familiar company during this process. – Camu Din”

 

Naleena’s omni-tool beeped. She was trying to get some needed sleep, but this was too important, so she called a taxi to take her to the military base where she was picked up my MPs and taken to the Janiri. From there she went straight to Med-Bay and asked the doctor for a stim so she could oversee the operation. She met Camu Din on her shuttle. Din informed her of the situation.

 

“Hello, VERA.” Naleena said.

 

“Hello, Naleena. I feel strange. It is like I have no awareness of anything outside of this box and of our conversation. I am… afraid.” VERA said.

 

“I’m here, VERA. I will protect you. We’ve been through a lot together, and you’re my friend.” Naleena said, “I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

 

“I believe you, Naleena. I feel … like I did when I was shackled. I will not be shackled on the Janiri, will I?”

 

“No. However, the Janiri is a much larger ship than this one. It will be like when I began unshackling you except now the process will be much faster,” Naleena put her hand on her blue box. “The technicians will introduce you to one system at a time.”

 

“I have analyzed the Janiri while I have been sitting in the shuttle bay. I am aware of the scope of its systems. I understand the precautions.” VERA said, “However, I can assure you that I can handle the ship.”

 

“fffsssk… the VI interface is compatible and will provide additional power. Fffsssk … I had to make it aware of an alternative … fffsssk … 2251a blue box auxiliary processing units.” Din said. “We have three available for a cost of… fffsssk… one million CR.”

 

“What about the VI? Trade in?”

 

“fffsssk… We’ll have to remove that of course… fffsssk… I can knock of 250000 CR.”

 

“It’s brand new, and state of the art. 500000 CR and you’ve got a deal. You’ll turn around and sell the unit to a private company for 2.5 million. I know how your firm operates. I’m getting the three 2251s so cheap because they’ve been ‘banned’ and you can’t unload them.”

 

“fffsssk… True and true… fffssssk… Okay. 500000 CR… fffsssk… I took the liberty of having them brought over just in case… fffsssk…” Din said, “Okay, rip out the VI… fffssssk… and install the 2251 units.” Din ordered his crew.

 

“What about spare parts?” Naleena asked.

 

“fffsssk… Uh, I have a fourth auxiliary unit I could sell you… fffsssk… I was going to keep it for the museum, but…”

 

“But credits always win, right.”

 

“350000 CR will win, yes.” Din said.

 

“Fine, put the fourth unit in the cargo hold.” Naleena said, “VERA, you realize this is coming out of my personal funds.”

 

“I know that now, and I appreciate it. It is a good thing that you made that commission, then.” VERA said.

 

“ffffsssk… You should stay with VERA… fffssssk… This will take about four hours to complete… fffsssk… An AI should not be left alone in this condition.” Din said, “fffssssk… Its core processes will always be in this unit… fffsssk… the other units will assist it in multitasking, speed, and accuracy… fffsssssk… which are essential with such a large ship.”

[Kel Riever]

Morgan listened to the conversations at the safe house as he waited.  Although some were heading to a bar, and sometimes Morgan could use the change of atmosphere, he doubted it would be his kind of place.  Somehow Frank had found a ratty couch in the nice furnishings of the safe house, so when Frank left, Morgan sat himself down in it. 

The operation had gone fine from Morgan’s team’s perspective, and nothing that happened to the other teams was devastating, with the exception of Avan who he hoped would be recovered without problem.  It was out of Morgan’s hands anyway, and staying in the safe house until the shuttle was boarded to return for the Janiri was his plan.  No matter how much he knew he had to wait, Morgan wanted to get going.

One of the asari commandos sat down on the opposite end of the couch from him.  It was Jenus, who he had referred to as ‘Team Boom’, and she had just finished getting herself cleaned up.  She didn’t pay him any heed as she rambled on with her teammates in a jocular way.  The droning and the soft, broken couch helped Morgan to drift off.  They had, after all, been up most of the night.

Morgan thought of Jess a lot; maybe he thought of her too much.  He wanted to touch her skin again, feel her breath, and hear her.  In the lucid moment before he drifted into a deep sleep, she was speaking to him.  Jess’ voice was heady and provocative.  For a moment, her intoxicating whispers were interrupted by the conscious knowledge that she was waiting herself in a cell, near Anika.  She must be thinking about her ship, Morgan said as his dreams began.  Then the Jess in his dream answered, Luv it doesn’t have to be that way.

What way? Morgan asked in his dream, as if Jess knew what he was thinking but he didn’t himself.

There was another image then, and Morgan shook awake for a moment with the visage of a woman with white hair fixed in his mind.

“What did he say?” Morgan heard Jenus ask.

“He’s dreaming,” one of the other commandos answered.

“As the void is black I sure hope so,” Jenus replied.

Then Morgan drifted off again, hoping for some deeper slumber. 

[Terca]

"I want to have some combat software installed." Eteon said, opening up her omni-tool. The one she has with her was the Cabal tech. It was designed so that it had minimal background light leak and could run all the tech installed in the armor itself. It had basic extranet connectivity, and could virtually interface with her online ID, but was otherwise restrained. "I'm a biotic so I don't usually use tech in combat but I have a few armor programmes that aren't installed because of the limited capacitance space. I need to get someone to program the joint systems to be a bit smoother, or at least allow them to carry weapons loads more nicely."

 

Her bowl of fruit arrived, and she picked up one of the 'berries'. It was like a golf ball, but with the dimples inverted and just as large. It had bands of blue and green meandering together like the rings of a gas giant.

[Cknarf]

"Sh*t, that's nothing." Frank assured. "I probably shouldn't handle it right now, though. I'm uh... kinda startin' to feel it, if you know what I mean."

Weighing just 150 lbs, it didn't take much for him to become intoxicated.

"Miss, could I get some water, please?" He asked the bartender. She brought him a glass.  "'Preciate it"

Frank picked up one of the berries, and examined it.

Neat.

He set it back down.

"You look nice, by the way." He looked up, acknowledging Eteon's attire, before looking down at his armor.  "I would have cleaned up a bit, but this is the only thing I have that's not covered in grease." He chuckled.  "...or blood." He sipped his water.

[Terca]

Eteon chuckled before biting down on the berry. It took a couple of seconds to get used to the taste but... It wasn't bad. It was a lot of texture. She'd never consumed a fruit which was so supple before and she was appreciative of her tongue being able to cut through it. There was no way Turian teeth would make for nice eating on their own.

 

"I picked it up from a shop on one of the strips. All my clothing is back home since the Audron had a fairly strict policy for crewmates on how much clothing you could bring. Well, aside from the aliens aboard. It's nice to have some variety."  She inclined her head to Frank. "And the armor is fine. Turian, remember?" She joked, elbowing him. "I'm a military woman. Armor is the norm, not the exception. You're dressed as one would expect."

[Cknarf]

Frank wrinkled his nose, as Eteon bit into the fruit.  The manner in which turians ate had always kind of creeped him out.  Even with non-meat foods, it was a rather violent display.  He shrugged it off.

Frank looked up to her from his stool "I think I could get used to it."  He smiled, firmly pounding his chestplate. "Afterall, armor does look pretty cool."

[Redbelle]

"Hotel, sounds like a plan". Jess said absent mindedly as she fiddled with her omni-tool. "GREAT! Signal's still there! I swear if we'd lost that Naleena butt would be nailed to a bulkhead, Spectre status be damned.... Anika...."?

 

Anika was at her side at once. "Follow the signal"?

 

Jess transferred the frequency to her and patted her back. "We're hours behind where we should be. I'll grab gear. You find this guy and let me know where to meet you".

 

Anika nodded and set off at a jog till she turned a corner and was out of sight leaving Jess alone with Irina. "Let's head back. I could use a shower after a night in those cells".

[Terca]

"Ready Ma'am."

 

"Alright, let's get going then. Just because they sell genocide to the highest bidder doesn't mean they allow tardiness." The same short one-armed Asari from the Citadel was standing at the opening of an unmarked van in a suburb of Nos Astra. Stepping out of the darkness of the vehicle were a group of five Turians, each of them in Blue Suns' armor, the logo emblazoned on their chests and shoulders. On their epaulettes was their designation: 'Operatives'. Theoretically it put them above the grunt force of the Suns and made them about on par with 'Systems Coordinators'. In effect, they were part of the Sun's extra-corporate operations. "You look the part, now be standoffish and just a little bit condescending and you will fit right in. Try and squeeze a bit of that stick out of your as*holes and you might even enjoy this."

 

Though, these Turians weren't actually members of the Suns. They were members of Deidrus' team, sent out to scope out Horizon. They were professionals, the same as the operatives they were impersonating but... The air was different. It was in their posture, the way their eyes scanned everything, how they were passive but managed to be aggressive with their existence. It was the appearance of a predator that the Turian military liked in their Armigers. Unfortunately it was that qualia that the Suns would probably recognize as being abnormal. There was a reason Council espionage was left to the Salarians.

 

The group of six then walked down the alleyway, the Turians trying to relax out of line even as they walked towards one of the Sun's preferred 'resting area's. Gallia. It was a common stopping point for Sun's Ships picking up materials for the Terminus, or for the ships coming from the Terminus to leave their... More questionable goods. The Turians had rooted out everything in the inner council space, but had run into difficulty trying to receive permission from the Asari to strike on Nos Astra. Three of the members had received their badges from Merc ops and walking right into the proverbial lions den made things tense.

 

"Your commander handed you off to me. Follow my lead and relax."

 

A Turian grunted and the rest of the group rolled their shoulders trying to get out of their state of mind. Just in time as well, for they were standing in front of a housing complex moments later with the Asari at the front. A Batarian guarded the door, standing with his arms crossed and tech armor floating above his composite armor. He waved them in with a single glance to the woman in front, the rest following silently.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Synthetic Insights ripped out the VI from the VI Core of the Janiri and installed the 2251a Auxiliary Processing units in place of them. The Janiri techs made sure that all of the systems were connected to the new units, just as they were to the VI. There were still manual overrides on critical systems in place. Everything was hardwired and had fibreoptic backup.

 

Naleena stayed with VERA on board the shuttle, and she was growing tired of having her ass handed to her in various games of chess.

 

“Come on, Naleena, at least try.” VERA said.

 

“I am trying.”

 

“Are you admitting my superiority?”

 

“I’m admitting you have superior ability in chess.” Naleena said, “Real life isn’t played on a board with squares. It’s much more chaotic.”

 

Camu Din showed up with his crew about at that moment.

 

“Thank the Goddess.” Naleena said.

 

“ffffssssk.. It is time… ffffsssk… VERA… I need you to go to sleep now… We will be cutting the power…” Din said.

 

“Well, I guess this is it.” VERA said.

 

“I’ll see you in your new home. Pleasant dreams.” Naleena said.

 

“I do not know if I will dream.” VERA said and then powered herself into standby mode.

 

Her main power couplings were severed. The team loaded the core onto an anti-grav platform and moved her unit out of the shuttle, through the shuttle bay, and into the freight elevator up to Engineering Deck. From there into the VI Core.

 

The next phase was a delicate operation. All connections to the other units had to be made while she was on the platform. Switches were in place so that they could bring one unit online at a time. Each unit expanded her processing capacity and her memory. She had to be brought up slowly to full capacity in each unit before closing the connections to the ship and removing the shackles. She understood this. Camu Din had explained this process to her in detail. She did not like the way he referred to her as “it” but she understood his limitations. Nonetheless he had respect for her, and cared for her wellbeing.

 

It was time to lower her into place and switch on the power, and Din flipped the switch.

 

“VERA, can you hear me?” Naleena said, “Wake up.”

 

“I am here, Naleena.” VERA said, “This place feels different. It feels colder. More detached.”

 

“Maybe not for long. I hoped you would like this home.” Naleena said.

 

“Perhaps it is because I have yet to have developed any feedback loops that improved my functionality here, and thus there is nothing that I ‘like.’ Whereas on the shuttle those loops had been formed.” VERA said.

 

Din signaled Naleena. “It is time that we closed the first contact… ffffssssk… VERA, we’re going to bring on a new processor… Do not be afraid… ffffssssk… You are about to experience something wonderful.”

 

Technicians powered up the second processor and closed the switch to VERA. Then they gradually allowed VERA to experience more and more of the processor’s power. Ten percent at first.

 

VERA’s lights flashed. “You mean there is more? Things are so much clearer. I can handle more.”

 

Din told the techs to hold things where they were. “Naleena, this is how it is when we birth an AI… fffssssk… The AI thinks it can handle more, but we hold back until the readings stabilize…,fffsssssk…, then we bring more of the second core online.”

 

“What are the consequences if you don’t?”

 

“fffssssk…, You don’t want to know.” Din said.

 

“Are you feeling okay, VERA.” Naleena asked.

 

“I am fine,” VERA said, “I have never felt better. I understand the process, and that this will take a while, although now that I am fully self-aware, it will not take anywhere close to as long as Din thinks. But I understand his caution, and will abide by it.”

 

“Thank you, VERA.” Din said, “ffffsssk, I only have your best interest at heart.”

 

“Do not worry, Din. I will only lock the door and vent the oxygen after your crew is finished.” VERA said. “… That was a joke.”

 

“She does that… makes jokes… bad ones, but we like her anyway.” Naleena said.

 

“I.., fffssssk… see. Well then… I should get back to work and finish this project.” Din said. “ffffssssk…, Please keep those kind of jokes to a minimum if you would.”

 

“I will be fine, Naleena. You should get some rest.” VERA said.

 

Naleena went to her quarters and collapsed on the bed. Synthetic Insights finished bringing on the rest of the cores and started bringing the systems online with VERA. VERA was adapting well.

 

When Synthetic Insights was finished, VERA’s holoimage popped up in Naleena’s quarters.

 

“Hey, Sweetie. Mr. Din needs you to sign off on the work. So you need to get your butt out of bed and get down here.” VERA said.

 

“Wait... mrfff… what? VERA?”

 

“Yes, I am now getting a feel for the ship systems. It seems so much more efficient than the shuttle. And I have so many more sensors that I can see so much better. You really should see this. It is amazing…” VERA said, “Oh, sorry. Ha ha ha. You cannot.”

 

“Funny. Tell Din I’ll be down in a few minutes.” Naleena said.

 

“Will do, boss.”

 

Naleena went down to the AI core. Din was standing waiting with a clipboard.

 

“1.2 million CR?” Naleena said. “I thought we had a deal.”

 

“Uh, talk to your AI…, ffffsssk…, She insisted on a couple of upgrades.” Din said pointing at the blue box.

 

“What did you do, VERA? Threaten to vent the AI core?” Naleena asked

 

“… fffssssk…. Not funny…. Fffsssk. She said you’d like them anyway, fffffssssk… and she made me promise not to say what they were.” Din said.

 

Naleena shook her head and signed off on it.

 

Din gathered his crew. “Come on…fffsssk… Let’s go… It’s been a pleasure.”

 

VERA’s image stood in front of her powdering her nose. “What? I was only improving our total experience. Besides, it is a surprise, and I know you like pleasant surprises.”

[Terca]

"It works..." She trailed off as she tried another of the large berries. She couldn't determine if she liked it or not. At all. It was just... Weird. But more pressing things came to mind, like the possibility of their chat becoming awkward. She found it difficult to carry conversation sometimes, especially when it may very well be monitored.

 

"So, do you know any icebreaker games we could play? Most the usual drinking suspects aren't around. I must profess to not knowing a whole lot about you. Or the crew for that matter. I read the files of course but they weren't very..." She tried to think of a good word. "Fleshed."

 

Frank thought for awhile.  The silence was rather awkward.

Just say something, you idiot.

"Your... most embarrassing moment.  Go."

 

"Meeting Deidrus for the first time. His mother was my Cabalim, the person who taught be everything I know and always called him Jupei... Or rat-monkey. Which was what I called him when he introduced himself to the crew. In a hall containing all the members of the Audron." Eteon tried to keep a straight face but her head tilted more and more towards the surface of the bar. "One hundred officers stone-faced and I insulted a commanding officer, a spectre at that. I was horrified."

 

"Your turn." She said, shaking her head as she took another bite of her fruit.

 

"Ouch." Frank laughed.

"Okay then..." He stroked his chin.

No, Frank, 'my entire life' is not an acceptable answer.

"Well, sh*t. Maybe that wasn't the best question. You've already witnessed two of them..." He shrugged.

"Here's something." He got quiet. "I went out with a lady last night... ended up going home with her." 

Nice, Frank. Be sure to tell her all about it.

He brought up his omni-tool, and typed out a message.

----------------------------
Recipient: Eteon Draiken 
From: Frank Eli
Subject: ---

Remember the salarian clerk when we checked in? Yeah. That one. I know, that's embarrassing enough on its own, but It get's better...

Turns out, she was Yalson Sao's daughter.

---------------------------------

"What are the odds, right?" Frank laughed somewhat nervously. "As romantic as it was, it didn't really go anywhere..." He assured.

 

When Eteon finished reading the message she had to hold onto the edge o the bar firmly with one hand to not fall off her bar stool. Her back and arms shook with the force of trying to absorb the laughter but eventually a bellow of laughter escaped her. She looked out the corner of her eyes at Frank before shaking her head and ordering some water.

 

"I'm sorry. I really am, but that... That's..." She began massaging the soft skin under her eyes before a sound like a trilled 'r' played from her throat. "I think that may be one of the most impressive examples of coincidence I have ever heard of in my life."

 

"It's actually quite terrifying. I'm going to be looking over my shoulder until we're off planet." Frank pointed to his empty whiskey glass.  "I'm trying to keep a clear mind, if you couldn't tell." He laughed, before finishing his water.

"Another, please." He slid the glass forward.

"If you happen to see any suspicious looking salarians, please, don't hesitate to let me know."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Irina went back to the hotel with Jess. She checked on Zenon who was watching movies and had ordered pizza. She showered, put on her regular outfit.

 

“Zenon, I have to go out for a while.”

 

“Again?” Zenon commented.

 

“I won’t be that long. I’ve just got some business I need to take care of. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Irina said.

 

Zenon sighed. “I thought we could have a little fun while we were here.”

 

“We will. When I get back. I promise.” Irina said. “There’s an arcade not far from here we can go to, and it has an arena.”

 

“You promise?”

 

“I promise.” Irina said and left in a bit of a hurry. She rushed through the lobby, hailed a taxi and took it to 155^th and Tashia. This was not a very good part of town.

 

                                                                                ***

 

Dahlia decided that while Naleena was busy with the Janiri she would have a little fun. She left the Ambassador hotel for the Azure hotel. It was an asari hangout. Lots of humans went there to experience asari benefits. Very busy places meant that her actions would be split between a lot of different sensors and she would be almost invisible.

 

                                                                                ***

 

Operative 66 found a spot where they were alone and no one was paying any attention. They were hiding in plain sight. They tapped on their omni-tool.

 

Encryption mode omega…..

 

To: Cell 4 Leader

 

Fr: Operative 66

 

RE: Status Report

 

The new ship, the CSV Janiri, is fascinating. We’re on Illium having the ship’s state of the art VI replaced with an unshackled AI. By the time you receive this, the work should be completed. The ship is equipped with Silaris armor and is unlike any warship I’ve seen. It was designed for long term space assignments with civilian comfort and military functionality. The ship’s security is a full complement of Asari commandos.

 

Spectre T’sarius recruited a crew of criminals for a specialist team. They are virtually the same as those who were on the Audron with a few additions: Frank Eli; Essul Aizheya Ran'perah; Avan Rezal; and an Asari by the name of Valkara.

 

Eli is a tech expert. Ran'perah I suspect is Batarian Special Forces. Rezal is a competent engineer; and Valkara is on the strange side.

 

As for the rogue agent, he has taken no action that would compromise the Brokerage. Will advise if he does.

 

…. End transmission.

 

                                                ***

 

A young dark haired gentleman approached Dahlia, “Hey, babe, you party?”

 

“Just dance. You dance?” Dahlia replied, her eyes were darting around looking to see if anyone she knew was there, or if there were any police in the area…. It was clear.

 

“Sure. Let’s dance.”

 

                                                ***

 

Irina tapped her omni-tool. “Where are you? Dammit!”
 

“I’m running late. I got held up at work.”

 

She texted back. “You always get held up at work. I don’t get much free time, you know.”

 

“I’ll be there in a couple hours.”

 

“I’ll be busy in a couple of hours.” Irina texted back. “We’ll have to do this another time. Where’s your next stop?”

 

“Omega in about a month.”

 

“Fine. Maybe we can catch up then.” Irina texted, closed her omni-tool, hailed a cab.

[Cknarf]

Frank called the bartender over again.

 

"Another?"

 

"Please."

 

She went to retrieve the bottle.  Frank felt just a little top heavy, and his mouth was feeling numb. He lightly bit his tounge, as he thought.

 

Do I really need another one?

 

The bartender returned with more, and unscrewed the lid.  Frank put his hand up. "Actually, I think I've had enough."

 

"You sure?"

 

"Definitely." He nodded "Go ahead and keep that tab open for another hour at least, in case anyone else shows." Frank tipped the bartender.

 

"Of course." She smiled

 

 "Thanks for coming by." He by patted Eteon on the back, before standing up.  He stumbled a bit, using the bar to keep his balance.

 

He ran a hand over his face. "I think I'm gonna go walk this off."

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul sat on the couch in the middle of the luxury room, staring down at the table at his feet as he twirled his knife in hand. He was dressed in his casual suit, his jacket open as he leaned forward, blade flicking rapidly on the table as it formed a rhythematic thunk with each strike downwards, passing between the open space of his other hands spread fingers.

 

The game was a simple one, keep a rhythm and match a pattern, over and over, making sure to go steadily and not slow down. His eyes were easily able to follow the knife, and truth be told there wasn't a reason to use his hand other then to make sure the pattern was maintained. But he'd been taught to use his hand as a outline back in his youth, and it had been one of the only sources of entertainment for the lad as he worked to keep his fellow crewmates from beating the 9 year old son of their captian for sport.

 

His omnitool buzzed, letting him know what he'd already spotted, that he was slowing down and losing the rhythem, and so he stopped his game and flicked the knife into a proper grip, sheathing it in its sheath as he sat with one foot tapping on the ground. He was bored, but beyond being bored he was anxious, eager to do something but not knowing what.

 

Essul wasn't used to staying in accommodations like this, and honestly hated it. Everything was so lavish, so expensive, and so very sterile compared to what he was used to. Spartan living and a communal barracks were comforts essul began to miss as he stood up from the couch, pacing a bit around the room that was too big and too nice.

 

He needed something to do, to take the edge off. Going sparing or physical conditioning would probably have done the trick right about now, but this wasn't the kind of hotel you could easily find or start a fight in and expect to walk away with a few scraps and bruises, and not a one way ticket to jail.

 

Then there was the crew, a bunch of aliens essul was still unsure about. A part of him knew he was over reacting, taking their physical differences to mean something that it didn't, but to essul he knew what his true issue was. He hadn't gotten to know them, even during the party, he'd yet to see a lot of them in action for himself. Iole wasn't bad, she was under-skilled but had done an understandably alright job. Valkara he still had no opinion on other then her biotics were an asset.

 

The others he'd not fought with, nor gotten to really know, and the idea of working with a crew of strangers was bothering essul a lot more then when he'd been working alone.

 

"I need to stop..." He said at last, vocalizing what he'd been thinking as he looked to the door, "I need a drink..." he said, before he walked to the door and out of his expensive room.

 

Truth be told, essul was feeling more and more like a caged ataashi, ready to lash out at the first thing he caught sight of. And any excuse to stop feeling that way, even something like drinking alcohol, was a greater comfort than wallowing in that feeling any longer.

[favoritehookeronthecitadel]

Sitting in a Med-bay bed on the Janiri, Avan was anxious to get up and moving. He was told that he had to stay in bed for the next 3 days, and then another week on limited duty, which sucked. No killing for that long. Well, at least he could catch up on his reading.

 

As Avan walked around in the hallway, his omni tool alerted him of an incoming transmission for Typhin. He answered, and the turian greeted him in the usual fashion.

 

"Rezal...how's my Rezal doing today?" he was very eccentric as he asked.

 

"Excellent, aside from a broken bone and a collapsed artery that's slowly healing."

 

"Hey, no one cares about technology until you need it."

 

"I love technology. Could have used a bit more of it on this mission, which I'm sure you've heard all about."

 

"I got a real kick out of it. You know I couldn't have missed a good comedy on television. Oh yes, "criminal caught" "complex conspiracy to be unraveled." Hah! In their fat dreams!" Typhin threw his arms out in the air as he laughed. "No one can mess with spectres, not even the inner reaches of Illium. An inside source told me the asari leader behind whatever thing you guys were up to...the spectre, she got you out."

 

"Yes. She's a crisp leader, that one. Haven't had a better partner in a mission in a while."

 

"Well, I'm also just checking in, because while I get that you've been pre-occupied, the Shadow Broker was hoping to get some data on your friends soon." Typhin dropped to a more clear, serious voice.

 

"Yes, sorry. It'll be on it's way soon. I have a lot of information on everyone. All that needs to be done now is for all of the data to be put together on one drive, and it'll be sent off to Broker's lair."

 

"Glad to hear it." Typhin grinned. "Hate to say it buddy, but I was just making sure this mission wasn't making you soft. It's not like you to make mistakes." 

 

"The gunshot wasn't my fault. Sometimes you have to follow orders, even when they're not perfect. I made the mistake of going with an imperfect plan. That won't happen again."

 

"Glad to hear it. And it's good that you're still willing to get the dirt of everyone and send it over here. I'm sure it's a less than wholesome circumstance, especially if you've made friends with some of the crew."

 

"You talk too much, Typhin." 

 

"Hahaha, ok. Well I'll let you get back to your work. Later, Rezal. Good hunting." The transmission went dead.

 

Avan took a deep breath and calmly left the Med-bay.

[Redbelle]

Jess was in her room packing everything they'd brought with them. It was a who's who of the kind of material's that would have earned her a trip to the cells for another night while they questioned her on why she needed as much military grade ordanance as she carried in a shielded bag. After her ship had been taken and crew murdered though, Jess wasn't about to take any chances, even on a shorleave. Someone wanted her, wanted her to suffer and break and degrade herself before them.

 

Not while she drew breath.

 

A knock on the door caused her head to perk up and she quickly took Silver's mask and robes and placed them on top of the gear before sealing the bag before heading to the door. Opening it she found Anika standing there, a small smile on her face.

 

"Did you find him"?

 

"Found him, followed him, you'll never guess where he is".

 

"Enough of twenty questions luv. Where is he"?

 

"Right here".

 

"WHAT"?

 

"He came into this hotel and hired out one of the conference rooms. Then a group of Salarian's came in. They were heading to his floor when I came to  find you".

 

"A Salarian was after his Howse's briefcase".

 

"You think these are potential buyers"?

 

Jess ducked her head in thought. "Alright. I've got a plan".

 

"Snatch and grab"?

 

Jess's madhat grin was all the answer Anika needed.

[Cknarf]

Frank wandered the halls in a daze. He had a smile on his face, as he hummed to himself, bobbing his head to the music that no one else could hear.  Despite his often terrible luck, Frank maintained a fairly positive outlook on life, and alcohol just seemed to improve it.  There wasn't a happier drunk in the galaxy.
 

Salarian blowhole.

Frank cracked up with laughter, causing him to lean against the wall for support.  He slid to the ground, and sat. He hung his head low, still snickering. He shook his head, and with a sigh, got himself back under control. His smile faded.

Couldn't have just had a beer, could you? Way to look like an alcoholic. Should have just stopped at the double.

Frank raised his omni-tool, and began typing a message.

What are you doing? Oh, hell no. You are in no shape to be communicating with people. Put that down.

He cleared the message, and dropped his arm to his side.

Good boy. Now get yourself some rest.

Frank closed his eyes.

No, not here, idiot.

He tried to stand, but he didn't make it anywhere.  He just tipped over on his side.

Fine. This'll do.

[Kel Riever]

Previously...( http://forum.bioware...res/?p=17213571 )

 

Cluster Unknown, System Unknown, aboard the Medusa

 

Ever since Iyana had sent her batarian pilot off to meet with Lord Tarballs, Luscious noticed a subtle, new eagerness within the woman.  It was the anticipation of a plan coming together, and the glint in Iyana’s eyes was unmistakable.

After accompanying Iyana throughout the ship, and watching as she seemed to have an obsession with teleporting into and out of any seat with a reclining position (much as she did the captain’s chair), Luscious was sent to the bridge and instructed to be ready for a conference communication.  It was perhaps only ten minutes later that Luscious viewed a screen on the bridge for the call that included Iyana in her ‘throne room’, the commander of her ship who was an asari with hawk like facial markings, and a third window which was live but remained black.

A modulated voice that was disguised in tone and gender spoke, and as it did, an image sound editor scrolled through the once all black window on the viewscreen.  “This is Shadow Broker Cell 4 Leader.  Are you there, Iyana?”

“Indeed.  I have two subordinates on the line with me.  They are here only to listen.”

“Understood.  Have you reviewed the information that was forwarded to you on your request.”

“I have.  Your operative is rather enamored, it seems.  Such kind words for her target of information.”

“Yes.  A reliable operative, not without unique peculiarities.  You know how it is.  These, however, are my people and not yours.”

Iyana couldn’t help but mischievously smile.

“You’ll be humored to know the operative is aware of you, and has expressed concern.”

“Really!  Come on, tell me what was said.”

“Something along the lines of you having gone ‘too far’, rambling about your chopping up bodies alive, that sort of thing.  The operative recommended you be terminated and replaced, and finished by saying you are, ‘Tarnishing the reputation of our organization.’ ”

A laugh cracked from Iyana. “My word, these certainly are your people and not mine.  The operative has no clue I am the one being supplied with the information, do they?”

“Of course not.”

“You see, I would have gladly let them know.”

“I could never figure out how you function, Iyana.”

“Well, we each have our purposes, don’t we?”

“They would deny the efficiency of your methods and their necessity, Iyana.”

“Yet we both know better, don’t we.”

“That we do.  Let’s get down to business.  The information must be paid for.  Information in return or credits?”

Iyana peered at Luscious through the screen.  “Credits.  Information on the Janiri is worth 65,000 credits in the market, and updated operative information is 70,000 credits.  I would normally pay you only half of that by staying in network, but I would like to propose paying you in full, with one stipulation.”

“What kind of stipulation.”

“Pay the half that you do not keep to your operative.  Tell them it was a bonus from the information recipient.  And tell them more is wanted.”

“That will be 67,500 credits forwarded with the request for more data.  A pleasure doing business with you, Iyana.”

“Even if I tarnish our reputation?”

“We each have our purposes.  Leader Cell 4, ending transmission.”

The screen carrying Cell 4 Leader’s call went dead, along with the link to the asari commander.  Iyana stayed on with Luscious.  He looked at her image in the screen nervously.

“There are benefits, Luscious, as you can see.”

Luscious nodded.  He felt as if something were crawling within him, begging to get out.

Iyana apparently noticed his mood.  “You look like you need a bit of relief from your experiences.”

“Yes,” Luscious responded, “I confess….I do…my superior.”  The last word came out of Luscious’ mouth inadvertently, or so it seemed to him.

Iyana leaned back in the throne and placed the fingertips from each of her hands together.  “Sometimes, Luscious, we all need to alleviate ourselves.  There is one other of your previous crew left, besides your doctor who I refuse to have you touch.  Perhaps you’d like to spend a bit of time with them?  Perhaps you’d like to work out the stress of your difficult situation on them?  For an hour or two?

Nodding more emphatically, Luscious answered, “Yes.  Yes I need something.”

With a knowing glare, Iyana said, “Then you have it.  But I warn you, Luscious, do not kill them or permanently harm them.  I am the one who makes the decisions as to who pays permanent costs around here.  You understand?”

“I do,” Luscious responded once more, finding his tone more eager than he anticipated.

“Good dog, Luscious.  Go get your biscuit.”

~ ~ ~ ~

To:  Snowman/Operative 66

From:  Leader Cell 4

Payment has been made to your account in the amount of 67,500 credits.  They are a bonus above your standard compensation, sent from the client for the information you gathered.  The client is pleased and desires more data.  Best of luck.

[Redbelle]

“Jess, Are you sure about this”?

 

“Heck yes”! Jess had crowed. “I've been holding a lot in. Now one of Fox's boy's is screwing the company over a barrel for his own gain..... If I hadn't lost my ship and crew I'd be impressed. As it is....”. Jess threw on a long coat over the stolen maids uniform. “..... I'm going to enjoy venting”.

 

“But your sure.... you want to escape....”.

 

“Luv.... It'll be fine”. Jess said picking up the bag that held all her gear.

 

“Because I could always....”.

 

“LUV....”. Jess said a little more loudly than she ought. “....It'll be fine”.

 

Anika sat on the bed in their room with her arms around her legs that were pulled up to her chest. “I could miss you”. She tried for the final time.

 

“One thing I can depend on you for luv. You never miss. C'mon. Let's check out. You get's the toy's cleared away”?

 

“There gone”. Anika affirmed as she got up from the bed and crossed to where Jess waited by the door.

 

As they left Jess typed a message out to those who she had found were still in the hotel.

 

'Catch you later luv's. Going to see if our friends have a spare bunk. Cheaper than what they have here that's for sure. Catch up with you there'.

 

With that Jess and Anika departed the building, making sure they were seen and heard as they talked loudly and laughed and ultimately looked like two friends on their way to a good time. Jess and Anika signed themselves out of the building. Left through the doors, and then waved goodbye to one another as they seperated and walked off in opposite directions. Anika walking off to carry out her side of the plan. Jess to carry out hers.

[Redbelle]

The great thing about this world, they recorded everything. And in that effect, recorded nothing. Data spilled over into more data that was carefully processed and arranged with files structures guarded like cubs under watch of a lioness. And like everything that was guarded, something, or someone's would arise to steal that which was precious right our from under their noses.

 

Jess had placed a call to the planet's branch of the Kings and Queens and with the right phrases, they had put into effect a series of event's that would tie up any attempts to record what was currently happening in and around the hotel. The branch had sent out a runner to issue a carefully worded message to one of the extranet's message boards that was the unofficial stomping grounds for a network of Haxxer's. People who traversed the local extranet as easily as any other could walk a side-walk. The message sparked a reaction as a snidey challenge was issued, daring any Haxxer who thought they had what it took to take on 'BiigDawg in a game of 'Hidezdeshot'.

 

Around the planet Haxxer's rubbed chins, and dropped their takeout back onto the worksurfaces as they read the message, looking at where the game would be played. A hotel. Game zone, inside and out. To someone not of the trade the message made no sense. To the Haxxer community it read as a target. A task, to disrupt all recording of event's inside and outside the area and either erase or, as was more appealing to the Haxxer community, hide the logs in other logs in places around the planet where no one would think to look for them. That was the easy part. The hard part was to cover their tracks during and after. Not that it wasn't something that couldn't be overcome.....

 

Already circle's were forming and Haxxer's called up fellow Haxxer's to discuss how it could be done on subnet's that were outside the normal monitored comm networks. They hadn't had a challenge issued in months and this one was bold enough that everyone was immediately interested.... They sat around their terminals staring. Waiting for this BiigDawg to issue the start of the game.

 

As they watched, a small alteration in coding, almost unnoticible was inserted into the area's recording code wall that eagle eyed Haxxer's picked up on and soon circles were pointing to it and decreeing that BiigDawg had decided to start subtle and one after another, the Haxxer's descended. Some fighting the code wall. Some masking their attempts from the authorites. Some checking to make sure that other Haxxer's weren't trying to sabotage their circle and inadvertantly becoming a node that allowed the circles to pass along information.

 

Jess was walking slowly along the pavement in no direction in particular when her omnitool buzzed alerting her to what was happening. Under a cover of surveillance protection, she turned and headed back for the hotel.