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[Cainhurst Crow]

Menos walked through the crowd at the edge, his short height and lithe frame allowing him to slip through various people who were more focused on the concert then those around them. His eyes glanced around the crowd and the stage, making his way towards the front as he suddenly caught movement in the dim lights, someone coming towards him.

 

Menos side stepped them, reaching out with his arm and he grabbed hold of the person who held a cup of liquid in his hand, and shoved as hard as he could. The human seemed surprised and went off course into some others, menos moving through the throng of people as he heard the songs chorus repeat once more. He had to move, and fast, as he left whatever scene was behind him to sort itself out as he finally found a break from the crowd and looked up towards the backstage area, and spotted Naomi standing there.

 

Menos looked around, the song was blaring, and the crowd were staring at the band, nobody seemed interested in back stage. The salarian took a risk, and activated his cloak, the lights from the front stage helping to mask it as he broke from the crowd and made his way towards the backstage area. One could probably hear his footsteps before he suddenly decloaked, standing in front of Naomi, and working to catch his breath.

 

"Held breath...while sprinting...that was dumb...so dumb..." Menos said as he shock his head, looking up towards Naomi with a raised brow,  "You..alright?" he asked, working and catching his breath.

[TheMajonese]

"Holy sh*t!", Naomi shouted out and reached for her rifle only to realize that she had left it in the skycar. Then she recognized Menos and relaxed a bit. "Hey, can you please try not to scare the sh*t out of me like this next time? I almost had a heartattack...but I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking!" Being able to stop the bad acting really was a relief for Naomi. "I have something that might be interesting for...wait a second..." It took her a moment to note that Menos shouldn't be inside the hall as the concert was sold out. "How did you even get inside? Are the others here as well or is it just you?"

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Me, Early Bird, and the Boss scored tickets. They're in here as well." He said

[TheMajonese]

"And where is...?", Naomi began to ask but then interrupted herself when she saw her brother making his way to her and Menos. "Nevermind, there he is."

 

Chris seemed a bit out of breath when he approached them. "I completely forgot how hard it is to get through the crowd at a concert, especially when a punk band is playing! Where are the others? Arcadia and Kurik?", he asked Menos and looked around for them. 

 

"Hey brother, I hope you haven't forgotten about our bet. I did much better than you had expected me to", Naomi said with a broad grin and gave her brother a wink. "So while you were having a siesta outside the concert hall I found out something that might interest you. Our little asari biker is Tolema, art designer of the Seirenes, she's the one who set her bike on fire, wears a black riding suit, is the lead singer's girlfriend, thinks that I'm just another fan of the Seirenes and right now she's behind that door", Naomi pointed at the door to the backstage area, "with a krogan guard, waiting for the band to finish their concert. Not bad, isn't it?", she asked with another wink.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

While the last song was playing, Darya made her way to the stairs and went down to the main level. The crowd was pretty much oblivious to her, as she made her way through them to Naomi's last known position.

 

When she saw Naomi, she signaled to her that she'd stay out of sight just in case Tolema recognized her from the hotel.

[J.Ezra]

"What can she do?" responded Juric."Not sure you can stare someone to death, well, maybe if your Isis." He looked at Tolema who seemed rather distracted. "You all right?"  A roar went up from the crowd causing both of them to glance towards the area where the stage was. Juric honestly hadn't though much of the girl they had let through but she seemed to make Tolema act a little odd. Ah well, the show was almost done and he didn't have to anything for the rest of the night. Not until the band left at least, that was when most fans tried to get close.

[Kel Riever]

"THANK YOU, CITADEL!"

The booming appreciation from Aoide was answered by three thousand enthusiastic voices.  Several picks and another pair of drumsticks went into the crowd, the last gestures to signal the show was finally done and then the band was heading off the stage without pause, heading for the door that Juric guarded.  Yellow jacket security rotated to keep the fans from pressing in on the band, even Juric.

Aiode raised a brow as she saw 'Michelle' with Chris and Menos, presuming they were the friends talked about earlier.

With a sudden burst of laugher, Aoide put an arm around Tolema and motioned for the three to follow.  “Come on!”  The yellow jackets, seeing the three were with the band, made sure to keep them within the band cordon.

Kuric didn’t make it, encountering a challenge he hadn’t expected along the way.  Cadi wasn’t around, but Darya heard her on the com, “We’re following I take it.  I’ll pull a skycar around for us.”

Ganar Juric was along for the ride as well.  He was as good as it got among the security personnel so when it came to the band, he went everywhere they did until they were safe in their hotel room.  On a night like this, his security didn’t stop at their door either, as post concert would likely prove to be quite eventful.

Everyone whisked along through the backstage door, along the hallway to the hall’s rear exit, and out.  Awaiting the band was a full sized airbus, painted black with an off-center turian skull painted in white on each side, as well as the band’s name.  It was everything one would expect in a tour bus on the inside as well.  Luxury décor with the majority of the space dedicated to the comfort of the band and its passengers included a long table and couch near a wet bar, moving to what was a traveling lounge near the middle of the bus, and then the very rear of the bus was closed off to a space presumably for privacy. 

The drummer and the turian synth player wasted no time heading to the bar and making drinks for themselves.  Kogo, perhaps a permanent frown attached to his face, headed to the lounge and planted himself on a large chair apparently made just for him.  And the guitarist, her name now known as ‘Isis’ (from Juric's reference and several shouts heard by fans on the way) involved herself in business with the only previously not met member who boarded the bus, a drell who appeared to be the manager.  They sat at the long table.

Aoide practically dragged Tolema (who seemed not to mind it) to the lounge, where they flopped onto a sofa.  Aoide lay sideways along its length, holding her head up with her arm, while Tolema sat up with her lower back against Aoide’s abdomen, stretching out her arms across her partner.  Tolema cast a cautious eye towards the group, but Aoide seemed very much at ease.

“So what’s your name again?” Aoide asked Naomi.  Then pointed to the Menos and Chris, “And you two also?  I hope you’re ready for some fun, because we don’t do boring in Seirenes.”  Aiode spread a wide, mischievous grin.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Darya stood in the shadows, but was close enough to overhear the conversation. She ducked back out of earshot and got on her communicator to Arcadia.

 

"It looks like the group is going with the band for a party somewhere. I don't want to blow their cover. Tolema might recognize me from the hotel," Darya said. "Get a dark colored skycar and meet me at one of the service exits in the back of the concert hall. We'll tail them."

[TheMajonese]

Everything had happened too fast for Chris to react properly and since he didn't even know what was going on now he just decided to keep quiet and pretend to have a look around the bus while carefully listening to everything that was said.

 

Naomi placed her elbows on the backrest of one of the sofas and showed a shy smile. "My name is Michelle..." Chris almost let out a surprised What? but he was able hide his feelings well enough to maintain the cover. Then his sister pointed at him. "That's Aaron...and the salarian over there is Kuris..." The look Naomi gave them was an unambiguous demand for them to play along. "I hope you don't mind if Aaron doesn't talk much, he's not the brightest...but he's actually quite okay once you get to know him."

 

Chris glared at his sister and let out a short grunt. Naomi understood how he meant it but it perfectly underlined what she just had told Aoide about him. 

 

With a look at the band's lead singer and a sheepish smile Naomi said: "Having fun sounds great...but I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with you guys...I'm not used to parties and stuff, you know?" 

 

For a second Chris looked at her in disbelief before turning away again. It really was a challenge to hold back his laughter about Naomi's last sentence. For someone who didn't know her it wasn't that easy to see through Naomi's acting but for Chris it was more than obvious. Naomi and not used to parties were two things that just couldn't be used in one sentence. He also recognized every little unusual movement and the unnatural tone in her voice that showed that Naomi wasn't feeling comfortable in her role as naive fan girl. But from what he had seen so far she was doing a great job.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Technically, My names Garrot Vis Heranon Mal Charton-Haymoss Doitzel Presca Kuris..." Menos said, reciting one of the false names he'd used on past operations with STG, minus the Kuris part, with enough confidence that few would ever think he was lying through his teeth. He leaned back as he cupped his hands together, grinning as he did so, "But most people who aren't salarian have a hard time remembering that, so please...call me Kuris." He said with a tip of his head. He'd assumed fake roles and persons before, this time was no different, just with a bit more improve to work on.

 

"Gotta say Michelle, you really outdid yourself. I mean, us, here, now! It's amazing..." Menos said as he looked towards naomi with a grin, slipping into the role he assumed he was suppose to play as a blown away fan, "To think, I almost skipped this concert for bar hopping." He said as he looked towards the others, "No offense and all. Kinda the first time I've heard your music at proper volume."

[J.Ezra]

Juric had been the last one to board the bus, having ushered the group quickly on before too many fans appeared around the exit. He hadn't expected there to be many people waiting but wasn't willing to find out how long it took the more hardcore fans to come looking.

 

As much as he enjoyed the after parties it was always difficult to let the band cut loose but also keep an eye on them. While they were all able of handling themselves there was little one them could do if they got surrounded by avid fans, all clamouring for attention. It wasn't the keeping the fans back part which was hard but rather allowing the band to actually party without him hawking them.

 

Taking a seat just down from where Tolema and Aoide lay Juric watched the new guests closely, sizing the newcomers up. There was Michelle and then the other two, a Salarian  and another human. "Your lucky, not many fans go from asking for help to getting to go on the bus." he said looking at the group. "Just as well you had that accident eh?" this was addressed to 'Michelle'. "Guess there's an upside to some injury's" 

[Kel Riever]

Darya and Arcadia

Darya could move quickly, even through a crowd. Quicly enough, in fact, that she got outside to the skycar landing area and had to wait a minute for Arcadia to touch down. It worked out fine as the dark green X3M was able to find an early landing spot in what quickly became a waiting line for a free space. Also, when Darya got in and they took off, it was evident that they had not lost the band's bus. Arcadia has switched to manual control, and shadowed the bus at a fairly safe distance.

Arcadia put in a call to Kurik, who she'd lost track of in the rush to get out. "Kuri, come in. This is Cadi. We're following the band in their bus. I haven't heard from you. Are you all right?"

Kurik's voice came back over the com, "Affirmative. Proceed as you will. We shall meet at another...time." The last word from Kurik seemed unusually drawn out.

Kurik

Around Kurik, the world started melting. He knew it was the effect of whatever was splashed on him. Kuric had anticipated having at least an hour before the effects of anything potentially harmful kicked in on him. He was sorely and incorrectly optimistic in his judgment.

On the Seirenes Bus

Kogo had found an appreciation for cigars somewhere, though to be fair, a cigar made for a krogan wasn't exactly like a cigar made for any other species. Krogan 'cigars' were no longer made on Tuchanka, that wasteland of a planet, though centuries ago they had been. The habit had gone dead until an enterprising salarian and asari firm had found a suitable plant life to farm and rekindled the desire for krogan cigars, although it was still considered to be a rather eclectic luxury. And very much like Ryncol, you wouldn't want to be a non-krogan and try one. On account of it being akin to breathing the smoke off a bonfire. Akin, fortunately for anyone else in the room, did not actually entail the actual volume of smoke from a bonfire. The thick, stubby krogan cigar's smoke was fairly minimal considering its size and carried off by a ventilator fan provided next to Kogo's chair for just such a purpose.

Aiode seemed to weigh the three outsiders in her mind, then as relaxed as she had appeared lying on her couch, she suddenly sat, then stood up, forcing her asari partner forward uncomfortably for a moment. Aoide, still in her full stage outfit with boots that looked like they were meant for working in a metal fabrication plant, put one heel on the couch next to Menos and looked like she was going to lecture the three with a wry smile. "Juric over there is right. You better not tell anyone where we're going those lines about not listening to the music at proper volume..."

"...or that this is your first Seirenes concert," Tolema jumped in.

"Really?" Aoide seemed surprised, then laughed raucously. She then turned around and dropped to squeeze herself between Menos and Chris on the couch. "Definitely don't say that! I can't tell you how many people would blow their crests with all the people outside who'd want to be in her instead. They can go to the void for all I care. I like you three." She ran her fingers rapidly through Chris' hair, before calling towards the front of the bus, "Are you done in there yet, Isis?"

"F**k no," the shout came back from the guitarist. She got up with the tumbler of liquor she'd mixed for herself, and leaned against the jutting partition separating the kitchen area from the lounge. "But I can blow it off until tomorrow. Late tomorrow, that is."

"Then let's educate these people for the few minutes they've got before we arrive."

The guitarist looked nonchalantly at Naomi, Chris and Menos before tossing back her drink. "Sure," she said, then use voice activation for the sound system to cue up the latest Seirenes music. "Music. Seirenes. Death March." Immediately, the bus was filled with the sound of the band again, although this time it was pre-recorded.

Isis fell down onto the couch next to Tolema in the spot vacated by Aoide and leaned against her. Tolema, for her part, didn't protest, but silently watched as Aiode took a liking to the newcomers.

[TheMajonese]

Chris thought it was time to get a sense of what Tolema was thinking. "I don't know if you already heard of it but during the concert someone appeared with a bike on the landing deck and then after setting it on fire he or she immediately disappeared again."

 

"Why would someone do this?", Naomi commented.

 

"I have no idea", Chris replied with a shrug, "but it was quite a spectacle." He turned to Aiode. "Are your fans always like that? Burning things and stuff, you know..." While speaking he completely avoided looking at Tolema and trusted in Naomi to observe the asari's reaction if there was any.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Arcadia maintained a safe following distance behind the bus.

 

"I would have gone with them, but I think Tolema got a good look at me at the hotel," Darya said, and made a hand sign. "She made this sign at me as she rode off. It's an Asari equivalent of this."

[Kel Riever]

Darya and Arcadia

Cadi glanced over and twisted her mouth in dissatisfaction.  “Obviously whoever that rider was tried to make a point.  Or has a point and some issues.”

The ride from the point of view of the two tailing the bus was mostly uneventful, but their ability to directly follow ended as the skybus pulled into somewhere around the thirtieth floor of a skyscraper hotel, above the low atmosphere of the ward.  It was a VIP entrance, and apparently the only vehicle being let in at the time was the bus, much to the chagrin of some other, more obvious shadows, such as at least two skycars that looked like paparazzi or fans.  Security forced those two cars to veer away before being able to pass through the bay doors.

“What now?” Arcadia asked Darya.  “We could pull into the hotel normally, and try to work our way up there internally.  Or perhaps you have a better idea?”

on the Seirenes bus

“Well, Aaron, you ask a good question for someone who’s friend says he isn’t ‘the brightest’,” Aoide teased and threw the leg next to Chris over his knee. “It isn’t the first time something’s gone up in flames around here.”

Tolema raised a brow but it didn’t appear to Naomi or Menos that it was over how Aoide was acting, but more in response to the topic.  “No one here is a stranger to breaking things,” Tolema interjected.  “Isis breaks a guitar every other show and Aoide makes a hobby of breaking hearts.”

Isis casually raised her middle finger, and Aoide laughed again.  “My girl is a great righter of wrongs,” Aoide replied.  “Its why I keep her around.  I wouldn’t know what to do without her.”

With a smirk and a nod at the comment, Tolema replied, “I can’t sing or play an instrument.  What else am I supposed to do?”

“The art on my next custom rig,” Isis said.  “When the hell are you going to get started on that?”

“Soon as you build it, wise ass.”

“Details, details.”

From the front, the pilot called out, “We’re here.  Deck’s cleared.  You’re good to go in.”

“Time for a party,” Aoide relished, getting herself up suddenly once again.  “Let’s get on with this.”
 

[Kel Riever]

Disembarking from the skybus onto a 'cleared deck' didn't exactly mean no one was around to greet the band. A small crowd, able to be handled by 'only' four security in hotel uniform blue coats, had gathered of people who knew (or claimed to know) the band in one way or another. There were promoters, the manager's aid, the hotel manager, at least five representatives of music news outlets, various local friends, and some other VIPs that had been favored into the affair. All greeted everyone coming off the bus with enthusiasm. Even the non-band members got some sort of appreciation, whether Juric as their bodyguard, Tolema, or the Stormhammer members. After all, they must have been important somehow.

Aoide greeted all. Kogo stood everyone off. And the rest of the band members registered somewhere else between the two extremes. Of note, there were no recording devices present, whether camera drones or even activated omni-tools. The whole group moved inside like a small, constantly shifting mass, led by the hotel manager who brought them the very short distance to a suite on the same floor. When the door opened, it was clear from the lowered, colored lights and sound of people inside that the event had already started. Of course, when the band made their entrance, there were cheers and the atmosphere electrified.

Passing through the door revealed an extravagant and spacious suite that stared out through thick, tinted glass onto the wards below. Long sofas and tables covered in refreshments adorned the room, a kitchen was in full use by a caterer, and two waitresses moved about, delivering plates of treats. Music was playing, though it wasn't Seirenes that came over the waves, but other bands that they likely enjoyed. Twenty more bodies added to those who entered and made the area feel full, but not crowded. One point of note was the diversity of species present. A hanar floated in conversation with a drell taking comfort in a plush chair. Three turians were speaking with an elcor near the windows. Two salarians were speaking about something technical and in depth with a volus. For a moment, it seemed the band forgot about Chris, Menos and Naomi as they came in and said hello to everyone.

Tolema didn't hide much the fact that she seemed to search for someone, then sighed as she didn't find them. She went with Aoide at first, but it wasn't long before she excused herself and made her way to one of the short hallways leading towards the back rooms of the suite.

[TheMajonese]

Now that Aoide and the other band members were busy with the people at the party the three stormhammer members finally had a chance to talk without having to worry about anyone listening. After making sure that nobody was around Chris approached Menos and Naomi.

 

"So what's the plan?", he wanted to know from his sister but when he saw the look on her face Chris couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You don't even have a plan, do you?"

 

Naomi gave him an annoyed look. "Hey, I got us to this party, so how about something like Well done, Naomi! Good job, Naomi! You really outdid yourself, Naomi!? Besides I told you earlier that I will figure something out!" It was obvious that she had no clue on how to proceed from here.

 

Letting out a sigh Chris looked around and spotted Tolema heading towards the back rooms. "Tolema just went into one these hallways, she might be alone now. We have to keep an eye on her but not all three of us, that would look suspicious. I will stick to Aoide to distract her a bit and maybe I can educe some more useful information from her. And one of you should have an eye on their krogan bodyguard."

 

With a shrug of her shoulders Naomi looked at Menos. "I could hang out with the krogan but if you don't want to deal with Tolema I would do it instead, so what do you say?"

[Cknarf]

[Click]

 

Unknown store.

 

Kurik held his hand in front of his face, and slowly brought the tips of his talons together.

 

"Hah."

 

He opened his hand again.

 

"Hah!"

 

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

 

"What's he doing?"

 

"Hell if I know. He's been like that for about 20 minutes now."

 

"Well, get him outta here. He's scaring away all of my customers."

 

"Yeah... you don't pay me nearly enough to deal with that.  You're on your own this time, boss."

 

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

 

"Haaaaa...."

 

"Heyyyy, buuuuuddy!"

 

Kurik froze, and slowly turned his attention to the wiggly-armed human that was standing next to him. 

 

"Yooooou need to leeeeave. I'm losiiiiin--"

 

"Shhhhhhhhhh" Kurik shushed him, putting a talon to the human's lips, as well as his own beak. "Waaaatch thiiiiissssss." Kurik carefully brought up both hands, and locked his talons together.

 

"Haaaaaaaaa..."

[J.Ezra]

"It must been great getting to go backstage at every show. Travelling with the band, seeing them play all over the place."

"Yeah it's good. Though you do get sick of hearing the same songs all day every day." Juric smiled at the Asari he'd been chatting to for the past ten minutes.He had picked a spot in one of the corners of the room which had a good view of most of the suite, letting him keep an eye on everything.

 

"You wanna drink?" Juric asked, looking at the Asari who had introduced herself Ceannia. "Love one." she said winking at him as he headed of to the small bar which was tucked into another corner. Juric moved through the busy room, the sound of music mixed with the mummer of people chatting with one another. He quickly got the bartenders attention and ordered a couple of drinks and turned round, looking out into the packs of people who stood talking through out the suite or dancing in the middle of the room. He had almost forgotten about the three special guests which had arrived with them, all of which didn't appear to be anywhere in view which was odd as he expected that most normal fans would stand out clearly. He also didn't see Tolema with Aoide who was chatting animatedly with a group of people. I'll go search for her later he thought to himself as he took the drinks and headed back across the room.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"First off..." Menos said as he raised a single finger, "You did good work, Naomi. I mean it. And coming from ex-stg, trust me, it's a good compliment to get." He said in a whisper loud enough for her to hear, not wanting anyone else to hear his compliment as he gave a sly smile, "In fact, I'd say your almost a natural when it comes to improvisation."

 

"Second though," He said as he held up his other digit, "Is that I still have my armor and omnitool, and maybe a pistol I may or may not have managed to sneak in here that I'm not suppose to allegedly have..." He said as his sly smirk turn into a bit of a cocky grin, "And you have a shirt and your bare hands. And I can cloak, so there's that..." He pointed out as he dropped his smirk a bit, crossing his arms as he got more seriously, visibly and in his air, "Seriously though, keep him and anyone else you can distracted. And if I don't come back or don't radio in...well...make sure they give me a proper burial." he said, hoping it didn't come to that.

 

"I don't know what this asari can do. I just hope to gods she didn't dabble in combat biotics..." With that, menos took in a deep breath, slowly breathing out as he clenched both fists a few times, loosening up as he looked to Naomi, "Take care of yourself...and thanks. I really did mean what I said earlier." He said, sounding like he meant it before he walked into the crowd, moving with a calm air about him as he kept himself collected, and appearing to walk with a purpose. Not a lot of people noticed or bothered people who seemed to know what they were doing or appeared to know where they were going. A nice psychological trick, simple and effective, as he made his way towards the hallways that lead to the back rooms.

[Kel Riever]

A turian male passed Menos without even a glance, heading towards the main room.  Once the turian had gone, Menos was in the short hallway alone.  There were for room doors off the hall, two on either side, showing that the suite was at least twice as large as the hotel in the Presidium, and a door to a large bathroom at the end where tue turian had come from.  All the room doors were closed, but as Menos passed the first door on the right, he was aware of a subtle, and much cooler temperature change from behind it.

Aoide was laughing with a group of three, production company people, who were flattering her.  She saw Chris approaching and gave an encouraging tilt of her head.  As he came closer, Aoide pulled a slender cigarette from a case one of the three had offered her, and lit it.  The ignition manifested a scent that strongly hinted at more than a normal smoke. The singer inhaled deeply, and exhaled a light blue mist through her nose.  "This is Aaron," Aoide said warmly.  "He's part of a group of misfits I've taken a liking to."  She then put her free arm around Chris while offering him a drag with her other hand.  "You've got some interesting friends, Chris, if you feel comfortable with them calling you dull.  I'll level with you:  I find that a bit hard to believe.  What do you have to say about it, Aaron?"

Naomi was working her way towards Juric who was speaking with an asari she hadn't seen before and was almost there when the drummer from Seirenes crossed her path.  "Hey, fan," He said warmly.  Then as if noticing her eyes for the first time, he stumbled.  "Whoa, up until now I thought the bandages were the most interesting thing about you.  How's that coming along by the way?  Hurt?"

"Shut up, Des," Isis said, as she came up on the other side of Naomi and gently took her hand.  "This isn't a bar.  Come on, let's have a little fun."  Isis playfully tugged Naomi towards the kitchen area, which was nearby.  The caterer was furiously and expertly producing trays which he was handing over the counter to the waitresses.  Isis and Des cleared an area of the counter off and were still flanking Naomi, though they talked across her for a minute.

"Tried and true?" Isis asked.

"O.C.," Des responded.  He started fumbling for something in the pocket of his jeans.  "Rail it or slam it?"

"F**k you," Isis said and laughed.

"Thatius did both.  I've haven't tried slamming it but I might."  Des produced a small number of grey, circular tablets.

"Thatius should be fired.  I swear that roadie is only around because of you, Des.  Seriously, he's going to f**k something up, and I'm not here to babysit people.  Popping them is enough and I'd like to keep my s**t together, thank you."

"I don't want to be the drummer in my mom's band, Isis,"  Des sarcastically remarked, and offered out the tablets in his palm.  Isis took one and popped it in her mouth.  Des did the same and offered the last one to Naomi.  "Want one?"

 

[TheMajonese]

"Hm...let's just say that I'm not someone who talks a lot. Michelle often makes fun of me for that...", Chris stated with a look at the cigarette that Aoide offered. For a second he rembered the time when he still went to school in Vancouver. He had quite some experience with alcohol and drugs though he wasn't sure if now was a good moment to take whatever this cigarette was. But on the other hand, if he wanted to distract Aoide from Menos trying to close in on Tolema maybe it wasn't too bad to play along.

 

After pretending to take a deep drag Chris handed it back to the asari and hoped that he wasn't going to regret it. For a second he wanted to check on his sister to make sure she wasn't offered any sort of drugs because he wasn't sure if she could resist but at the moment there wasn't anything he could do about it. He trusted in his sister to not get into trouble.

 

Chris pretended to look around aimlessly but he was looking for Menos and spotted the salarian stepping into the hallway. Then Chris turned back to Aoide. "Honestly; I hadn't expected you to be that cool!", he admitted. "I listen to your songs and stuff but I've never met the band in person. You know, it's like with actors or athlets, you can never say how they are in reality but you guys are just amazing!"

 

 

 

Naomi eyed the tablet sceptically and then gave it back to Des. "I don't think I should take one of these", she said with a shy smile. "Because of my medication, you know?" 

[Kel Riever]

(Note:  The part with Menos at the end was done with a bit of player consulting)

The drummer, Des, raised an eyebrow.  "Suit yourself," he said, then popped the pill he'd gotten back into his mouth.  Then, self consciously, he said, "That's going to hit home in a bit.  I'm going to find Kogo and talk shop."  Des wandered off back to the party.

Isis, however, smiled with her eyes at Naomi.  The guitarist pulled herself up to sit on the counter, even though it caused a bit of an inconvenience for the caterers.  "Michelle, you said that's your name, right?  What's your story?  What's got you so ailed that you're bandaged up and on medication?"

Meanwhile, Aoide laughed at Chris' comment.  Sort of a, You're really surprised that we're cool?  How quaint!  What she said was, "Don't let me ruin it for you.  There's more *ssh*les than the hairs on your head in this industry.  We make songs about some of them, and the others we just put on our imaginary list.  'Inspiration' I think is what it's called in marketing."  Aoide turned to a woman in a red dress who was part of the trio talking to her.  "Right, Penelope?"

The woman laughed in a false, nervous sort of way.

"Let me have a private moment with our fan here," Aoide told the trio, then guided Chris away with the arm over his shoulder.  "Aaron, I swear I have no idea why you are here, but I'm a believer in that there must be a reason.  You're like a fish out of water, you know what I mean?  Don't take it the wrong way, please."  She pulled Chris in tighter and took another drag.  "All I am saying is you're a bit straight strapped.  And you're at a party, for Goddess' sake!  These people, half of them at least aren't real.  They are the people we have to put up with.  Please don't be like one of them, a corporate paycheck survivor, a 'Yessir' person.  The fakers are here for the money, at least they think that, meanwhile they're grinding people down.  Even if they don't mean to.  Take Tolema, right?  You didn't know who she was until tonight.  But that crest has some energy under it.  She's doing good work, the kind of work you and I need, even if I have no idea what she'd doing half the time.  All I have to do is look at her and I know she's flipping all the right switches, putting these corporate slugs right where they belong.  And the funny thing is, the slugs love us, because deep down they're well aware that they're doing something wrong and they don't want to really be the way they are."

In the hallway, Menos pushed the panel for the door that he felt the change of temperature behind.  It opened quietly into a large bedroom where no lights had been turned on, but the ambient illumination from outside came through the windows to bathe everything in a muted kaleidoscope of lower spectrum colors.  Everything was in place, undisturbed, and a quick glance around showed the only immediately apparent exit was the open door to a private bathroom.  Then Menos saw another exit; the emergency airlock for evacuation was open on the room side.

Thirty stories about the ground was vacuum outside.  All buildings of the height that the hotel was had portals for evacuation in case of a fire or other emergency.  The idea was to enter the airlock and wait for a rescue vehicle to get you.  Most generally had a set of vac suits and tethers as well, in the event of a breach.  Obviously, with the near side door open and the room pressurized, either someone had already passed through it, or was simply inside.  No one had heard Menos, enter, it seemed, and he ran to the door (keeping the bathroom in view as well) activating his omni-bow in anticipation that Tolema might be about to make a break for it.  

The door to the bedroom Menos had come from closed automatically with a 'hish' as he came into view of the inside of the airlock.  It was empty.  He turned to the bathroom door to see if anyone was there, and then Menos heard the unmistakable, faint electric sound of a tactical cloak deactivating behind him.

"Don't move," Tolema said, "Time to find out who you are."

[TheMajonese]

With a look at the woman in the red dress Chris let out a scornful snort. "Pff...these people are just a waste of time. It must be a pain in the ass to hang out with them. It's good if someone like Tolema is doing something against them." Even though he was playing a role, his own opinion had quite an impact on what he said. "But if that's supposed to be a party, why do you even deal with them? They're obviously not here to enjoy themselves!" 

 

 

 

Letting out a nervous laughter Naomi crossed her arms and turned to Isis. "That's a bit of an ugly story. I wished it could be something exciting or heroic but it's just...downright ridiculous! About...a week ago I was suffering from a nasty infection and even though it's not contagious and the fever is already down I still have to take antibiotics. It's crazy, I thought I'd be safe from these diseases on a space station! And then, a few days later, on a landing deck, I was simply walking behind a skycar that was just about to take off and started its engines. There was some malfunction with it and I heard something that sounded like a small explosion...then I was suddenly covered in flames..." She raised her bandaged arm a bit. "Guess I was lucky that it was just my arm. And despite all this I just couldn't miss that concert tonight! I was feeling a bit ill but I do not regret anything!"

 

Naomi turned away to see if Juric was still talking to the asari. "And that krogan...I didn't expect someone of his...kind to be that nice to me. Is he the band's bodyguard?"

 

Isis was really trying her patience, coming up with this story just out of nowhere was quite stressful for Naomi. She usually didn't talk that much and playing a role that was the complete opposite of her actual personality was really hard. In addition to that she needed to know what her brother and Menos were doing and she also hadn't heard from Kurik, Arcadia and Darya since she had entered the concert hall.

[Kel Riever]

As Naomi told her story, Isis' eyes seemed to narrow, as if she wasn't sure what exactly to make of what she heard. "Huh," Isis said neutrally when Naomi was done. Isis hopped off the countertop, and patted the caterer on the shoulder. "Thanks for putting up with me taking a seat in your kitchen here."

"No problem," the caterer replied, quickly setting up another tray and sending it out.

Isis moved out of the way and leaned against the wall to the main area momentarily. "You don't have to tell me all that if it makes you uncomfortable, Michelle," she said to Naomi, "Nobody here is going to make you do anything you don't want to, and that includes me. As the other person who owns this band, I can say that and have it mean something." Isis then smiled a black lipstick grin and winked at Naomi. "You look like you want to be left alone, if you don't mind me saying so, and if you do, that's fine with me. What I took is going to kick in and when it does, I'm just going to want to ride it out without any posers bothering me. I don't have you pegged for a poser, Michelle, and I hope I'm not wrong."

With a friendly wink, Isis headed across the main room, "Catch you maybe sometime, Michelle," she called over her shoulder. One of the party goers, seeing Isis was free, came up and was about to adulate her but the guitarist shoved him away with the push of a finger. She then went through the room, and down the short hallways to the bedrooms.

Aoide seemed to get comfortable with Chris. "Everybody has to eat a little s**t to get what they want, Aaron. But I try to put up with it as little as I can. Besides, these aren't the worst people out there. You're a human, you have to know about the corruption you've seen in this galaxy in the short time since the discovery of the Relays. This place, this F**king Citadel, it brings out the worst. A company abandons its colony because it doesn't make enough money, stranding people there, void, the genophage. You know what makes me laugh? Tolema tells me about a so-called electronics company who's logo represents the dawn with the moon still in the sky. How beautiful. Do you know their primary money makers are weapons and armor? They make these Katana shotguns. Isn't that some sort of Earth blade, they named it after? And people think Seirenes is dangerous. Because, Aaron, we aren't fake. That's what scares them, don't you think?"