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[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Darya sat in the skycar with Arcadia. No one from the team had checked in for quite a while so Darya decided to call Naomi on her omni-tool.

 

"Hi Naomi. It's Mom. It took me forever to get this number for you. I haven't heard from you in ages. You never call me and let me know what's going on. I know you have a busy life, but I was beginning to wonder if you were still alive. I think the last time I heard from you was on my birthday." Darya asked.

 

Naomi recognized that this was not her mother's voice. That it was probably either Darya's or Arcadia's.

[TheMajonese]

Naomi had no idea how she got rid of Isis and sighed with relief. Maybe her story had bored the band's guitarist or maybe it was something else, it didn't matter. For now Naomi was left alone and she welcomed that break. Then she suddenly recieved Darya's message.

 

For a second Naomi just stood there, staring at the ground in disbelief while trying hard to keep her feelings hidden. She moved to an empty corner of the suite and made sure that nobody was bothering her, then she contacted Darya. "We're at the band's private party, Chris is with Aoide and Menos is trying to get Tolema", she said with an angry voice. "Don't call me again!" They're going to regret that!, Naomi thought furiously.

 

With a look at the krogan bodyguard she forced herself to abandon the thoughts about her mother, her real mother and clear her mind. While moving over to the krogan she tried to become the shy fan girl again though there now was a slightly mad look in her eyes and she slowly felt the former impatience grow into a familiar rage. 

 

"Hey!", she approached the krogan, without caring about being a bit rude by interrupting the conversation between the bodyguard and an asari. "I...ehm...just wanted to thank you for the help, earlier! I realized I haven't asked you for you name..."

 

 

 

"You mean Ariake Technologies, don't you?", Chris asked after a moment of thinking. "Yes, Katana is the name for a sword like weapon. It's always the same, the weak hide behind money, hollow words...and even pretty company logos. And people like you get the blame if anything happens." The conversation was a bit weird as Aoide seemed to be more interested in political topics than anything else but Chris was ok with that as long as he could distract her long enough by just talking to her. He was wondering how things were going with Tolema.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Menos closed his eyes as his shoulders tensed, waiting for the inevitable shot in the back that usually came with these situations. 'Rule 4 of covert ops, sweep the area for cloaked combatants...too bad that one always slipped my mind.' He thought to himself, cursing his rush in mentality now that it had bit him in the ass hard. Any second now he expected a shotgun to blast a hole through his back like any close range claoker would do.

 

Instead, Tolmea started talking, which menos counted as a blessing in this situation, "Looks like I got careless..." He said, not turning around as he kept his hands at his sides, where she could see them, "So is this the part where you interrogate me, or am I going to end up like your jetbike?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Well that could have gone better," Darya said. "Menos is trying to get to Tolema, and it looks like the rest are mingling. I'm wondering if we should crash the party?"

[Kel Riever]

In the dark, Tolema's blue eyes seemed to have a soft light of their own.  "Turn around," she said.  Tolema had a Carnifex heavy pistol pointed at Menos and stood about three meters away. She examined him calmly and said in a level tone, "This is to protect me, and you are in no danger if you do not threaten me.  Hypothetically speaking, let's say I had an idea of what you are talking about.  What of it and why do you care?"

Over with Chris, Aoide weighed his answer.  "Hmmn," she approved.  There was a burst of laughter from another part of the room.  Apparently Des and the turian synth player were up to some antics which captured the crowd's attention.  Aoide kept her attention fixed on Chris, though she let her arm slide off his shoulders.  She was rather close still, however, and said after taking another drag, "Is that your girlfriend you are with?  Michelle?  You and her an item?"  Chris got the sense where Aoide was going, she saw the realization in his face, and for not one moment was she distracted or faltering.  As plain as day, Aoide asked, "You want to get laid tonight?  I'm hoping your girlfriend isn't the jealous type.  If she wants to come along, that's fine."

In the skycar with Darya, Arcadia seemed surprised by the response as well.  "We could crash that party, but it will take a bit of work to get in now.  Or we can watch from out here, making sure nobody hops on anything fast like another jetbike and tries to get away.  We can split up, as well; I'll hold a pattern with the car while you get in.  I'll let you call it, Darya."

[J.Ezra]

"It was no problem, hope your feeling a bit better. Oh, and Juric. Ganar Juric if you wanna get fancy." He smiled at Naomi, gesturing for her join him on the long sofa which was backed up against a near wall. "And this lovely lady is Ceannia." The asari gave Naomi a slightly annoyed look before it vanished and was replaced with a dazzling smile. "Nice to meet you...?" "Michelle right?" Juric said before Naomi could reply. 

"She's part of Aoide's small band of misfits who came with us from the show. Speaking of, where are your other friends? I haven't seen much of you lot tonight" 

[TheMajonese]

Oh crap... If he wasn't on a mission Chris would probably have agreed. But at the moment he actually just wanted to make sure that Aoide was distracted so Menos could deal with Tolema without having to worry about the other asari. Chris could just reject but that could lead to Aoide losing her interest in him. The other option would be to just agree. However, having sex with the band's lead singer would keep him distracted as well and that wasn't something they could use now. On the other hand it would be hard for Aoide to bother Menos and Naomi..., Chris thought with scepsism. But it could also be a trap...maybe she already knows that we're not here because we're fans...sh*t...

 

Sometimes Chris wished to be as quick with his decisions as his sister. Naomi would likely have agreed immediately and then made sure that Aoide wasn't going to leave the bedroom for quite some time, probably enough time for Menos to make sure Tolema had nowhere to go either and for C-Sec to arrive at the party, detain Tolema and then leave again. But it wasn't that easy for him and the longer he thought about it the more undecided Chris got. 

 

For the moment the only good thing was that he could perfectly hide his irresolution. "Don't worry, Michelle is not my girlfriend." Actually more than that! He pretended to watch Des and the turian for a few seconds before turning to Aoide with a raised eyebrow. "But what about Tolema? Aren't you with her?", Chris asked to gain some more time.

 

 

 

"I saw Aaron hanging out with Aoide and...I guess Kuris is searching for a bathroom. By the way, nice to meet you too!", Naomi said with a nod to the asari and showed a weak smile that seemed less put on than Ceannia's before turning back to the krogan. "Juric...ehm...so you're the band's personal bodyguard?"

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Hypothetically?" Menos asked with a raised brow, a skeptical laugh seeping into his tone as he looked towards the asari holding him at gunpoint. He was glad her command had been to turn around instead of get on his knees, at least he wasn't going to die executioner style just yet. "Alright, well hypothetically, there's someone with a jetbike, that's got a turian skull on it, who went around and robbed a weapons manufacturer in mid flight, and tried to abduct someone..." Menos said as he looked Tolema square in the eyes, holding up one of his hands as if he were weighing something in it.

 

"Then, there's a concert going on, where someone on a jetbike with a turian skull on it lands and torches the thing in front of a large crowd as a stunt..." He said as he held up his other hand, pretending he were weighing the options literally as he crossed his arms over his chest, his sarcastic smirk dropping instantly, "And now I got a gun pointed at my chest, so...hypothetically speaking, there's a lot of stuff to go on with that. Like, In theroy I could be trying to bring someone in for this stuff for a reward. Or another theory, is maybe I wanted to know why someone apparently had a busy day robbing and attempting kidnappings, cause the jobs he got offered were between bodyguarding a salarian's daughter, doing security for Ariake Technology, or watching over a pretty popular band playing at a prestigious concert hall...Or maybe I'm just superstitious and don't like coincidences like that."

 

"Too bad we don't have a razor to solve all this mess." He said, wondering if she'd even get the reference he was referring to. A combination of wanting to stall and frustration making his mouth do anything but shut up. "Personally, I'm just wondering why someone would do all this. Curiosity always was one of my greatest weaknesses."

[J.Ezra]

"Indeed I am. They needed some extra muscle so they hired me, been with them for a while now." Juric reclined on the sofa, stretching his arms out over the back. Ceannia didn't even attempt to hide the irritated look on her face now and looked as if she was about to say something when Juric carried on. "It's a easy job. Even a little boring at times but the pays good and I'm not gonna turn down credits for getting go to parties like this." He indicated the expensive suite they all where in to prove his point.

"Oh, you haven't seen Tolema have you? She's being even more elusive then your friends." with a chuckle he rose to his feet and glanced around before looking down at Naomi hoping she had seen Tolema.

[Kel Riever]

Tolema didn't quite know what the salarian meant about the razor, but she didn't feel so threatened by him after his comments.  She relaxed, though kept her pistol aimed at him.  "Kuris, if that is your real name, I doubt you've got anything on this person you're curious about, but in case you think you are about to get this thing back you say has been robbed, I have it on good faith that the person who you're talking about would have been discreet enough to tuck a stolen object somewhere safely away.  Keeping contraband on a person is how people end up getting hurt."

Again, the asari studied Menos.  A bead of sweat had broken on her brow, and her oval face devoid of the facial markings common to her people was also devoid of anger or fear.  "As for abductions, are you sure that's what this person you speak about was up to?  Don't you have to have someone taken against their will for an abduction?  Getting someone out of someplace they don't want to be might even be considered saving a person, especially if that person was under armed guard.  Maybe I understand why you're so worked up, and I think that's fair of me if something had happened to me earlier, such as being shot at.  I can tell you I do have a temper, and I don't take aggression lying down.

"You aren't a badge, 'Kuris', as far as I can tell.  You don't know anything and we're surrounded by people on the thirtieth floor of a nice hotel.  I'm going to do something I hope you don't make me regret, and that's trust you."  Tolema lowered her weapon.  "Now, why don't you tell me what has you be so curious?  Is it the money you think you can make as a reward?  Or do you work for someone?"

In the main room, Aoide laughed lightly at Chris' question.  "I am with Tolema.  That doesn't mean it will be a problem for her or me if we have our fun.  Now, if you're nervous, I can understand that.  But you better tell me soon before someone else comes over here and interrupts us."

Somehow, the room seemed to be getting more crowded.  Perhaps it was a handful of people who'd come later, or maybe it was some had slightly raised the volume on the music.  Possibly it was because people had become more comfortable, louder, or had started moving around more.  The evening was progressing, and the party promised to become less controlled.

[TheMajonese]

Thanks, Naomi, for getting me into this...!, Chris thought. He really wanted to make sure Aoide wasn't going to be a problem for Menos but why the hell did she have to be like that? Why couldn't she continue to just talk to him? There obviously were other options for him to keep her interested but Chris was trained in combat, not in infiltration and sh*t like that. It was a bit poor but he already ran out of ideas. 

 

"Hey, why should I refuse then?", he said and put on a smile. "I'm not here for money like these idiots you mentioned. So...ehm...where are we going?"

 

Now if someone could help me...that would be great!

 

 

 

"Tolema...I think I saw her a few minutes ago." Naomi didn't like how Juric wanted to look after the asari. The longer she was here the more she felt like she should just look after Menos instead of just sitting on this sofa. She started to hate all this talking. Nonetheless she started another attempt to distract the krogan in a conversation.

 

"You say it's an easy job...but aren't there sometimes fans who are out to cause trouble?", she wanted to know.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Like I said, the curiosity is more in the coincidence. How those I hypothetically work with, and had nothing to do with c-sec until today, got 3 different job offers all with the same person apparently involved in them. I don't like coincidences, so I figured the best way to solve it was to go to the source..." He said plainly, watching the lowered gun intently, though making no move towards it or Tolema.

 

"As far as whoever was on the jetbike is concerned, though. Part of it was building a bit of good will, to get some better paying jobs sent my way. Ammo, Weapons, Armor repair, Medical bills, credits gotta flow if you want to stay alive in my field of work..." He said, not lying about that part at least. Stormhammer needed credits, or it'd die in the water in license fees, damage claims, and rent alone. "But for me, personally, I want to know why someone would do what they did. Getting on a jetbike, robbing an arms manufacturer, liberating an ambassadors daughter, and zipping back in time to catch a hot concert going on and putting on a show for the crowd...Whoever it was who did it, they got more balls then a krogan, that's for sure."

 

"You don't see that kind of thing every day, and with the coincidence stuff from earlier, it makes a person nervous if this is going to end up a recurring type of deal...if you'll have to pull out insurance claims for skycars that'll get towed off of buildings as standard from now on."

[J.Ezra]

"Oh yeah. Most just go nuts at the sight of the band but they keep back. Some of the more...enthusiastic fans try and get close but, that's why I'm here." Juric liked the human but was starting to grow concerned about Tolema. She was able to take care of herself but it was odd he hadn't seen her since getting of the bus. "Now, I need another drink and then I'll go find her. Where did you say you saw her last Michelle?"

[Kel Riever]

For the first time appearing cross, Tolema said, “It’s possible that someone took offense to being shot at, and the skycar was something the shooter had coming to them.”  There was a moment that it appeared Tolema might become aggressive, but instead she backed off and calmed herself again.  “But you said you were curious, so I’ll tell you a story that has less to do with jetbikes and ambassadors’ daughters, and more to do with a company called Capella Industries.

“Capella is a small electronics company that works predominantly on biofeedback systems for what’s known as the sensory entertainment industry.  You know, full on virtual experience.  Put on your headsets and visor, and be lost in your own world.  Our industry; music, video, all of it.  They also manage a recording studio, but we’ll get to that later.

Capella is on the verge of being purchased by Ariake Technologies because their prototype product could be used for Ariake’s new armor system, meant to regulate adrenaline surges for the wearer of the suit in combat.  Of course, the dirty secret is that Capella is a human concern that has worked on another component in a well-known product of the past.  You may have heard of them.  L2 implants.  Capella’s component has been cited as one of the possible reasons for the failures of that device, but studies have been proven inconclusive, because the Alliance never fully pursued the investigation.  It’s still locked up in lawsuits to this day.

“Of course, that’s all been swept under the rug, you understand?  Ariake will be absorbing all of the liability when they get the product that they want, and will also be able to march a much larger legion of lawyers to content with it, should it ever develop into anything.  And that would require someone on the Alliance’s end to care, you know, the same Alliance they have deep contracts with and politicians’ careers on the lines who represent voters employed with Ariake.  Ariake could turn to another concern but Capella has the least expensive bid, it seems.  Long story short, Ariake wants Capella, even if there may be some questions about the safety of their product.”

Tolema shifted to lean on a side table, collapsed her pistol, and placed it in a magnetic holster she’d fastened to her belt.  “So why should anyone care?  Well, maybe its because Capella runs its recording studio a lot like they run their other businesses, and that’s criminally.  Did you know that Seirenes had a contract with Capella?  And after putting in countless hours, not to mention the creative work behind those hours, recording fifty songs with Capella, Seirenes had their songs stolen from them.  I can get into the details but lawsuits cost money and this goes back to before I met Aoide, before the band hit it big.  And maybe Seirenes gets its songs back one day, maybe they don’t.  But in the meantime, do you think that gets harder or easier if Capella becomes part of Ariake?  Is anyone going to shed a tear for a company that can’t get its prototype for a contract if that prototype hurts people for a little extra corporate profit?  Maybe we should all just care about the money, right?  But who’s money should we care about?  And at what other cost?”

A clenched jaw preceded a sigh, and then Tolema said, “You can go back to that party like nothing happened, Kuris.  Put all this talk about jetbikes, abductions and robbery behind you if you want.”

There was a music that reached into the dark room with Tolema and Menos, that seemed to melt through the closed door, and pierce through the dull, heavy sounds of party and band tunes from the main room.  Someone was playing a guitar.

~ ~ ~ ~

Aoide tilted her head in the direction of the hallways to the bedrooms.  She then led Chris through the crowd and almost pushed her way through the first door on the right, but she heard voices coming from behind it.  Aoide put a finger to her lips, then playfully pulled Chris past to the second door on the left which she pushed open without hesitating.  It turned out the room was lit and occupied.

Isis was sitting half on the bed, leaning against the headboard.  She’d synced a black Les Paul to a portable amp, and tuned the guitar with eyes half closed.  Her body had a languid quality to it, as the pill she had taken worked its drug fueled euphoria into her.

“Occupied,” Isis said in drawn out syllables.

Aoide looked concernedly at Isis, “Take that ride easy, maiden.”

Isis gave a nod, which was enough to have Aoide take her leave with Chris to the door directly across from the guitarist’s room.  Again, Aoide pushed the panel to open the door.  This time, the room was dark and empty.

As soon as the door was closed, Aoide put her hands on Chris’ shoulders and locked lips with him.  Then she just as quickly pushed herself away and walked to the wall length, one-way windows, her shapely body a silhouette in the colored dim lights filtering through.  Aoide put her hands to her crest, then began unraveling the wraps that made up her outfit.  She only got as far as revealing her shoulders and her chest above her breasts before she turned once more to Chris, and leaned back against the window.

"Come on," Aoide urged Chris.

The tune Isis played drifted into their room then, much clearer than the sounds of the party, which now seemed distant.  Soon Isis’ song seemed to drown out all other noises, as the muse filled the air with her song.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I think it's time to crash the party," Darya said. "But don't worry Cadi, I'll be discreet. They're having a party, right?"

 

Darya walked into the front door of the hotel. First was to find out in what room the Seirenes were having their party. She found an unused terminal and began running a hacking routine that was on her omni-tool. This got her into the hotel's guest list. They were in large suite with pretty much everything, and no one would be allowed in except hotel staff catering the event. That solved getting inside. Staying inside was another thing.

 

She saw some fans with Seirenes tank tops that had some added decoration to them. Or she could buy a new one from the gift shop.That would look too new, she thought, so she found a woman who was about her size and followed her into the rest room. The young woman was otherwise unremarkable, but apparently had had some drugs earlier.

 

"I like your tank top," Darya said.

 

"Thanks, you a fan of the Seirenes?" she asked.

 

"Yeah, big fan, but you know my boyfriend is such an assh**e, he ripped up my tank top before the concert tonight," Darya said. "And you know what it's like if you buy a new one. Everyone thinks you're just a new fan or if you're my age, they think you're a cop or something like that. You know what I mean?"

 

"Yeah, but why do stay with such a jerk?"

 

"I don't know. I guess because he's got a nice apartment," Darya replied and quickly looked around and the lavatory emptied. "Say, you wouldn't want to sell that tank would you?"

 

"No, I wouldn't!"

 

"Not for 50 CR and my tank?"

 

"F*ck off!"

 

"Look, I'm not really asking. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I'll make it easier. 100 CR and my tank for your Seirenes tank and I don't knock you out, leave you in that stall and take your tank."

 

"You're f*cking crazy b*tch! Here! Take it!" she said. "I don't want your stupid credits."

 

"You're taking my 'stupid credits' so this is a transaction," Darya said. "Now you never saw me, got it?"

 

"Yeah, yeah, and I hope I never see you again!" she said while putting on the Darya's black tank and leaving.

 

Darya put the Seirenes tank on, looked in the mirror, and walked out. She then followed the floor map to the kitchen and stayed in the shadows and listened for her cue. Then it finally came.

 

"Take this to the Seirene's party."

 

"Yes, Ma'am," the worker replied.

 

Darya followed her down the hallway a bit until she rounded a corner, then knocked her out, dragged her into one of the vacant hotel rooms, and put her clothing on over her own. Then pushed the food cart down the hall toward the Seirenes' suite. The security guards let her in and once inside she was told where to take the food. She did as she was told. On her way out, she slipped into shadow and dumped the staff outfit. Now she fit in with the crowd that was there.

 

She saw Naomi, Chris, and observed that Menos was having a conversation with Tolema. Darya remained in the shadows leaning against a wall.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Menos was silent as he listened to Tolema talked about her reasons, from what he guessed she talked about, it was for revenge and getting back what the band was owed, but also about keeping Capella from getting an ally in Ariake. He kept silent, eyes reflecting the deep thought he was giving to her information, and the huge slippery slops and catch 22's the asari was involved in.

 

He was silent for a long while, before he let out a frustrated sigh, and deactivated the omnibow still on his wrist. "...Menos..." He said finally, looking towards the asari with a resigned sigh, "My names Menos, Menos Hishau...I'm Ex-C-sec...Ex-STG as well...so trust me when I say, I know the shady **** that goes on with people in power, both corporate and political." He said, not enjoying this part at all as he spoke, "I know about you, so It's fair you know about me, before I tell you what I'm going to say..."

 

With that, he took a breath, and began, "What your doing, I get. Damn if i don't agree that the situations fucked, and Capella shouldn't get the boost from Ariake. But the way your doing it...it's gonna get your friends or fans hurt, more then it'll hurt you. Putting your bands logo on your jetbike, it made a trail that was easy to follow. Burning the bike was good, but it's not like your covert ops here. Your playing dangerously in corporate espionage and warfare, and it's gonna bite you in the ass if your not careful..." He said as he looked to the asari, hoping she was listening to him and what he had to say, "It sucks, but fighting them this way, it's not the way to do it. Release the information on what Capella's done, remind people why they shouldn't get away with this. But this shadow warrior crap...it always ends with a gun in your hand, and two dead bodies in the back of your car..." He said, his eyes and voice showing he knew damn well what he was talking about with that.

 

"I'm not going to turn your in, much as it'd do well to get us money and connections. I'll try to get the others to agree...but please. Don't do this **** again. The price isn't going to be in credits, when the debt finally gets collected."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Darya tapped her communicator to Arcadia. "I'm in. I see everyone except Menos and Tolema," she said. "This probably means that Tolema is having a private chat with him. The others seem to be mixing with the party. Orders?"

[TheMajonese]

You can't be serious...! "I think I saw her somewhere near the kitchen, probably getting something to eat." Although she was getting nervous Naomi tried her best to hide it. "If you excuse me...ahm...looking for a bathroom." She jumped up and made her way past Juric and the asari as quickly as possible.

 

She moved to the hallway where she expected Menos and Tolema to be but when she stood in front of the doors she realized that she had no idea where the two where. For a few moments she just stood there thinking of what to do next. Of course Naomi could have just walked straight through the next door but that would look a bit weird. Instead she continued to walk back and forth in front of the doors and waited for something to happen. If Juric was showing up she could start a last attempt to distract him. Hey Menos, behind which of these doors are you? You could really help me by whistle or make some secret sound.

 

 

 

Thanks for getting me into this, Naomi!, Chris thought again but this time he meant it. There was a slight burning where Aoide's lips had touched his. "Your friend Isis is quite talented", he said with a look at the asari and he liked what he could see of her in the dark. Menos und Naomi could handle Tolema on their own and besides, someone had to take care of Aoide. 

 

It was a good thing he wasn't wearing his full set of heavy armor. Since he hadn't expected any bigger trouble Chris had only a very light armor that mostly covered his upper body for this mission. Getting rid of it was no problem, baring his athletic upper body, and after a few moments he dropped his grey t-shirt onto the ground next to the bed and approached the asari. In the dim light the look on her face and the white facial markings around her eyes reminded Chris of a predator. Chris bowed forward and pressed his lips on hers for a kiss that was longer and clearly showed his desire for more. Turning her around he kissed her neck before gently pushing her down onto the bed.

 

When he saw Aoide lying in the bed he suddenly froze, staring at her without being able to move. It wasn't the first time Chris was about to end up in a bed with a woman he barely knew but something was different now and it felt just wrong. It took him a moment to realize that for the moment he wasn't even himself. Aoide thought that his name was Aaron and that he was a big fan of the Seirenes while in reality he hadn't even heard of the band before this evening. This wasn't his style.

 

His mind surprisingly clear Chris leaned back at the windows, the look on his face showing guilty conscience and confusion.

 

Wait...! What am I doing?

 

Letting out a heavy sigh Chris scratched the back of his head and looked Aoide in the face. "I think I owe you an apology..."

 

I am seriously doing this...this is ridiculous...

 

"My name's not Aaron. It's Chris. The salarian's real name is Menos. And Michelle? To be honest, it was a bit awkward when you asked if she's my girlfriend...her name's Naomi and she's my twin sister."

 

Great, now I'm blowing not just my cover but Menos' and Naomi's as well! 

 

"We're not here because we are big fans of your band. Your friend Tolema approached us on her bike earlier today and crashed our skycar, she was probably also involved in a heist on an Ariake transport. So my team wanted to go after her, find out who she is and get the chance to at least talk with her about what happened, my sister included. And I'm not letting Naomi go anywhere without me, that's why I'm here."

 

Hey, I could have spent the night with the pretty asari lead singer of a famous punk band...Good job Chris! But maybe in my next life I get another chance.

 

"I have to say that I'm sorry...for being such a partykiller..."

 

Chris had no idea how Aoide was going to react but he was expecting anything. 

[J.Ezra]

With a quick goodbye to Ceannia, Juric head off in search of Tolema. Leaving the disappointed asari sat on the couch looking slightly left out. The suite seemed to be getting more packed with people as time went on. He entered the kitchen, stepping aside as a waitress sped past with a tray of fancy looking nipples. It only took a few moments to see that Tolema wasn't there and he would have to look elsewhere.

 

Juric finally push the door open to the hallway, having been forced to fade through the crowded apartment. It hadn't been amazingly hard as most people moved out of the way whenever they saw a krogan coming at them. He'd looked throughout the party and still had not seen Tolema, this was the only place he could think she would have gone. Striding down the hall Juric stopped and looked dead ahead. "Michelle? What are you doing?" a slightly suspicious tone had crept into his voice now. What's she doing back here...?

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Darya messed up her hair a bit, and decided to mingle. She needed to get some information about what was going on, but didn't want to look conspicuous. Naomi was pacing back and forth. She grabbed two drinks from the bar and worked her way over to Naomi from behind her.

 

Darya sidled up to her, and handed her a drink. "Hey, hot stuff. I've been watching you. You're one of the most interesting people in this place. Why don't we go somewhere... more... private? Get to know each other a bit.... Hmmm?" she giggled, and handed her the drink and slipped her arm around her elbow. "You look like you could use this, too, babe."

[Kel Riever]

Aoide sat up on her elbows for a minute with a look of disbelief on her face.  Then she stood up and pressed herself close to Chris, her expression turning pained, hoping somehow he was making up some story because he’d gotten scared.  She placed a hand on the center of his bare chest, looking into his eyes for the truth.

When Aoide saw Chris wasn’t wavering and was coming clean, her visage became irate. 

“How dare you?!”

Aoide pinched her thumb and forefinger together, grabbing several strands of Chris’ chest hair, and yanked.

In the next second, Aoide spun on her heals throwing the pulled hair out to the side, and strode to the door.  Storming out, she almost ran into Naomi in the hallway, then another woman who had sidled up to Naomi, and Juric.  The singer’s cheeks were purple with embarrassment and fury, and she looked to each of the people outside as if they had been listening in on the conversation and somehow had heard it.

“Well, I see you’re enjoying the party, Naomi,” Aoide said directly to the woman who she previously thought was named Michelle.  She turned to Juric.  “Where the void is Tolema?!”

Apparently quick to read that Juric didn’t know with a simple glance, Aoide took only a second to glance between the two bedroom doors she hadn’t opened.  Spinning to the one she’d heard voices behind, Aoide kicked the door’s electronic panel with the heel of her boot, crushing it and causing the door to fly open at the same time.  Inside, Tolema stared out the door and at Aoide with a shocked look, and Menos could be seen deeper in the room across from the artist.

“Start talking,” Aoide practically spat, “WHAT THE F**K IS GOING ON?!”

[Cainhurst Crow]

Menos was silent as he looked towards the furious Aoide, though his expression was one that could best be summed up as "Are you Kidding Me", a lack of adequate galactic basic terms available to describe the sheer exacerbated disbelief as he looked back towards Tolema.

 

"So I was gonna let you decide what you'd say to your friends, and try to get us all to slip out of here before **** hit the fan. Buuuuuuut, I guess that's not gonna be happening...." He said as he let out a sigh, wondering if he could somehow mix 2 strong drinks together to make a cocktail strong enough to make this go away, "So...yeah, Sorry." he said looking towards Tolema with a small nod of his head.

[J.Ezra]

It took Juric a few seconds to grasp what had just happened, but as soon as Aoide called the the woman Naomi he understood why Tolema had been acting strange. Maybe she had a point about these fans. With just a few quick steps Juric was in front of 'Michelle', looking down at her,  his face devoid of the friendly expression it usually held. "So, Naomi. There something you care to explain?" His gaze briefly fell onto the woman who had slid up next to Naomi but quickly went back to her. He heard a voice he didn't recognise but just continued to stare at Naomi, waiting to see what she had to say for herself.

[TheMajonese]

Chris groaned with pain and bowed forward, both hands placed on his chest. "Ah...f*ck this..." Could have gone worse..., he thought with clenched teeth. Despite the pain he didn't regret telling the truth. It took him a few moments to recover from Aoide's quite surprising move and he heard the asari's voice. Followed by Naomi's even louder voice. Letting out a short laughter Chris grabbed his t-shirt and went to see what was going on outside.

 

 

 

Naomi looked from Juric to the woman that had suddenly just appeared right next to her, then back to the krogan. "Ahm...I'm...", she tried to come up with something.

 

Then Aoide burst out of one of the rooms and placed herself in front of Naomi. Why the hell does she know me name? Completely taken by surprise Naomi opened her mouth a second time to tell another lie but the asari was already making her way into one of the other rooms.

 

When Juric spoke to her Naomi turned back to him but this time she didn't even try to say anything. Seeking help she turned to the woman just to realize that there was something familiar about her. "Wait...what the f*ck...?" Then Naomi recognized her. "DARYA? WHAT?"

 

Completely overwhelmed with what was happening she turned around as if a third person was standing right behind her. With wide eyes and open mouth she stared back at Darya, then her right eye twitched a few times. "You know what? F*CK THIS! I BUST MY ASS TO GET US IN HERE AND NOW EVERYTHING'S F*CKED ANYWAY?" Starting to yell was probably the worst thing to do in this moment but Naomi couldn't hold back now. She turned back to Juric. "And you know what? I'm personally strangling the next person who asks me about THIS!" Raising her bandaged arm she continued. "You wanna know where I really got this? It was a f*cking vorcha WHO EXPLODED RIGHT NEXT TO ME!"

 

Naomi looked around, heavily breathing and her eyes still widely opened. "AND WHERE THE HELL IS MY USELESS, STUPID...?"

 

"You found me..." Chris appeared at the door where Aoide just had came from.

 

When she saw her brother casually leaning against the door frame, bare-chested and with his t-shirt in one hand Naomi exactly knew what had happened. She fired a weak shockwave into his direction but Chris just stepped aside and it didn't hit anything.

 

Then Naomi turned back to Darya, wrested one of the drinks from her and ran into the room where she knew Tolema was. "And YOU...!", she yelled at the asari before wildly tossing the glass at her. It completely missed Tolema, hitting the wall behind her and shattering into countless splinters. "THANKS for paying as a visit at the presidium and crashing our F*CKING SKYCAR! And that heist? I should just..."

 

Suddenly Chris appeared, shoved Aoide aside and grabbed Naomi's arm. She didn't resist when she realized it was her brother and he quickly dragged her back into the other bedroom. A few moments Chris just talked insistently to her until the insane glint in her eyes disappeared. Then he let out a sigh. "You know, that's why I wanted to leave all this to C-sec. We could be sitting in a restaurant know and have something nice to eat!" Naomi didn't give an answer, she just glared at the people in the hallway.

 

Even though Chris didn't speak it out loud he knew that he and Naomi were into quite some trouble.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Go easy on her Namoi, things are a lot more complicated then we thought. .." Menos said as he looked to the raging women and her shirtless brother and the glowlight herself who'd managed to infiltrate this party as well.

"There's this company named Capella, they had a hand in making the L2 biotic implant and have been dodging legal action for years with stall tactics. They made some VR tech that Ariake wants, and Ariake wants to buy them out and send any lawsuit into legal limbo in exchange for the tech. They're also producers who stole contrnt from their clients, like songs this band made with them..." He said as he pointed go Aodie.

"So she..." Menos said pointing to Tolema, "Tried to stop it by doing some corporate sabotage. The kidnapping was consensual too but we already knew thst. Point is, I recorded it on my armors vid cam and audio because I leave it on all the time, and I think we should let the whole thing drop, cause making rich people accountable isn't thwt bad of a thing, just the way kt was done was incredibly dangerous and foolish." He said as he looked to Aodie.

"SO There! There's your answer to whats going on! So guys..." Menos said as he looked towards Naomi, Chris, and Darya, "Please tell me your not gonna fight me on thsj One. It was a boondoggle, you can cut it out my pay to cover for all this stuff. But she doesn't necessarily deserve to grt put away for life, assuming Ariake doesn't send a hitman Or hitwomen to take care of her in jail. Think we can all agree, that's not worth it over a skycar."