We hadn’t even gotten far from the Council chamber when I received a call on my omni-tool from Councilor Tevos.
I sent my subordinates to the Normandy and hurried to the councilor’s private office.
“Shepard…”
As soon as I entered the office and the doors closed behind me, the councilor began.
“…I’m not going to beat around the bush.
I don’t like that you’re so closely tied to Aria.
She had the nerve to call me before the session and demand that I confirm your candidacy for Spectre, threatening to send her scum into Republic territory to have some fun.”
Anger was easily visible in the asari’s gaze and even her gestures.
It didn’t scare me, though.
She couldn’t do anything to me, either through her power or personally.
Her power was blocked by Aria—why else would she have called her?
And personally…
well, I knew perfectly well that she had stopped training long ago and was now inferior in skill even to the marines.
Yes, her strength, like any other older asari, was considerable, but strength without skill doesn’t really decide things in this case, simply because I have plenty of strength too.
“Well, I have good friends.”
I shrugged casually.
“Shepard, this is no joke.
You became a Spectre, and you’ve been assigned to the asari section of this Corps.
Now you answer to me, and if I tell you to get rid of Aria…”
“Then I’d tell you to go fuck yourself.”
“How dare you speak to me like that?”
Tevos was clearly very displeased, but she restrained her anger, even though her eyes lit up with biotic fire.
“I’m simply saying that Aria is the only force keeping the scum of the Terminus more or less in line.
The moment she disappears, they’ll immediately start their Crusade against the ‘law-abiding’ parts of Citadel space.”
“Fine…”
Tevos pulled herself together in the time it took me to answer.
Now there was nothing readable in her gaze.
“…I understand your point of view.
Now, regarding your mission, or rather the part that wasn’t discussed in the open session.
What can you tell me about the Reapers, who were mentioned in the report?”
“Nothing, except that the asari working with Saren believes in them, and Saren himself does too.”
“You can say something more…”
I was being drilled with a displeased look.
“You’re right, I can.
But is it necessary?”
“I am a Councilor, and I must know everything.
Because if there is some kind of threat…”
She didn’t finish, and I sighed heavily.
“The threat exists, and the asari have known about it for…
well…”
I closed my eyes, recalling the date of Liara’s first dissertation.
“…about thirty years.”
“What?”
“An asari maiden, an archaeologist, studies the Protheans.
About thirty years ago, she published her first paper in which she speculated that the Protheans disappeared too ‘cleanly,’ as if someone had carefully cleaned up their tracks.
All the ruins found are mostly bunkers with extremely high levels of protection from detection, which were only found because the protection failed after such an enormous amount of time.”
“Hmm…”
Tevos frowned.
“Her publications also contain notes that some complexes look like obviously military objects that were mothballed and hidden from the enemy.”
“Are you saying the Reapers destroyed the Protheans?”
“I’m hypothesizing.”
“And why don’t we know anything about them?
Why aren’t they leading the Council?”
“Well, I assume they simply don’t need to.”
“Don’t need to?”
“Yes.”
I thought about how to convey the idea to Tevos without sounding crazy.
“Well, I have a hypothesis that at the time of the war, the Protheans had something that the Reapers desperately needed.
Something that made them come from far away, and taking offense that they weren’t given it, or perhaps seeing the Protheans as a threat to their future, they destroyed them, along with all traces of their existence.”
“And you’re saying Saren wants to bring them back?
Ridiculous.”
The last word was said as if it were an indisputable truth.
“Well, maybe he’s trying to avoid the Protheans’ fate for his own race and is counting on the fact that they won’t be destroyed in gratitude for his service.
Or maybe there’s some other reason that we can’t understand.”
“I see…”
Tevos closed her eyes.
“…can I count on your loyalty?
And that your ties with Aria won’t hinder you from carrying out your assigned tasks?”
“Well, it doesn’t stop other Spectres from working for more than just the Council.”
I grinned, showing that I knew considerably more than ninety percent of ordinary people.
“…”
Tevos stared at me for several minutes.
“Fine, I understand your position.
Next, I have to give you the access codes for the Spectre armories.
There you can find the latest weapons, armor, and basically anything you might need for the mission.”
The asari said this as if she had just remarked that the weather on the Citadel was lovely today.
“How many people can I equip?
And what other information do I have access to?”
“Almost all data.
Don’t worry, if you don’t have access to something, the system simply won’t let you see the data.”
“Understood.”
I nodded calmly and waited for the councilor to break the silence.
“Alright…
you may go.
And…
if you contact Aria, tell her she’s a brazen purple ass who needs to forget my number.”
“Absolutely…
however, I hope you realize that a message like that will only egg her on and make her call more often.”
“Get out.”
One word, and I knew it wasn’t worth continuing the conversation with her.
If I said anything more, she might try to throw me out of the office, and I didn’t need that.
“Good day, Councilor Tevos.”
I nodded to her, left the office, and immediately used my omni-tool to contact Tali, who answered my call very quickly.
“Congratulations!”
Her voice was genuinely joyful.
“Thank you…”
“I am very happy for you!
You have achieved incredible success!
This is truly a great day for humanity!”
“Tali…
Tali…”
I called her name several times to get her attention and make her listen.
“…I appreciate your sincere emotions, but I’m not calling you for nothing.”
“Yes?
Can I help you with something?”
“Yes, I need someone on my ship who, when encountering geth, can extract data from them.
Do you know anyone like that?”
“Well…
yes…”
There was hesitation in the girl’s voice.
“Do you think they’d agree to work on the Normandy?
With decent pay and, most importantly, the opportunity to access captured geth data without restrictions?”
“I…
I think so.
And…
um…”
Tali hesitated again, clearly unsure of how to proceed.
“If you’re their friend, you could just…
give them my comm code.
They can contact me themselves if they’re interested.”
“Well, actually…
it’s me.”
“What?”
“I’m the one who can extract data from geth.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her awkwardness.
It was exactly the result I’d been hoping for.
“Then would you like to take the position of technical specialist on the Normandy?”
“I…
yes!
Yes, I would!”
“Then get your things together and report to dock 422.
I’ll let the quartermaster know to expect you.”
“Understood!
Thank you!
I’ll be there right away!”
The connection ended, and I allowed myself a small satisfied smile.
Step one of building my own network was complete.
Tali’Zorah vas Normandy.
It had a nice ring to it.
“…there are several specialists on the Fleet who might be suitable for you.”
“Tali…”
There was disapproval in my voice.
“…if you don’t understand hints, I’ll say it outright.
I’m offering you to temporarily take the name Tali’Zorah vas Normandy.”
“Ah?!”
Shock, confusion, and disbelief — that’s what I heard in her voice.
“Tali?”
“I…
that…
you were talking about me?!”
“Yes.
I’m offering you a place on my ship’s crew.
You’re an excellent specialist on geth and can help the ground team on missions, and during transit you can assist the techs with keeping the ship running.
That is, if you’re interested?”
“Yes!”
Tali’s voice sounded like she was afraid I might change my mind.
“I accept!”
I allowed myself a smirk, even though she couldn’t see it, but that didn’t matter.
What mattered was that my crew would have such a technician — hell, forget the technician, I could find a better one somewhere else — my crew would have Tali, who would already feel immense gratitude and a desire to repay me in any way she could for what I was doing for her people.
“Excellent, then come to the ship.
I’ll let Jane know you’re arriving.
And also…”
My voice turned serious, so from Tali’s end, all sounds vanished in an instant.
“…we have a very dangerous and difficult task ahead, so I expect you not to be shy and to compile a list of everything you’ll need both during ground operations and to keep the ship in perfect condition.
And of course, for all personal needs as well.”
“I…
I have everything…”
“Tali…”
I cut off the girl, who was clearly about to refuse.
“…that’s a captain’s order.
You MUST compile a list of necessities.
And if, when I return, I don’t see personal items on that list alongside the necessary work tools, weapons, and armor, I’ll consider it an insult.
Do you understand me?”
“Y-yes…”
apparently, she was about to burst into tears.
Hopefully from happiness, since I don’t think I insulted her.
There might be some quarian hang-ups at play, but I can’t do anything about that.
It’s impossible to know everything.
“Good.
I’ll send you the ship’s coordinates as soon as we finish this conversation.”
“I…
thank you.”
The girl’s quiet voice was my answer, after which the connection cut off, and I immediately sent her a message with the Normandy’s berth.
As this conversation went on, I was slowly walking toward the Spectre Corps warehouses, lost in thought.
Did I need Garrus on the team?
And I had doubts about Wrex too.
It’s not that I disliked them — in the game they were…
quite pleasant characters, it’s just…
Shaking my head, I quickly dialed Garrus before I could change my mind.
“Go ahead, Mr.
Shepard.”
“Garrus Vakarian, this is Spectre Shepard.
I’m offering you a position on my team for a mission the Council has assigned to me.”
“Oh…
frankly, I wasn’t expecting something like this…”
Garrus was clearly taken aback by my offer.
“…I’m flattered that you’d make such an offer to me, but…
I have a job and obligations to my family.
If your business involved the Citadel, I’d agree, and my sniper rifle would be at your disposal.
However…”
“Do you have some sort of problem?”
“Yes…”
His tone made it clear he didn’t want to talk about it.
“And as I understand it, these problems are either solved or mitigated thanks to your salary from C-Sec?”
“Yes.”
“Would it be too forward of me to offer my help?
My current status can solve a great many problems that even a C-Sec officer wouldn’t have enough money or influence for.”
“Hm…
that’s…
flattering…”
His voice sounded somewhat embarrassed.
“…however, I don’t think your status can change anything — at least not when it comes to rare and incurable diseases.”
“Hm…”
I thought for a couple of seconds, trying to recall — was something like this actually mentioned in the canon?
“…well, if the disease is truly incurable, then I really can’t do much to help.
But as far as I know, one of the best clinics is located on the Citadel, one that also deals with maintaining the health of patients whose conditions currently have no cure.
They develop individualized therapy plans and…”
“I’m afraid even if my salary tripled, I wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
Garrus’s voice sounded sad.
“Well, treatment at that clinic is indeed very expensive.
However…
you do understand that the mission ahead is extremely dangerous, right?
And if you go with us, I’m willing to pay for the course of treatment at that clinic for whoever you designate.”
“What?”
There was shock and disbelief in Garrus’s voice.
“I’m saying I’m willing to pay for the full course — from maintenance treatment to the development of a therapy plan that will allow the patient to live a long and, perhaps, even happy life, albeit with some limitations.”
“Shepard…
don’t joke like that…”
“I’m not joking.
My corporation regularly engages in charity work and spends simply incredible amounts on it.
And I don’t think the bill the clinic will present for treatment will make me hesitate for even a second about whether to pay it.”
“I…
accept…”
There was gratitude and disbelief in Garrus’s voice.
But he still decided to trust me.
I wonder — in the canon, he seemed to follow Shepard easily enough, although…
there, they had adventures on the Citadel first, and here they haven’t…
“Excellent.
Then I need the patient’s data — well, not me specifically…
I’ll pass the order to my representative on the Citadel, and you send him the patient’s details.
Then pack your things and report to the ship.
On the way, think about what gear you’ll need to be at your most effective.”
“Understood…
Shepard…”
He said the last word somewhat hesitantly.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.
If you keep your word, you won’t find a more loyal friend than me.
And also…
C-Sec has detained a krogan…
a very well-known individual.
If he starts making trouble, a lot of people will get hurt, and he’ll end up dead.
You might be interested in talking to him.
His name is Urdnot Wrex.”
“Thanks for the information…”
The connection cut off, and I finally reached the Spectre warehouses.
Presenting my clearance, I began examining their stock.
It all helps promote the story.
And every 100, 300 and 500 stones adds a bonus chapter.
Every 5 reviews too.