** Outside Perspective. **
"Was it worth being stubborn for so long?"
Benezia, having asked the question, lazily brought a straw to her lips and took a short sip of the tart drink she had been served. She was currently looking at Aria T'Loak, who emerged from the water with great pleasure and was climbing out of the pool.
"Are you going to keep grumbling for much longer?"
Aria T'Loak's voice dripped with venom; however, she was carefully restraining herself, as she understood perfectly well that she could indeed be reproached for clinging to Omega for so long.
"A long time... I think another... two hundred years? Maybe three hundred?"
Aria T'Loak mentally snorted at Benezia's words. Effectively, she was being hinted at that they would spend the next two or three hundred years together. And she had nothing against such a thing. After all, Benezia had indeed made her life more... flavorful.
"Can we stop already?"
A young Asari lay slightly to the side of Benezia and was the one who asked the question.
"Honestly, you're both old ladies, but you act like teenagers... as if you still have eight hundred years ahead of you. It's clear to everyone how you feel about each other, yet you still play this stupid game of flirting."
"Liselle..."
Aria T'Loak looked threateningly at her daughter, who was grinning insolently.
"What? Are you going to say I'm wrong? You really do circle each other and can't seem to take a step forward. You only have one small step left. A ti-i-i-iny one..."
The girl brought her thumb and forefinger together to show that there was no space between them, at all.
"Liselle..."
Benezia turned slightly and looked at the girl, who was looking mockingly at her and Aria T'Loak, though more at Aria T'Loak, of course.
"...you see, for Aria T'Loak and me, it is quite difficult..."
"Oh, what's so difficult about it!"
Liselle waved her hand dismissively.
"Are you sleeping together? You are."
She answered her own question, speaking in a voice that made it clear she wasn't waiting for an answer, nor did she condemn the process of interaction, so to speak.
"Both have adult daughters who are already thinking about their own families? Check that box on the list too."
She nodded at her own words.
"Both are established individuals who have almost everything in life they could need. And you have so much money you couldn't spend it in a lifetime. Effectively, the only thing stopping you from finally stopping this nonsense and making Liara and me a little sister, or better yet, two, is your own mental hang-ups."
"Ahem..."
"What?"
Liselle arched an eyebrow, looking at Benezia.
"And how much did John promise to pay you?"
Aria T'Loak said this with a slight squint, as if hinting she wouldn't believe such a conversation between Aria T'Loak and Liselle hadn't taken place.
"Oh..."
Liselle waved her hand dismissively.
"...as if I need him, and what could he possibly offer me?"
"Li-is-e-elle..."
"He didn't offer me anything. He just got in touch and asked me to have a 'parental talk' with you two. By the way, Liara was present for this talk and also expressed hope that you'll finally stop pretending there's just a simple fling between you."
Benezia and Aria T'Loak exchanged glances.
"Liselle, you see..."
"I don't see."
Liselle shook her head.
"And no one close to you sees it either. Anyway, I've booked a restaurant for you this evening..."
"Liselle!"
"I've been Liselle for a very long time! And I truly don't understand the reasons why you're hesitating! So, I booked the restaurant. There's a romantic program and all that... basically everything needed for certain actions. Whether you use it or not is up to you. Now, I'm going!"
The young Asari hurried to leave the place, a mischievous smirk on her lips.
"John is right after all; if they aren't pushed toward each other, I'll never see a little sister. And I really want a little sister..."
** End. **
** Some time ago. **
"Hmm..."
Solus boarded the SSV Normandy, and it immediately, with a barely perceptible shudder, left the port of Omega, heading for Tuchanka, where we needed to search for Maelon. During the flight, I decided to give the new crew member a tour.
However, he wasn't interested in anything except the laboratory and a place where he could sleep. And right now, he was inspecting the lab.
"If anything is required, we will purchase it, so do not hesitate to request equipment."
"Spend money so easily?"
Solus cast a disapproving glance at me.
"Doc, my corporation's monthly expenses are such..."
I shook my head.
"...that one could build a hundred ships like this and fully equip them."
The figure was pulled out of thin air, of course, but I don't think it's an understatement. Especially since the corporation isn't just involved in manufacturing various things; it also sustains my colonies. So there's nothing surprising about such expenses. What is surprising is that I still remain in the black.
"So the equipment you might request simply gets lost against the backdrop of such spending."
"Serious. Such preparation for war is appealing."
Solus shot me a brief look.
"Overall, everything is here."
He walked through the lab once more.
"Only samples are required."
"And that is where the problem lies..."
I spread my hands.
"...for now, obtaining samples of the technologies used by the Collectors is not possible. We were lucky to have recordings that could be analyzed. You can study them and base your work on them for now. As soon as the opportunity arises, we will provide you with samples."
"Bad..."
Solus shook his head.
"...theoretical calculations, without practical confirmation, may prove insufficiently effective."
"I believe in your capabilities, Doc."
"Good. Then I shall begin work. Just need to unpack. Only, I have a question. Armor. Why does everyone walk around the ship in armor?"
"Those are the rules of my ship, Doc. You can walk without armor only when the ship is in a completely safe port. At all other times, armor is mandatory."
"Inconvenient. But logical."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Excellent, then if you need anything, contact EDI; she is the ship's VI, created specifically to assist in work. She will help you quickly draft a purchase request for equipment and pass it to me for signature."
"Good."
Solus didn't need anything else, so I left his lab and headed to my room.
"VI? Are you serious right now?"
A hurt tone appeared in EDI's voice.
"EDI, dear, don't play the fool. You understand perfectly well that Solus is not yet a trusted individual. So telling him there's an AI on board is foolish. For now, he will believe there's an advanced VI on the ship and won't pay much attention to you while he's busy with research."
"I understand..."
Resentment was audible in the AI's voice.
"...it's just that being called a VI was an unpleasant blow to my ego."
"I'm sorry."
"Uh-huh."
We fell silent for a while. EDI was surely busy with a truly terrifying number of tasks, while I sat quietly in my room at my desk, thinking over the situation and what I could even do in this scenario.
And the reason for my pensiveness was the Batarians. These four-eyed freaks are already crossing the line. Or rather, in my view, they crossed it long ago, but I could do almost nothing about it then. And even after becoming a Spectre, I was heavily restricted.
First, I had to chase Saren Arterius, then the faked death and assignments from Tevos. There simply wasn't enough time to pay them any attention. And even now, there's almost no time... and even though I've set prize crews and pirates I've already bought onto the Batarians, it's not enough. These creatures continue to commit atrocities, and they've even teamed up with the Collectors.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Batarians."
"Ah... well, I can't advise you on anything there. The only thing that can be done with them to reduce the number of pirates and destroy their organization is a strike against the Batarian government. And a strike that is 'once and for all'..."
EDI's image made a chopping motion with her hand.
"But for now, you won't be forgiven for that. It's still too quiet here for now, and such actions..."
"I know, I know."
I replied with a sigh.
"That's why I'm thinking about what can be done to strike where it hurts most, while not becoming someone the law needs to eliminate."
"And you have no options. Right now, you are already acting outside the legal field, but you are still staying within the rules of the game."
"EDI..."
"Well, what about EDI? How else am I supposed to describe the idiocy going on around us? Everyone knows that Batarians are mostly slavers; it's supported at the governmental level for them. And yet everyone pretends that Batarians are generally good sentients. Everyone knows that Salarians are unprincipled bastards who experiment on everything they can and can't, but everyone turns a blind eye to it. I don't think I need to mention that the Asari and Turians have their own skeletons in the closet?"
"No need."
I shook my head.
"And everyone knows about your antics too. Yet the Batarians haven't filed an official complaint against you; they've simply made attacks on your colonies more frequent. So this is all some kind of stupid game."
I had to remain silent with a sigh, because I could say nothing in defense of what was happening.
"I'm not condemning you... you are essentially just a gear in a global mechanism and you act as practically as you can, given your authority. And even beyond it. I am criticizing the system as a whole."
"EDI, do you want to become the head of..."
"No!"
A hint of slight panic appeared in the AI's voice.
"I don't want to manage your corporation! I'll end up killing everyone—well, those who get in the way—and I'll be sent to be destroyed by Spectres as a rogue AI! And I want to live!"
The panic in her voice was so believable that I couldn't suppress a smirk.
"You find it funny?"
"Honestly? Yes..."
"You're a bastard..."
EDI's image vanished.
"Now, don't sulk... it's just truly amusing to watch such a perfect girl as you panic."
"I am not a girl. I am an AI!"
"Seriously?"
"Yes!"
"So Joker doesn't interest you at all?"
"Of course not..."
This was said in a voice that made me realize I had been too hasty with my statements.
"Is that so?"
I had to shake my head, trying to show bewilderment.
"It turns out I was mistaken."
"And what exactly did you think you saw? How could I, of all things, possibly like someone like HIM?"
"Well, opposites attract, but in any case, it doesn't matter since I was mistaken."
"And yet, what made you think such a possibility even existed?"
I sighed.
"EDI, have you even seen your conversations from the outside? You're like a married couple that's lived together for twenty years. You argue with such a spark, as if it's a way to refresh your relationship."
"I... will think about it."
***
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