Out For Karma: Mass Effect

[Book Two] Chapter 6: Troubles

Chapter 6: Troubles

Joker had a feeling of déjà-vu when Shepard entered the ship with a smile plastered on her face and a big transparent bag filled with water and fish in it in her hands, while Rick dragged his feet behind with a big bag on his back. Both wordlessly crossed the bridge towards the elevator. Once alone Shepard actually began to hum some song she likes.

“Really?”

“What?”

“Humming? For fish?”

“I’m happy! I can’t help it.”

“Whatever row your boat. I just… You never hummed back then.”

“I didn’t have any reason to.”

“And fish are?”

“Yes! There are too many rules in the Alliance, so I couldn’t have any of them or any other animals. I couldn’t really make my home a home. But now I’m free to do as I please until…” She stopped talking just in case the elevator was bugged and went back to humming. Rick understood what she was talking about.

Until we ditch Cerberus

They entered her room and just like last time, Rick dropped the bag he was carrying onto the floor near her drawers. Meanwhile Shepard had picked up her chair and was standing on it, releasing the fish she had just bought into the aquarium. Free of his burden Rick fried every bug in the room.

“I wonder who keeps on putting new ones back.” She asked.

“Probably bubble.”

“EDI?”

“...”

“She doesn’t pry on people but just in case I blocked her.” he informed her.

“How do you know that?”

“I saw her programming. She had no instructions to do so.”

“Did you find anything we should be worried about?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Are you a redhead?”

“Okay, just checking! Can’t be too sure with AI.”

“You should talk to her.”

“What for?”

“To get to know her. She’s alive, Red. A person. Just because she’s synthetic doesn’t mean she deserved to be treated as a tool.”

“But she is.”

“And so are you as a spectre and a member of the Alliance.”

“But I’m organic.”

“So? You were both created. You through sex, her through programming.”

“That conversation is becoming too philosophical for my good mood.” she said, stepping down from her chair and putting it back behind her desk. Turning around she saw Rick at the door, leaving.

“You’re going?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you could stay a bit?”

“... Are you going to flash me again?”

“NO!”

“Then I don’t see why you want me to stay.”

“To finally get to know each other further? I mean it’s one of the things I want to fix.”

“So is your relationship with the butcher.”

“I don’t understand you. At first you hate my guts so much that you can’t stand being near me, then you’re all caring in your own way, then now you’re juggling between the two.”

“I… don’t understand it either.” he replied, then let out a sigh.

“So you want to talk? About what?”

“Well you, duh. The point is to get to know you better.”

“No.”

“Come on!  Are you in a relationship with Aria?”

“I’m leaving.” he said, turning around  but was stopped by Shepard surrendering.

“Alright, no questions about Aria. What about the helmet? Why the synthetic voice?”

“Because I like it and it keeps people wondering.”

“The helmet or the voice?”

“Yes.”

“Which one, the helmet or…”

“Red, you’re freaking me out right now.”

“What?!”

“You heard me. This…” he said waving at her with his hand.

“Isn’t you. You’re acting like… a carefree child? I’m used to you being bitchy, being professional with some outburst of personal feelings and just a bit of invasiveness. That Red? I can deal with her. The you right now? Whether it’s the real you or a change made by Cerberus… It doesn’t fit the pattern, your pattern, anymore and I don’t know what to make of it. I don’t understand it and I need time to adapt to this change.”

“I’m just… being myself for once.” she said sadly.

“Good. There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with you. I just need to sort myself out because if I don’t… I’m going to blow up on you. I’m not used to extraverted people. So if.. You really want to get to know me that much… don’t push.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you. And… I’m sorry for bringing down your good mood.” he said before exiting the room to take the elevator.

Was I pushing him that much? I just wanted to know him better. We spent months together inside the same ship and I know next to nothing about his life, except he had a wife and was about to become a father. And that he shagged Ashley aaand Liara aaaaand her mom. Did he have sex with Tali too? They were really close… No. Tali would have been sick if they did, so it’s almost certain he didn’t. But did they wish to? Possibly. Why am I the only one he’s not interested in? Wait! Why does it bother me in the first place? At least he said sorry. He never did that before. I guess he was right, I did push him too far if he apologized. I just need to give him space and time but I’ll know in the end.

____________________________________________________________

While Shepard was busy doing some thinking, Rick went down to the engineering deck and went to his quarters. He didn’t know how to deal and feel about the woman he had just left and that put him in a state of panic born out of nostalgia. He also didn’t want to deal with it.

“EDI?”

“Yes, Rick?”

“Would it be alright if we do our movie night another time?”

“I have no problem with that.”

“Thank you, EDI.”

“Is everything alright?”

“No, everything is not alright. Can you lock the door please? I don’t want to be bothered by anyone unless it’s an emergency.”

“Certainly.”

“Thank you.”

He removed his clothes and went to bed. Flaring his omni-tool he started some music to calm himself and to push him to think about anything else. Because Shepard's behavior brought back to the surface memories he wished he had forgotten.

____________________________________________________________

Her conversation with Rick was two days ago and nobody had seen him ever since. When she asked EDI she had replied that he wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to be bothered unless it was an emergency.

It’s been two days!

She was mentally cursing at him for taking so much time to get over it. To vent her frustration she spent most of her free time in the newly created Gym in the cargo bay. It had been a good idea from Rick, as plenty of crew members popped in and out from time to time to keep in shape. Grunt was there the most and like her vented all his aggressivity. It wasn’t much as he needed more action but that was enough. She had decided to take him with her on the next mission so he could unwind properly but also because she wanted to see what he could do. Speaking of her next mission, she was not feeling it. They had to go on a prison ship for their new recruit. From the file, “Jack” was a very powerful biotic who did a boat load of crimes and ended up locked up there. She had been reluctant at first to recruit a criminal but beggars can’t be chooser, especially when she was going on a suicide mission. Along with Grunt she was planning on taking Garrus and Rick except the last one was holed up in his room. She was of a mind to just rush there, order EDI to open the door, slap him once or twice to snap him out of it and then dragged him out. She didn’t because she knew that it would probably backfire spectacularly in her face. Instead she went on the bridge and went to the one person that maybe could help her.

“Kelly?”

“Shepard, do you need something?” replied the yeoman.

“I need your talents as a psychologist.”

“I gather it’s about Rick?” She asked and got a nod from Shepard.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not sure if I can be of help in this particular case.”

“Why?”

“For starters, he wasn’t among the files I got and studied. When I got his file, not only was it very short but also very inaccurate.”

“What did it say?”

“That he was a survivor of Eden Prime back in 83 and lost his wife there. Afterwards he joined you on your crusade against Saren. Tech expert, very smart, has troubles with authority, is very socially inept and very cold.”

“Nothing is inaccurate about that.” Shepard replied, clearly confused.

“Except the part on Eden Prime and joining you everything is. He’s more than a tech expert, he's a very talented programmer from what EDI reported. He’s not very smart but an actual genius if the story about him creating the thermal clip is true. He doesn’t have a problem with authority but with incompetent authority. Finally he’s not socially inept, he can socialize just fine with anyone, he just chose not to do so most of the time.”

“You seemed to have identified him just fine, what’s the problem then?”

“Time. I didn’t have enough time to properly analyze him. I could tell you something wrong.”

“Is there anything you’re 100% sure of?”

“He’s an introvert but that’s obvious as he spends a lot of time alone in his quarters that are the farthest possible from anyone else. That also indicates that he’s distrustful of people in general. From what I saw and heard here and there, he isn’t very empathetic. Sympathetic yes, but empathetic… I think he needs to have experienced the same things as others to relate with them. It’s an indication that he’s not in touch with his emotions, which is not surprising considering his intelligence.”

“What do you mean? I know he has trouble dealing with his feelings and emotions in general but how is it linked to him being smart?”

“The higher the Intellectual Quotient, the smaller the Emotional Quotient. It’s not always true but most of the time it is. Now don’t misunderstand, just because he’s smart doesn’t mean he’s heartless or unfeeling. It just means that he’s… calibrated to think and deals with everything with logic. That’s why he does not recognize or understand what he feels because he’s trying to use logic to do it, which is…”

“Pointless because there is no logic in emotions. I think Ash said something like that.”

“That’s why he’s so stoic most of the time, because he thinks instead of feels. I think right now, he’s trying unsuccessfully to deal with his emotions while thinking about it.”

“Okay… emotionally unstable, then. Back to my question: How do I get him out?“

“If the rough idea I have of his personality is correct, I’d say… appeal to his mind.”

“His mind?”

“Give him a reason as to why he’s needed. A logical one that can not be refuted.”

“Okay… that I can do.”

“Be sure it is logical, because if it’s not and you somehow push him to do it… He may go along with it silently but it’s the calm before the storm.”

“So going in there slapping him a bit then dragging him out is not the way to go…

“Not if you want him to blow up on you. In that case good luck, I read the report of what he can do.”

“Okay. I’m glad I came to you because that was my first idea, thank you Kelly.”

“Anytime, Shepard.” replied the yeoman with a smile.

Shepard took the elevator down and began to think about the situation.

Had I known I needed a disarming kit to deal with him… Ugh… I wished Ash was here to get him laid, that way he could vent and be back to normal. Well as normal as he can be.

“EDI, what is he doing?”

“I’m not sure. He’s either sleeping or thinking.”

“You’re not sure?”

“He’s lying on his bed face up.”

“Tell him I’m here and I need to talk to him. It’s important.”

Exiting the elevator and walking towards the door, she waited for it to open. After half a minute without anything happening, she ordered EDi to let her in. Going inside she saw Rick in just a shirt and boxer, the way the AI said he was. Approaching him she called out to him and finally shook his shoulders after not getting an answer. He jumped a bit out of his skin in surprise.

Definitely thinking.

“Shepard? What happened in the last few hours that made you come here? Better be really important because I need some time alone.”

“A few hours? Rick, it's been two days! Almost three!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I gave you time and space, but we’ll be at the Purgatory prison ship soon and I really need you ready and your report on it.”

“My report is on the datapad on my desk and you don’t need me for the mission.”

“I do, I intend to bring Grunt, to see what he can do, along with Garrus but I need you there. You’re the best fighter on the crew and the one I trust to save my life.” she said walking up to his desk.

“... Okay.”

“There are dozen datapad , which one is it?” she asked.

He got up, picked the one on the farthest corner of the table and handed it to her.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be ready to go in five minutes.”

“No. What you need is a shower and some food. You’ve been up and thinking all this time haven’t you?”

“... Yeah.”

“Then go clean yourself up. I’ll tell Gardner to make you something high in calories. I also ask Chakwas to give you something to pep you up, unless coffee is finally having an effect on you?”

“Nope.”

“Then pep up it is.”

____________________________________________________________

Purgatory was controlled by the blue suns and their management of it was excellent to say the least. Totally immoral but efficient nonetheless. They got paid to keep locked up criminals that nobody wanted or innocents that got here because corrupt politicians wanted them gone. If the payment stopped? They would just release the criminal into a populated area, pretending overcrowding. It was extortion, pure and simple. The worst was that it was completely legal. There were also some rumors, but not unfounded, that they would sell the prisoners to Batarian slavers. That little bit of information was perhaps the most important of them all.

“So, you really think it’s a trap?” the redhead asked.

“Yes. The price Cerberus is paying for Jack? Very high, but yours is higher.”

“Mine? I have a price?” she inquired, surprised.

“The Batarians. They’re still salty for what you did on Elysium, Torfan and being her daughter. There is also that asteroïd episode with Terra Nova. The Hegemony is ready to pay anything to have their hands on you. Cerberus may have money but against a whole government? No chance.”

“Bah! They can try but they’ll all die.” Grunt stated as the hatch to the Normandy opened.

“What baby said.” Rick replied pointing at the Krogan behind him with his thumb making Shepard smile at the notion that a 7” Krogan was a baby.

“Are you sure we need Jack in the team? From what I heard, she’s really unstable.” questioned Garrus.

“She likes to kill and destroy things. Exterminating the collectors may give her some focus. And from the reports she’s an exceptionally strong biotic, the strongest human biotic ever encountered actually.” Rick explained.

“That doesn’t reassure me one bit.” answered back the turian.

“If we give her what she wants, she’ll probably play along.”

“Any idea of what it is she wants?” Shepard asked.

“None.”

The conversation ended there as they met with a prison guard. The conversation was not unusual. They asked the team to give them their weapons and the team answered no. After a bit of back and forth the boss of the place intervened through com and said it was alright and could keep them.

“Noveria, anyone?” Shepard asked.

“I’d rather not remember that place. All those rachnis…” said Garrus lost in his memories.

“You thought Rachnis?!” Grunt inquired, suddenly very interested.

“Berserked ones.”

“They were disconnected from the queen and went crazy. Nasty things, especially their acidic spit.” Rick explained.

Grunt found a new respect for his teammates. While he didn’t think much of the turian, the two humans had made an impact on him. The female didn’t give up when he was about to break her neck and had put a gun right into his guts at the same time. The male had just heatbutted him so hard he had actually taken a few backsteps from the recoil. He also gave him half his sandwich and that put him in his good book. He wanted to see them in action, to see if they were really the mighty warriors they seemed to be and if they were worth fighting alongside.

They were not five minutes in on the station that the trap sprung on them. Though calling it a trap was a big stretch. The boss’ voice guided them to an empty cell and invited them to surrender, with absolutely no guards to make them. It was beyond overconfidence, it was disillusionment or sheer stupidity. Naturally the team refused and the warden then sent his men along a few dog mechs.

“I don’t even know what to say about how dumb his plan was.” Rick commented as he pulled out his gun. While the architectural design was perfect for him and Grunt to charge without worry since the place was a long and narrow corridor, the presence of mechs dissuaded it. No one wants to be around when a mech is so badly damaged that he chose to self destruct.

They tore apart quickly the few groups of mercs in their way and arrived at some sort of control room. From there, Rick took a look at a console and fumbled with it. Once done a stasis pod was brought into the room below which they could observe thanks to a big window.

“Jack?” Shepard asked to which her tech expert nodded.

The reports on the new recruit were spot on. Jack was an extremely powerful biotic. As soon as she woke up, she got rid of her bindings and escaped in an explosive fashion. Shepard didn’t even have the time to say a few words to her.

Quickly going down the room through a side door, they witnessed even more of Jack's ability, in a matter of seconds she had obliterated three Ymir and destroyed a part of the wall, allowing her to be free to roam the prison.

“I wish my biotics were that powerful.” Shepard said in awe.

“Your biotics?” Rick questioned, both surprised and confused at that information.

“Apparently I had latent biotic potential. When she reconstructed me, Miranda gave me bio amps to reach my full potential. I can do a decent warp but not much else. I still need to train more.” she explained as she went through the hole Jack created.

“Any idea on what you want to specialize in?”

“Mostly the basics. You know, warp, throw, pull. Maybe singularity?”

“An adept then.”

“Is that what it’s called?”

“Yes. Though adepts usually focus on their biotics and not their weapons.”

“What are you?”

“Vanguard. I’ll think of a training regimen once we’re back on the ship.”

“There is no need, Miranda is already helping me.”

“Bubble is not me.”

After walking a few feet into another narrow corridor they entered a new hole Jack had left, they ended up in a very spacious area, with guards everywhere, trying to stop inmates that escaped which included them.

Garrus took down the mercs on the upper level with his trusty sniper rifle while Grunt behaved like a tank and charged forward, making the guards focus on him. Rick had charged to the other end of the room and began the usual pincer attack with the rest of the team, while Shepard was giving them support. When a Ymir entered the field, Grunt and Garrus focused on the guards while Shepard and Rick, the only two able to take care of the mech’s shield, took cover to deal with it. Shepard used a throw but had small success if any at all.

“Concentrate your power in your hand before throwing it. Not in a stationary manner or it would be too much to hold. Instead let it flow in a spiral and keep pouring more, once you think you can’t hold it anymore throw it.”

Shepard nodded and followed his instructions. She found it difficult at first to not let the power accumulate in one point to make it flow in her hand. Once she did however, she noticed that it was actually easier on her body. After a few seconds she felt in her hand far more power than she usually would and when she felt her limit, picked her head outside her cover to see where her target was and threw the warp. It was a success as the mech’s shield flickered greatly. Rick sent his own and the Ymir kinetic barriers fell down. Not wasting any time she shot everything she had onto it with her assault rifle while Rick sheathed his shotgun for his sniper rifle, shooting him in the head. In no time their opponent fell to the ground and exploded.

“Nice job with the warp. Now you need to train until it becomes instinctive and almost immediate.”

“Once I got it moving, it was easier on my body. How come?”

“Power flows, Red, like blood. If it stops in one place it puts pressure on a point that it is not used to and bursts, making the power weak. Or course you could train your body to sustain it and put more power into it but why overheat your amps?”

“Miranda didn’t teach me that.”

“Bubble didn't get trained by an asari commando.” he replied nonchalantly as he made his way forward.

He was trained by an asari commando?! Was it Aria? That would explain some things if he’s her student.

With Garrus and Grunt done with the few guards that were left, they regrouped and kept on going. The ship was on high alert and probably going down, so they hurried up. After another block cleared they confronted the warden himself, who hid behind extremely strong kinetic barriers. Unfortunately for him, for those barriers to work they needed a lot of energy. Energy supplied by three pillars across the room unprotected. Once the pillars were destroyed, Rick and Shepard ripped apart the warden’s shield with a well placed warp and Garrus put a single bullet in his head.

They ended up finding Jack near the entrance. She was raging mad, screaming her frustration when she noticed them.

“What the hell do you want?”

“You’re in a bad situation, and I’m going to get you out of here.” answered Shepard.

“Shit, you sound like a pussy. I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re Cerberus.” replied the escaped convict.

“She does and we aren’t.” Rick interjected, getting a scowl from the redhead.

“We have the only way out of this shit hole. You can stay there and die like the others trash or you come with us. Despite the colors of the ship and most of the crew, we’re not Cerberus.” he added.

“They fund the mission but they don’t have control. I do. And I’m not Cerberus.” Shepard explained further.

“As if I’d believed the likes of Cerberus.”

“He’s a turian, and he’s a Krogan. Not the kind of people a human supremacist organization like Cerberus would hire if they were in charge.” the redhead noted pointing at Garrus and Grunt.

“It’s more of a temporary partnership to exterminate the Collectors. Once done I intend to part ways with those guys. What does it matter so much if they’re Cerberus anyway?”

“Those assholes have been after me for years. Every time I’m free, they put a bounty on my head. So you showing up with a frigate to take me away somewhere? Yesh, not happening.”

“Just shoot her, and patch her up on the ship.” Grunt suggested.

“I’d like to see you try.” Jack answered in defiance.

Since she asked for it, Rick had absolutely no qualms when in a blue blur impacted her with his body and in a swift move grabbed her by the throat and raised her off the floor, her feet dangling in the air. He pulled out his gun and put it right under her jaw. Choking, she tried to claw his armored hand. Ignoring the shout of his name from Shepard, he spoke.

“Listen up bitch. Cerberus or not you are coming with us. You don’t want to join our mission? FINE! We’ll drop you wherever you want. But you’ll mis on plenty of things. Mainly, the complete genocide of the biggest motherfuckers of the Galaxy, theirs bases and their ships. And cherry of the top, once we’re done I intend to fuck Cerberus so hard that their descendants in five generation would still be stuck in a wheelchair since the day they were born.” His voice has been so calm and yet so threatening and cold, that no one doubted his words and like usual the synthetic tone didn’t make things better.

He released her from his grip, letting her fall on the ground gasping for air as he went around her and walked away towards the ship. He only was a few feet away from her when he abruptly turned around, activating his biotics and caught her fist in a contest of biotic raw power. He could feel her strength through his whole body. Greater than his own, but he didn’t back down. No, he withstood as an equal, using his control over his own power to match her strength.

“Enough!” Shepard yelled as she came between the two pushing them away from each other.

“Eh, not bad for a dick head.” Jack said looking at Rick with a satisfied smile.

“But I’m stronger.” she stated.

“And yet I equaled you.”

“Because I let you.”

“Or I did.”

“Enough! You can do your dick measuring contest another time, we’re getting out of here. Jack, are you coming with us or not?” Shepard interjected again. She was going to have a talk with Rick about his actions later.

“If you want me to work for you, I want the Cerberus’ files of what those assholes did to me.”

“Deal. You’ll have them, now let’s go.” the commander said and an explosion that happened not far from her position was heard and felt.

They all made their way towards the Normandy. Grunt was looking at the back at the two humans he had been curious about. They were even better warriors than he thought they were, especially the male. The ruthlessness with which he dealt with the bald female and the strength he displayed reminded him of his people. The female, while not as strong, was just as dangerous but more than that she was a fierce and competent leader.

Yeah. I could follow those two.