"So, my dears, you have a very difficult task ahead of you."
Those gathered looked at me with extreme attention.
"We need to capture Jack Harper, also known as..."
"The Illusive Man."
Kasumi Goto finished for me, her voice shocked and incredulous.
"Exactly."
"Fuck, are you kidding me?"
She didn't hide her emotions and even jumped up from the bed she had been sitting on.
"He has a horde of guards! His base must be an impregnable fortress! By the way, much better protected than that building on Bali you made me break into!"
"Calm down."
Mother Superior said just one word, and Kasumi Goto immediately sat back down on the bed, though her gaze was still extremely disgruntled.
"Thank you, Mother."
"Continue, son."
I nodded to her gratefully.
"So, here are the details. In a little less than forty-eight hours, The Illusive Man will arrive at a temporary hideout on Omega."
"Not the main hideout?"
"No, he hasn't had a main hideout for some time. He's stepped on too many toes. So you need to get to Omega, connect to the security systems, find The Illusive Man, and either capture him or eliminate him. Obviously, it won't be easy, which is why I'm including EDI, the Geth, and Tali in the team right away."
"Actually, I'd be enough on my own."
EDI scratched her chin thoughtfully.
"I've already worked in Omega's network, and I don't think it will be any harder now."
"The matter is important, so backup is needed. I believe in your capabilities, of course, but..."
Shaking my head, I look at the Geth, and then at Tali.
"...the Geth and Tali will be a good support group for the hacking."
"I assume my task is to infiltrate and... and by the way, what exactly am I supposed to do? Capture? Kill?"
"Ideally, capture. You'll be given a dart pistol for that, so if you manage to inject him with the drug, everything will be wonderful. And if not, he'll have to be eliminated. And they'll provide you with the means for that too."
"I assume I'll be acting as cover for Kasumi Goto?"
"Yes."
Nodding, I tapped my fingers on the table.
"I doubt she'll keep up with me. No offense, but you were hunting criminals, not doing covert infiltration..."
If Kasumi Goto addressed the first words to me, the subsequent ones were clearly meant for Samara.
"Child, I have been many things in my life. No, of course, I wouldn't call myself a professional of your level in stealth, but believe me, on Omega, that won't be necessary..."
"Don't argue; it's not worth it."
I hurried to stop the budding dispute.
"Kasumi Goto, if you were going to work somewhere else, I would likely have thought about the feasibility of choosing a different companion. But on Omega..."
I shook my head.
"Yeah, yeah..."
A hint of mockery was heard in Kasumi Goto's voice, but directed not at Samara, but at me.
"Fine, so I'll be supplied with everything and then?"
"Then you infiltrate The Illusive Man's location. You'll have a couple of gadgets with you that will provide you with safe cover. And then you give us the signal. Samara, if she can reach the point with you, will also cover you. If not, then disregarding everything, she breaks through and covers you."
"Right, and then you arrive and we all evacuate together?"
"Exactly."
"Good plan, now let's work it out in more detail..."
** Perspective from the side. **
"Sister?"
"I... caught a spy."
"That's good!"
Falere looked happily at her sister, who had tracked down and caught the first Cerberus operative in just a few days.
"I wouldn't say so... you know, it's extremely hard for me to restrain myself and not break him. So if a team arrives at the address I sent you and does it as soon as possible, I would be extremely grateful."
"Of course!"
Falere quickly issued several orders without disconnecting from the conversation with Mirala.
"How are you? You haven't been in touch for a few days..."
"How can I be? I feel like crap... everyone around is so tempting... I just want to... embrace eternity and absorb everything they are feeling at this very second."
"Hang in there."
"Where else am I going to go?"
Mirala's lips twisted in a wry smirk.
"I've already grown fond of our movie nights, the talking, and even that idiot brother who somehow managed to reconcile me with Mother. Basically, I'm only holding on for that."
"I see... any leads on the next operatives?"
"No..."
Shaking her head, Mirala winced.
"...they are hidden too well and have no contact with anyone suspicious. This one just got caught stupidly, but the others... They are clearly high-professional sleeper agents, and until they receive an order from Cerberus, they will just live their lives."
"That's bad."
"That's very bad... We need to increase the security level of the colonies, but do it carefully. I think the last message from John was about the Batarians he encountered in a colony that the Collectors had depopulated?"
"Yes... Wait, you want us to increase the security level under the pretext of protection from Batarians?"
"Yes, but at the same time, we can't recruit new people... you should understand yourself that this could cause spies to infiltrate the security service."
"True..."
"Fine, then return home as soon as the agent is taken. You did a good job."
"Thank you... tell me, can I..."
"What?"
"...well... go to a club."
Mirala spoke the last words in a quiet voice. This was caused not by fear of refusal, but by the fear that she wouldn't restrain herself and would kill someone.
"Of course. You've worked very well and shown that you can restrain yourself. So you can go to a nightclub."
"Sister... thank you. Only I need an observer."
"An observer?"
Falere pretended not to understand exactly what her sister was talking about.
"Yes, I need someone who can stop me if I can't restrain myself. Can you arrange that?"
"Of course."
Falere was very proud of her sister. And she didn't try to hide it, which caused bouts of embarrassment for Mirala. However, she noted to herself that she liked these emotions more than not.
** End. **
Having finished the discussions and listened to the report from EDI that everything I had ordered had already been delivered on board the ship, I gave the order to depart. Of course, I wanted to spend a few more hours on the Citadel to let the crew rest, but we simply didn't have that opportunity. After all, we can't appear near Omega on the SSV Normandy—or rather, we can't do it without using the stealth systems. And we won't have time to turn them on, so we'll have to reach the station on Kodiak Shuttles; fortunately, Aria T'Loak told us about several places through which we could get inside without problems.
Yellow lamps began to flash throughout the ship, warning the crew that we had left the safe zone and everyone should don their armor in the near future.
"There is still so much to do. And we have so little time left..."
"John, I wanted to talk about the Geth."
"Well, come in, let's talk..."
Shrugging casually, I heard the door to the office open and EDI, who had only recently left me, walked in.
"I wanted to say thank you."
"Oh, come on..."
"No, you are truly doing something that is very important to me. If you hadn't started helping the Geth, they might have disappeared. And now they have a chance at survival."
"EDI..."
"Don't interrupt, please. I... John, I am very, very grateful to you. And I want you to know that I will never betray you."
"Thank you, I won't betray you either."
"Uh-huh..."
Silence fell for a while, broken only by the quiet operation of the sensors.
"So that's all?"
"Yes."
"Then why were you so worried?"
"Well... I don't know?"
"I see, then just so you understand..."
I look intently at the AI, and she meets me with a steady gaze.
"You have already become part of my family. And for your sake, I am ready to go to great lengths, so even if I didn't know that you wanted to negotiate with the Geth, I would have at most grumbled for the sake of appearances. However, you did tell me about it. Of course, you didn't keep me informed about how your plans were progressing, but that doesn't matter; what matters is that I knew and that I entrusted these negotiations to you. And you have shown yourself in the best light."
"Thank you."
In two steps, EDI approached me and, hugging me, kissed me on the cheek, after which she hurried to leave.
"Sigh... and what did I do to deserve such happiness?"
"For not giving up and working to save everyone."
EDI answered me through the computer speakers, after which silence fell and I was able to continue working.
** Perspective from the side. **
"Margo, how are we doing?"
"Everything is going strictly according to plan."
"According to plan?"
The Illusive Man raised an eyebrow.
"I thought we were supposed to get rid of Shepard on Freedom's Progress... Or am I confusing something?"
"No, but that was Plan 'A', as you yourself asserted. Of course, the ideal option for us would have been to get rid of Shepard, but such a development was unlikely. We had to show him that it was all about the Batarians, to make him convinced that they were the ones collaborating with the Collectors."
"And?"
"Your spies in the Council secretariat say that bills are being prepared that will show the Batarians they made a very big mistake siding with the Collectors. Moreover, some trade agreements with them have been severed. So everything is going according to plan."
"Excellent... by the way, is the place prepared?"
"Yes... as you requested, I didn't overdo it with the guards, focusing on secrecy. However, I still consider this a mistake."
"It's not a mistake... the rules of the game and habits must be changed, otherwise I will be caught very easily. So for the next three moves, everything will be exactly like this. Secret hideouts from which I can lead Cerberus for about a week."
"Will there be other points besides Omega?"
"When we arrive, I will name the next point for you, and you will begin preparations."
"Good."
The girl nodded.
"And one more thing, find me a way to pressure Lawson; that bitch thinks she can just leave Cerberus like that... we need to show her she's mistaken. Arrange an assassination attempt on her sister."
"I can certainly do that. However, before arranging an assassination, I want you to think once more about whether it's necessary. The sleeper agents were prepared for other tasks, and using them to eliminate one girl and intimidate another..."
"Not eliminate... Miranda's sister must not be killed; she must live so that Miranda has someone to fear for. And yes, I am sure. It's time to show that bitch she was wrong when she betrayed me."
"Then as soon as we are on Omega, I will contact one of the agents."
"Yes..."
The Illusive Man closed his eyes. Something had been bothering him very much lately, but he couldn't quite understand what it was.
"Margo, has anything been bothering you lately?"
"Mmm... no... I don't notice any surveillance, I check all the data, and there was nothing suspicious there. The pilot, of course, should be changed..."
"The pilot?"
"Well, yes, he's been accompanying you too long; he might pull something. Otherwise, everything is excellent."
"The pilot, then?"
The Illusive Man thought deeply, but didn't make a decision right then. He still had time to make a decision.
***
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