"Let him through!"
Aria T'Loak turned off the noise dampener and raised her voice slightly so her bodyguards, who didn't want to let me pass, could hear her. Though it was understandable; I was dressed in the armor of a human mercenary, which was all battered after a somewhat unpleasant assignment. After all, I hadn't had time to change armor.
"Hello, hello..."
I waved my hand, greeting Aria T'Loak and Miranda Lawson.
"I'm here for this fancy lady; can I take her?"
"Just like that?"
Aria T'Loak arched an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah... why? Did you expect me to beat around the bush?"
"No, but the access codes to the promised..."
She looked at me with great expectation, to which I only demonstratively slapped my hand against my face shield.
"So that's what I forgot! And I was wondering why the hell I was lugging this thing around..."
Pulling a small hoop from my pouch, I tossed it into Aria T'Loak's hands.
"It's a kind of Omni-tool, just a different type. You'll have to practice a bit to control it with your gaze instead of gestures. However, when you get the hang of it, it might seem even more convenient."
Despite what I said, Aria T'Loak knew perfectly well what this device was, and it wasn't controlled by gaze. Only by thought, and the thoughts themselves were read by small contacts touching the head on the forehead, temples, and back of the head.
"Understood. Is the access code embedded inside?"
"Yep... you'll be able to manage your resort from here. But if I were you, I'd still go check out the new property."
"Certainly, but I still have business here, so I'll head off to check my new holdings as soon as I clear things up a bit."
"Fine, but now I'm taking her?"
"Yep."
Aria T'Loak nodded carelessly, and I, turning around, headed for the exit, gesturing for Miranda Lawson to follow me.
"And? Are you just going to keep quiet?"
She addressed me with a hint of mockery.
"Am I keeping quiet?"
My voice was slightly altered by the speakers, so I wasn't worried about being recognized.
"You were quiet before and didn't say a single word to me."
"Well, I'm just an escort; what's the point of me talking to you?"
Carelessly shrugging my shoulders, I tried to convey all my disdain through my shoulders—disdain that didn't actually exist, but others should believe it did.
"Tch..."
Miranda Lawson said nothing more, so we reached my Kodiak Shuttle in silence.
"And this..."
She looked somewhat disdainfully at my transport.
"...is your transport?"
"Yep, get in and make yourself comfortable."
Miranda Lawson didn't answer and climbed inside, after which I nodded toward a small suitcase.
"A new set of clothes and an Omni-tool. Change before we fly; we'll dump all that once we're in space."
"I'm supposed to change here?"
"Yes."
Ignoring Miranda Lawson's indignation, I sat at the controls and lifted the Kodiak Shuttle into the air, after which we left Omega.
"And how am I supposed to dump the clothes?"
"Got your helmet on?"
"Yes..."
"Then I'm venting the air, then you open the door and throw out everything extraneous, then close the door. Understood?"
"Yes."
I could clearly hear the dissatisfaction in her voice. Though it was still okay; I thought she'd argue with me, try to throw her weight around, but to my surprise, none of that followed.
Meanwhile, I heard the door open and then close.
"Can we fly to my sister's now?"
There was a hint of weariness in Miranda Lawson's voice.
"One second..."
I steered the Kodiak Shuttle slightly to the side, then went into the main compartment, which by this point had refilled with oxygen, and scanned her, finding no trace of bugs.
"Clean?"
"Well, you'll still need to undergo a medical exam when we arrive on Bali, but overall..."
I smirked and removed the helmet from my head, which hissed quietly.
"...you're clean enough that I can safely hug you, sis."
"J-ohn?"
She stared at me in surprise.
"Yep."
"But you're..."
"A staged performance."
"Oriana..."
"Knew, but didn't tell you because you were working for the Illusive Man."
"But..."
Miranda Lawson was clearly in shock; it wasn't that she didn't believe her eyes, but simply accepting that I was alive was also a bit difficult for her.
"Hugs?"
"And that's all you have to say to me?"
Miranda Lawson's voice could have frozen an entire planet.
"Got it..."
I nodded and, taking a step toward her, hugged her, even lifting her up, fortunately she didn't try to break free from the hugs. She preferred to resign herself to the inevitable.
"...I'll show the brotherly affection myself. I'm so glad to see you, sis!"
"You're overacting."
"And you're being too cold."
Setting her on the floor, I shrugged carelessly.
"But I'm still glad to see you. But all other talk can wait until we arrive at the destination. There we'll decide how you'll live from now on."
I sat at the controls, and the Kodiak Shuttle finally moved toward the destination.
"How did it happen that you survived?"
"Well..."
I thought about where to start the story.
"If the information is secret, you don't have to answer."
"It's not that it's very secret; in a little over a year, it definitely won't be, and you worked for the Illusive Man for so many years that you should understand that this info shouldn't be spread."
She nodded, sitting in the co-pilot's seat.
"In short, it was clear to me that the Reapers would likely try to eliminate the one responsible for their first failure at invasion and total annihilation. And I shared these thoughts with Tevos, and she generally agreed. So we developed a plan according to which, if something happened, my death could be staged."
"Did the Council know?"
"Not the Council, specifically Councilor Tevos. Well, and now I run around carrying out her secret orders, and also on my own business..."
"M-da... and we even tried to get at least some remains, or genetic material. The Illusive Man already wanted to grow a clone, both yours and Jane's..."
"Well, actually that's why they didn't tell you anything. Jack Harper could have realized from your reactions that I'm more alive than anyone, and I didn't need that."
"Do you want to start working against him?"
Miranda Lawson allowed herself a caustic smirk.
"Do you think your strength is enough for that?"
"Well..."
I shrugged thoughtfully.
"...who said I'd be working against him alone?"
Gradually our conversation shifted into a more peaceful channel, and we stopped touching on work issues, moving to more pleasant topics.
** Some time later. **
"Sister..."
Ori walked up to Miranda Lawson and hugged her, and she returned the embrace.
"Sister... you shouldn't have taken such a risk..."
"I'd suggest our guest undergo a medical exam first. The Illusive Man could easily have implanted bugs in her that she doesn't even know about. And we need to make sure he can't find out anything or give orders."
"Agreed."
Ori nodded to me; I was now back in my helmet, as always when I wasn't at a safe base where I couldn't be compromised. The Kodiak Shuttle, of course, is hard to call a safe base, but I couldn't be compromised there either.
"Actually..."
"Sister, don't argue. This is necessary to ensure you're not under the control of your former employer."
"Fine, fine..."
Miranda Lawson raised her hands, surrendering under her sister's demanding gaze, after which the two of them headed to the medical center, while I went to my shelter, where I had some work to do.
However, five hours later, Falere and Rila arrived, settling into comfortable guest chairs and waiting with a slight smile for the guests, who appeared thirty minutes later.
"So, I take it the family meeting is starting?"
I set the documents aside and looked at the girls.
"Family?"
Miranda Lawson looked at the Asari with slight surprise.
"Well, they're my sisters on my mother's side. So, yes, a family meeting."
"M..."
"Miranda Lawson, this is Falere, she's the youngest, and this is Rila, she's the middle one; there's another Asari sister, but so far we haven't been able to find her. She hides too well."
"Hiding? Is she a criminal?"
"According to Asari laws—yes. And by human laws too, as she's already committed quite a few crimes. However, John really wants to find her and get to know her. And we'd like to chat with her a bit..."
Falere shrugged casually, answering Miranda Lawson's question.
"M-da... our family can't just be normal, can it?"
"Normalcy is boring."
I shrugged carelessly.
** Some time later. Side View. **
Miranda Lawson walked into the apartment assigned to her and, reaching the bed, collapsed onto it face down. The past few days had been full of emotions, and now she finally had a chance to think a bit about everything that had fallen on her during this time.
First—her brother is alive.
Second—she has half-sisters? Though that's not exactly what it's called, but it seems Ori treats these Asari quite warmly, and John too... in short, she'll have to communicate with them quite often.
Third—now she won't have to run from the Illusive Man, though initially she clearly hadn't planned on relying on her sister and the corporation she worked for.
In short, now she'd have to figure out what to occupy herself with so as not to howl from boredom, as many problems had simply become irrelevant.
"And what am I supposed to do now?"
Miranda Lawson rolled onto her back and spread her arms to the sides.
** The End. **
"This feels so good..."
I collapsed onto the bed after taking a bath. Right now, I felt truly wonderful. All the most urgent matters had been dealt with.
At that moment, Ori contacted me.
"Yes?"
"John, the Illusive Man just contacted me."
"And what does he want?"
"He congratulated me on the fact that Miranda is now under my protection and inquired if I was certain about the safety of the colonies?"
"Oh, he decided to jump to threats that quickly?"
"Of course not. First, he tried to convince me that Miranda isn't someone who can be trusted. After all, she worked for him for so many years."
"Ah, and after you told him where to go..."
"He moved on to threats."
"Well, that means it's time to move into the active phase of countering him."
I allowed myself a predatory smirk, and Ori mirrored it with one of her own.
***
Read the story months before public release — early chapters are on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Granulan