The following day, everyone gathered at Mina and Garrus's apartment one last time.
"You should get a bigger place," Wrex was saying, stuffing his face.
"We plan to," Garrus growled, smacking his hands away from the snacks.
"Let's go through this one more time," Nihlus said. "Solana, Garrus, and I will attend the Council Ball. Once the Ball is in full swing, Wrex and his hired buddies will crash the party.
"They will cause a scene, Garrus and I will step in and talk them down. At this time, Garrus will use this opportunity to accompany our guests out."
"Why can't I cause a commotion and have Garrus slip out?" Wrex questioned.
"That would raise too many questions," Nihlus replied. "Once Garrus leaves, Solana and I will calm the crowd and resume the part. Garrus will meet Mina nearby and head toward the Citadel Tower.
"The Tower should have normal security, with most of Citadel Security focused on the Ball. With Wrex's interference, Security will be watching closely, leaving the Tower with minimal security."
"If everything goes well," Nihlus continued. "We'll meet up on my ship and take off. If things don't go well and one of us is captured, we'll still meet at my ship. We'll assess the situation and make a plan afterwards. Any questions?"
"Sounds good," Wrex said, standing up. "I'll go speak to my buddies, you won't be seeing me until the day of the Ball. Take care."
Wrex said goodbye and left.
"I need to head out," Soalan said, standing up. "The Clinic needs me to take care of a few shifts before the Ball."
"I'm going to," Nihlus said, standing. "Call me if you need me."
Once everyone went on their way, Garrus received a notification on his Omni-Tool.
"Mina," Garrus said. "I'm going to head out too. I got pinged by Councillor Sparatus to stop by. I'm going to see what he needs."
"Be careful," Mina cautioned.
Garrus leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll be back."
Mina waved goodbye and went to heat up some food.
'Should we go and take a look at the Citadel Tower?' SAM questioned.
'I don't want to risk it,' Mina replied, taking her plate to the table. 'Aren't you able to take a look from here?'
'How about the upper walkways?' SAM suggested. 'Not many humans or other species go up there. I can access the panels from up there.'
'Alright, one quick look,' Mina agreed.
She quickly ate and got ready to leave. She wrote a quick message to Garrus and made her way toward the upper walkways. SAM was right, there was hardly anyone up here. Mina felt that only the worst of the criminals used these walkways.
She couldn't afford to get careless; she quickly activated her cloaking.
'If you see something or someone out of place, let me know,' Mina said as she began her walk.
'Would you also want me to warn you of all the shady aliens that are around?' SAM asked sarcastically.
Mina rolled her eyes and continued looking around.
'Is the scan picking up anything?' She asked as she rounded another corner. 'I don't want to be seen up here.'
'There's nothing on my- hold on,' SAM said. 'There's an area up ahead I can access the security server from.'
Mina followed his instructions and found an area not easily seen by someone walking by. She had SAM integrate with the few security cameras in the vicinity; there weren't many.
For several hours, SAM accessed different systems that were connected to the security cameras.
'We should head back,' SAM said finally. 'We don't want to draw attention to ourselves.'
'Lunch first,' Mina suggested. 'I don't know about you, but I really don't want to cook.'
Mina headed to an asari restaurant that was close by. She had heard other Citadel dwellers speak highly about this place the last time she had been visiting. She hoped that it held up to its reputation.
"Hello and welcome to Azure Nectar," an asari greeted them. "Will it be just you, or are you waiting for someone?"
"Just me," Mina replied, smiling. "Could I sit at the bar?"
"Of course," the asari replied. "I'll let the bartender know you're heading her way."
"Thank you." Mina made her way to the bar.
She was in luck; there was an empty chair on the left side of the bar, away from the heavy traffic of the middle area.
"Hello, my name is May," the Asari bartender said in greeting. "What will you be having?"
"A full biotic kick," Mina answered, showing the bartender her ID.
"Coming right up," the bartender replied. "Do you want a menu?"
"Yes, please."
A few minutes later, the bartender came back with her drink and a menu.
'Guess who's here?' SAM asked casually.
'Someone I don't want to see,' Mina commented, going through the menu. 'Hmm, I don't know what I should order. Everything sounds okay.'
'The other Shepard is here,' SAM replied with a joyful-sounding tone. 'His family is also accompanying him. What a surprise!'
Mina's mood soured slightly.
'Glad to see they're still together,' Mina replied sarcastically, clearly not interested.
She went back to looking at the menu.
"Have you decided what you'll have?" May asked.
"I'll have your house noodles with seafood and a side of broth with biscuits," Mina said, handing May the menu.
"Would you like the broth to come out first?" she asked.
"Yes, please," Mina answered, taking a sip of her drink.
"It'll be a few minutes," May informed her and headed toward the kitchen.
Once May was gone, Mina couldn't help but overhear her brother's name in conversation.
"John, what's this all about?"
"It must be important if you wanted to meet here," said another voice.
'All three of them are here?' Mina asked SAM even though she knew the answer to the question.
'All three,' SAM confirmed.
"Have any Spectres come and spoken to any of you?" John asked, not waiting to beat around the bush.
"No," both her father and Dr Chakwas replied. "Not since Aster left the Citadel after the hearing."
"Why do you ask?" Anderson asked. "Have you heard from her?"
"No," John admitted. "Two Spectres came up to me asking questions about Aster."
"When?" Dr Chakwas replied. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"It's been weeks," John replied sheepishly. "I wasn't sure if I should bring it up considering how everything ended last time."
"What did they want?" Anderson asked.
"They wanted to know if Aster had reached out to us or if we had any more information," John replied. "I told them I hadn't heard from her since she left."
"Something must have come up for them to be asking about her," Anderson concluded. "Even though Aster was acquitted after the hearing, it seems like there's something else."
"If Aster was around," Dr Chakwas piped in. "She would be sent to investigate the new charges, and had she found something, the information would be passed on to a Spectre."
"She's always been the unseen hero behind the scenes," her father said quietly. "One of the reasons why she began so valuable to the Council. There wasn't anything Aster couldn't find."
"Who was it that contacted you?" Dr Chakwas asked.
"Vakarian and Kyrik," John replied. "The two top turian agents working for the Council."
"It must be something important if those two are on the case," the doctor agreed. "I had hoped they would keep her family in the loop."
"I can see why they wouldn't," John replied. "I had asked Udina for more information about the case that Vakarian and Kyrik are working on, but I got stonewalled."
"He must know what it's all about," Anderson replied. "Udina always knows what's going on."
'He's right, you know,' SAM commented as the bartender returned with their broth.
"Your meal will be out shortly," May replied.
"Thank you," Mina replied, digging in.
'Right about what?' Mina asked.
'Udina,' SAM replied. 'The Councillor always knows what's going on. He has his hands on everything.'
'It's not like I can go in and ask him,' Mina was thoughtful.
'He's bound to have an assistant,' SAM said. 'All Councillors have assistants. He's arrogant enough to have one.'
'It sure would make him feel special,' Mina agreed.
"Here are your noodles," May said as she placed the medium-sized bowl on one side of her broth. "Would you like something else?"
"No, I'm fine, thank you," Mina replied.
"Let me know if there's anything else."
"Excuse me," a voice said, drawing May's attention. "Could I get some menus?"
"Of course," May replied. "One moment."
"Hey, how's it going?" the voice continued.
Mina gave John a quick look, "Hello."
"Is that any good?" John asked, giving her noodles a look.
"Yes," Mina replied, going back to her dinner.
"Here you are," May said, handing the menus to John. "I'll be over in a bit to take your orders."
"Do you know him?" May asked after a few moments.
"I don't," she answered. "Why do you ask?"
"He keeps looking in your direction," May said. "He seems interested in you."
"Unless he's looking at you," Mina countered, taking a big gulp from her drink. "Then that'll mean he's interested in you."
May didn't reply and went to help another customer.
'What if he was looking at you?' SAM asked.
Mina could tell he was teasing her.
'Not interested,' Mina replied, finishing up her broth and starting on the noodles before they got cold.
It didn't take long for Mina to finish her drink and her lunch. She didn't want to stay out too long. Although her disguise as Mina had been seen around the Citadel and she'd used it before, she still wanted to be careful.
Mina waved at May and made some motions with her hands, hoping she understood she wanted to pay her bill. May came by a few moments later, Mina's bill in her hands. She took a quick look at the amount and handed May her credit chit.
"Thank you," May said as Aster got up to leave.
Mina headed out of the restaurant and walked toward the apartment.
'One more day and we'll know who is behind the video,' SAM said. 'One more day until our real investigation begins.'
'Yes,' Mina agreed. 'While we're at it, you should take a look into Udina. He's an unknown variable.'
'I'll find out what I can,' SAM promised.