A Second Chance

Chapter 9

the Citadel, Serpent Nebula, Widow System

Finally, after weeks of trying to track Cerberus on Kahje without success, Shepard received what looked like a solid lead from a reliable source. A fellow Spectre, the salarian Jondum Bau, had contacted her directly at her private terminal with the suspicion of a hanar diplomat possibly being indoctrinated by the Reapers, located in the Embassies of the Citadel.

The Citadel, the core and administrative center of the entire galactic society, floated in the middle of the galaxy like a gigantic flower, with its five petals of more than six kilometers in length each united by a central ring. From this ring, the Tower of the Council, the largest and most important socio-political organism, composed of a representative of the human, asari, turian, and salarian races, governed the affairs of galactic society. With an average population exceeding thirteen million, the Citadel was the place where the most important decisions were made and where all species had their respective representatives and ambassadors.

As soon as they had docked in the spaceport, the Spectre Bau informed Shepard of the Alliance raid on a batarian science lab months ago, where they had been studying Reaper artifacts and technology. At the site, they had found not only batarians, but also hanar agents, whom Bau suspected were already under the influence of Reaper indoctrination. The operation had ended in a massacre and the Alliance had come away with nothing concrete in their hands.

Shepard didn't know what surprised her more: the existence of a batarian scientific laboratory, since in her entire military career she'd only encountered pirates, slavers and mercenaries of that species; or the fact that Bau had received this information from none other than Kasumi Goto, her former comrade in the fight against the Collectors. The galaxy's best and most wanted expert thief was capable of infiltrating, hacking, and stealing anywhere, from museums to banks, from companies to private mansions and government buildings, no matter how sophisticated their security system was. The salarian Spectre confessed to having tracked Kasumi for years with the goal of one day apprehending her. His tone of voice made it clear that he admired her, as only a detective can admire the elusive object of his investigation.

"Her mind is almost as brilliant as a salarian's," Bau said, and Shepard knew that Kasumi would appreciate such a statement as a compliment.

One of the hanar dignitaries was the one whom Shepard, along with Bau and Kasumi, always hidden under her cloaking ability, were currently confronting at the hanar embassy office in the Citadel Presidium. The trail had led them all over the station, following the communications of the pink jellyfish, trying to find its soul name to identify it perfectly. Upon being discovered, the hanar confessed its twisted logic: Since the once-Protheans, their adored "Enkindlers", were now the Collectors who worked for the Reapers, the hanar too must work for their cause, for it was the cause of their Enkindlers.

"I support all freedom of belief, but this is insane," Kasumi whispered directly into Shepard's communication channel.

"You big, stupid jellyfish!" Shepard blurted out, unable to keep her composure.

The hanar ambassador, face-named Zymandis, then admitted to its twisted plan. With a single virus from its embassy terminal, it could disable Kahje's planetary defense system. And it had just uploaded it. Nothing would then oppose the advance of the Reaper forces on the hanar and drell population.

Added to that was the proximity between hanar and salarian space, more than enough motivation for Bau. If the Reapers were able to reach hanar space, nothing would stop them from attacking the salarian system as well. In a matter of seconds, Bau aimed his firearm at the hanar, its indoctrinated human assistant attempted to strangle him, and Kasumi emerged from her cloak to run to the terminal and abort the virus. Shepard threw a couple of punches at the human assistant which knocked him to the ground as Bau fired at the hanar. Meanwhile, Kasumi was trying to stop the virus.

"It's got a backup! – Get down!" Kasumi shouted.

The terminal screen froze and a quick countdown ended with an explosion that propelled Kasumi against the wall.

"She was here all along!" Bau said, dumbfounded to see the thief he had been chasing for years.

"She was an old friend of mine," Shepard said regretfully as she saw Kasumi lying unconscious on the floor while she admired the Japanese woman's acting skills.

"I was going to take her prisoner," the salarian lamented.

"She helped me fight the Collectors and she just gave her life for the planet Kahje," Shepard said with special dramatism.

The salarian seemed to buy Kasumi's histrionic performance. The two Spectres parted with a handshake. Bau pledged his and the salarian STG's help to the cause, and left the hanar embassy.

Shepard made sure Bau had left the office before speaking.

"You can get up now," she said casually.

Kasumi immediately manifested out of nowhere, deactivating her cloaking system. It took some persuasion, but Shepard managed to enlist her help. As an expert hacker, she was to join the team working tirelessly on the construction of the Crucible.

As she left for the public access area of the Embassies, Shepard reflected on what she had just discovered. If a hanar was capable of conspiring against its own people by allying with the Reapers in the name of their gods, how many others in the Illumined Primacy would do the same? Considering the hanar's devotion to the Protheans for having given them the gift of speech millennia ago, it wasn't too difficult to understand the logic that had driven Zymandis to endanger Kahje in such a way. Regardless of whether the hanar diplomat had been under the indoctrination of the Reapers, their religious fanaticism made them far more vulnerable to this type of collaboration than other species. She had to share this information with Liara and analyze it with the leads they were getting from Feron and his fellow agents on Kahje.

But before returning to the Normandy, Shepard had to make an obligatory and long-delayed visit.